Tech giant Google on Tuesday expanded its News Initiative Training Network to include five new languages: Punjabi, Assamese, Gujarati, Odia and Malayalam. Google has also launched the Fact-Check Academy in partnership with DataLeads, the tech giant said in a statement. About a 100 new trainers have been inducted to help newsrooms and journalists build capacity to tackle climate misinformation and verify misleading data and claims that include false numbers, it added.
The Google News Initiative India Training Network was launched in 2018, and it includes 39,000+ journalists, media educators, fact-checkers, and journalism students from over 2300 newsrooms and media colleges in at least 10 languages, in addition to the DataLeads.
The Network assists journalists and newsrooms in developing the digital skills necessary to verify and combat online misinformation.
“This four-year journey wouldn’t have been half as special had it not been for the passion, commitment and collaborative spirit of the network trainers – 239 journalists, fact checkers and media educators from different newsrooms and colleges who came forward to lead this challenge and shared their learning with others in the ecosystem,” Google India said.
The tech giant is also inviting journalists, a journalism professor, and fact-checkers to participate in the Fact-Check Academy, which will assist the media in combating misinformation by learning verification skills and techniques from experts. Selected candidates will hone their skills in verification and training during a three-day train-the-trainer boot camp in August. The application deadline is July 30, according to Google.
