THE International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) at the Poynter Institute has awarded a total of $1 million in funding to twenty organizations to improve the ability and sustainability of fact-checkers to combat misinformation globally.
The grant is a component of the $12 million Global Fact Check Fund initiative which was launched with the support of Google and YouTube. The second phase of the grant which is the GROW phase, aims to strengthen organizations’ institutional capacity, competitiveness, and sustainability in local and regional activity.
It will be recalled that the IFCN had in June 2023 announced the 35 recipients of the first phase of the grant (BUILD phase) which The FactCheckHub was among its selected recipients.
In a statement announcing the grant recipients, IFCN Director, Angie Drobnic Holan, said the proposals selected for funding will improve the global network of fact-checkers, which is crucial for combating dangerous misinformation.
“We are heartened by the diversity and innovation of the projects that fact-checking newsrooms have proposed that will increase the reach and impact of their work. These projects will improve the information ecosystems in their home countries, and they will generate lessons and takeaways for fact-checkers around the world,” Holan said.
The statement added: “The projects from all around the world represented in the funded proposals are diverse. Rappler, a Philippines news organisation will use the grant as seed money, and to provide training to complement the work it is doing to instruct fellows and aspiring fact-checkers, while USA Today plans to fight misinformation and produce fact-checking in Spanish with its grant.
“Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA) of Germany will work to train fact-checkers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland in artificial intelligence and the ways it can affect misinformation. Also, the grant will allow Mizzima, of Myanmar, to continue to build its capacity and sustainability for its mission, after its operation was earlier destabilised financially following the 2021 coup in that country.
“The GROW grants can be used for training, fundraising, data analytics tools, expanding partnerships and collaborations, hiring more people, or developing new programmes aimed at increasing the visibility of content.
Below is the complete list of the GROW phase grant recipients:
- Africa Check (South Africa)
- Asociacion de Periodismo de Investigacion Ojo Publico (Peru)
- Belarusian Investigative Center z.s. (Belarus)
- BOOM (India)
- Demagog.cz (Czech Republic)
- Deutsche Presse-Agentur, dpa (Germany)
- Factcheck Lab (Hong Kong)
- Fonden ARIJ International (Jordan)
- Krik (Serbia)
- La Diaria (Uruguay)
- Lakmusz.hu – Magyar Jeti Zrt. (Hungary)
- Les Surligneurs (France)
- Maharat Foundation (Lebanon)
- Mizzima (Myanmar)
- Newtral (Spain)
- Rappler (Philippines)
- The Self-Investigation (The Netherlands)
- USA Today (United States)
- VERA Files (Philippines)
- Verify-Sy (Turkey)
Seasoned fact-checker and researcher Fatimah Quadri has written numerous fact-checks, explainers, and media literacy pieces for The FactCheckHub in an effort to combat information disorder. She can be reached at sunmibola_q on X or [email protected].
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