IvoireCheck: Stronger and Better Equipped to Battle Disinformation, Thanks to Meta, CfA
Discover how, boosted by the African Fact-Checking Incubator, IvoireCheck has profoundly transformed itself from a shaky medium to a powerful truth watchdog.
By: IvoireCheck’s Editorial Team
Despite its initial success following its launch in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic was raging and misinformation was reaching unprecedented peaks, IvoireCheck has faced headwinds that fragilised it.
IvoireCheck is an initiative of Côte d’Ivoire’s Online Press Professionals Network (Réseau des Professionnels de la Presse en Ligne de Côte d’Ivoire — REPPRELCI), which quickly emerged as a leading reference for fact-checking in Côte d’Ivoire and the sub-region. But due to a lack of support and growth opportunities, its resilience was severely challenged.
However, the horizon has recently brightened thanks to the African Fact-Checking Incubator. The programme, funded by Meta and implemented by Code for Africa (CfA) through its fact-checking initiative, PesaCheck, and under the aegis of the African Fact-Checking Alliance (AFCA), has enabled IvoireCheck to reinvent itself, bolster its team and gain new momentum.
The programme mainly entailed technical and financial support establish and strengthen five check-desks, including IvoireCheck.
IvoireCheck Managing Director, Lassina Sermé, comments on the deep impact of this turnaround.
“The African Fact-Checking Incubator has been our compass, guiding IvoireCheck to new summits. This programme has enabled our team to consolidate and push back the boundaries of fact-checking, serving the truth,” Lassina Sermé, IvoireCheck Managing Director
The first component of the programme focused on building the capacity of IvoireCheck’s editorial team, who followed an extensive curriculum that gave them a comprehensive and in-depth understanding of the nuts and bolts of fact-checking.
Setting Up a Robust Team
With the recruitment of two (02) full-time journalists and two (02) full-time editors, the newsroom team has expanded to seven (07) staffs, transforming itself into a strong team dedicated to rigorous fact-checking. These new hires were trained through a three-month period of intense incubation, during which they acquired new skills and enhanced their competencies.
Beyond technical skills, the Incubator also focused on mentorship, offering priceless guidance to shape the future of IvoireCheck, particularly in terms of consistently producing quality articles.
Among the team members, Youssouf Traoré, a fact-checker recruited through the project, attests to the mentorship’s importance: “The mentorship process has been like a lighthouse in the night. It guided us through the editorial challenges and sharpened our understanding of fact-checking. Its efficiency and flexibility have been key to our increased productivity and success.”
While the medium’s performance was lackluster — with just eleven (11) articles produced over the period from June 2022 to June 2023, the strengthened editorial team in numbers and skills achieved the feat of publishing fourteen (14) articles during the three (03) months the Incubator lasted. The newsroom credits this remarkable progress to the Incubator’s transformative experience.
“This project was an opportunity to further enhance my skills and understanding of fact-checking. As I progressed through the project, I saw an incremental improvement in the level of the fact-checkers I was supervising, tangible proof of the effectiveness of the training provided,” points out Anderson Diedri, IvoireCheck Editor-in-Chief.
Anderson was also recruited as part of the programme.
“These are secure jobs for several people, who benefit from an employment contract until at least the end of the year. In addition to reinforcing IvoireCheck team, the living conditions of dozens of people will be improved,” notes IvoireCheck Director, as if to underline the social impact of the initiative.
The managers have also benefited from trainings, and their bespoke curriculum has boosted their capacity in newsroom strategic management, for greater resilience and credibility.
The Ivorian medium’s Managing Director, who is also President of REPPRELCI, lauds the acquisition of management models that will help recalibrate the company’s strategy, with the aim of ensuring its sustainability.
“Thanks to the programme, we now have a better knowledge and understanding of the stakes and opportunities of the International Fact-Finding Network (IFCN) accreditation, as well as the process to undertake to submitting an application to the Poynter Institute. We’ll be taking the next few months to achieve this, in order to reinforce our credibility in the information landscape and obtain this sesame, that will unlock the gateway to other opportunities exclusively reserved for IFCN signatories,” adds Sermé.
From a Few Setbacks…
There were a few challenges, however, that made the journey a little perilous. IvoireCheck had to navigate uncharted waters when the means of communication recommended by the mentors proved less familiar to the team.
Team members struggled to adapt to the communications tools used in the project, notably Slack. In addition, connectivity was a challenge from time to time, when attending the online training sessions. However, these obstacles have only stiffened the media’s commitment to better equip itself to combat disinformation in Côte d’Ivoire and the sub-region. In order to overcome the few challenges encountered during implementation, and to foster networking and the sharing of experience, the team believes that face-to-face sessions would be much appreciated. “For instance, we would have welcomed the opportunity to take part in a closing regional workshop that would bring together all the participants, thus facilitating more direct exchanges and deeper links,” deplores Sermé.
…To an Impact Beyond IvoireCheck
Yet these challenges have not prevented the African Fact-Checking Incubator from having an impact on IvoireCheck that extends far beyond the confines of the newsroom. As a matter of fact, the initiative has helped to raise the profile of the newsroom, even beyond the borders of Côte d’Ivoire. By sharing experiences and forging partnerships with counterparts in other beneficiary countries — Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Mali and Niger — IvoireCheck has become part of a coordinated efforts to combat disinformation across Africa. Moreover, its affiliation to AFCA has fostered cross-border collaboration on the project, enabling, for example, the production and publication of several fact-checking articles that played a vital role in countering disinformation surrounding the recent coup in Niger.
As this pilot programme draws to a close, feelings of satisfaction and gratitude towards the implementing partners and other participants are driving IvoireCheck, which is very happy to have benefited from this support. “IvoireCheck would not be in this position today without this innovative initiative, which has literally propelled us forward,” admits IvoireCheck Managing Director.
“We intend to keep up the momentum that the Incubator enabled us to gain, to strengthen our position and empower the public to discern fact from fiction, thus contributing to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 16, which aims among other things to ensure access to credible and reliable information.”
Looking Ahead
IvoireCheck’s remarkable rise is a testimony to how commitment and support can transform a newsroom into a powerful driving force for truth. Its journey from uncertainty to credibility has been catalyzed by the support of Meta, CfA and AFCA, through the African Fact-Checking Incubator.
The sweeping transformation is not just about IvoireCheck, but also embodies hope for other African media. IvoireCheck’s inspiring story underlines the importance of investing in fact-checking journalism in Africa to battle growing disinformation.
IvoireCheck’s team strongly advocates the continuation of similar initiatives in the future, recognizing their considerable impact on media credibility and society as a whole. These efforts will help strengthen the resilience of African media in their vital fight against disinformation, paving the way for a more transparent media landscape and a better understanding of the truth.
This blog post was produced by IvoireCheck, under the Meta-funded African Fact-Checking Incubator programme, with support from PesaCheck, Code for Africa’s fact-checking initiative, and the African Fact-Checking Alliance (AFCA).
