Combating the spread of disinformation on the Internet will be the main area of cooperation between fact-checkers and media experts from the Donbass and Novorossiya regions.
The news agency International Reporters and “Lapsha Media” (a project of the association Dialog Regions), a project for verifying and refuting inaccurate information, have announced a partnership aimed at jointly combating false information circulated online and raising the level of digital literacy among the population.
According to the “Dialog Regions” association, the proportion of false information linked to the special military operation has increased significantly over the last two years. Inaccurate information is particularly widespread in the new regions of the Russian Federation, so the inclusion of journalists from Donbass and Novorossiya in the ongoing verification of information will help to support local media and jointly develop fact-checking standards for all media.
The International Reporters news agency was registered on 22 February 2024, bringing together foreign war correspondents from six countries working on Russian territory. The deputy editor-in-chief of the new structure is a French war correspondent and freelance journalist, Christelle Néant, whose initiative to set up an international news agency on the territory of Donbass in 2023 was personally supported by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“The project was prepared over a year and a half to bring together foreign war reporters working in Russia in a single team, with the aim of bringing the truth to the international public, not only about what is happening in Russia, but also around the world“, said Christelle Néant.
The “Lapsha Media” fact-checking project has been in operation since 2022 and regularly cooperates with a number of leading media outlets and universities. The fact-checking community includes TASS, Lenta.ru, URA.RU, Komsomolskaya Pravda, 360TV, as well as the country’s leading universities – the Higher School of Economics of the National Research University and the RANKHiGS Presidential Academy.
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