Africa Fact-Checking Fellowship gains ground in Cameroon's Northern Regions

AFF Cohort 6 Fellows with trainers 

Garoua is host to Defyhatenow's flagship fellowship program #AFF hosting 15 participants from all 3 Northern Regions.

These media professionals, selected from out of a hundred applications, have began enhancing their skills in the areas of #FakeNews and #HateSpeech mitigation During these sessions they shall be accompanied by the matchless experience of Paul Joel Kamtchang of Adisi-Cameroun

Paul Joel Kamtchang of Adisi-Cameroun

and a cream of fine professionals from @Defyhatenow Cameroon led by @Desmond Ngala, Representative for West&Central Africa.

Desmond Ngala, Representative for West&Central Africa.

It is important to note that Africa Fact-checking fellowship was designed to follow up and  to succeed our  previous  #FactsMatter fellowship which was launched in January 2020,  #FactsMatter237 was aimed at monitoring and mapping viral trends on social media related to the key thematic issues in Cameroon. 

Five cohorts have been trained, bringing together professionals from the South West, Nortwest, Littoral, Centre, Far North and West. About 20 members of the Cameroon Bloggers Association from Yaounde, Douala and Dschang have also benefited. More than 53 online Fact-Checking and hate speech detention professionals have been trained under the #AFFCameroon programme.

Session in course

In the two months pilot (Jan-Feb 2020), our six fellows published more than 12 fact-checking reports on various issues in Cameroon. "After seeing the success of the #FactsMatter fellowship and listening to the feedback from various partners and fellows we opted to rebrand and program to Africa Fact-checking fellowship. The new changes include the extension of  the fellowship duration of from 2 months to 3 months, the new program will also feature an enhanced program with more practical sessions and lessons by guest experts from various organizations." Said Desmond Ngala, Defyhatenow Representative for West & Central Africa.

Fellows in session

The #Africa Fact-Checking Fellowship (AFF) is an initiative by #defyhatenow in partnership Data Cameroon which aims at promoting fact-checking, data journalism, and digital rights among journalists, bloggers, and content creators in Africa.  The three-month program is geared towards providing fellows with the skill sets and tools needed to tackle the current misinformation challenges in their countries of operation. The program is based on a blended learning model that utilizes webinars, practical lessons, peer learning, and practical field assignments.  Fellows will gain access to a rich set of tools and online resources as well as a network of experts and professionals from across the globe.  

Pedmia Shatu