ICFJ's TruthBuzz Fellows

In 2018, TruthBuzz will recruit five full-time Fellows to work in newsrooms in some of the most populous nations: Brazil, India, Indonesia, Nigeria and the United States. Modeled on ICFJ’s Knight Fellowship program, TruthBuzz will embed experts in these outlets to help reporters adopt compelling storytelling methods that improve the reach and impact of fact-checking and help “inoculate” audiences against false or misleading information.

The goal of TruthBuzz: increase audience trust in news media by communicating fact-checked information in a compelling, sharable way. TruthBuzz Fellows will be change-makers who can drive the adoption of new ways of making facts go as viral. ICFJ will collaborate with First Draft, a project of the Shorenstein Center at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

TruthBuzz was originally launched as a global contest to find new ways to help verified facts reach the widest possible audience. The winning entries from 2017, which included caricatures of politicians, time-lapse videos and an app modeled on a classic video game, identified novel methods to combat misinformation and share solid and instantly understandable fact-checking.

Want to be a TruthBuzz Fellow?

Are you a media expert with a track record of success leading innovative projects in newsrooms? Do you have sharp audience-engagement skills? Interested in deploying your multimedia savvy to combat misinformation in your country? If so, consider applying for a full-time, six-month TruthBuzz Fellowship.

The TruthBuzz Fellowship is only open to English-speaking media professionals already working in one of the target countries: Brazil, India, Indonesia, Nigeria and the United States. The Fellowship will start in summer 2018, between June-August.

Fellows will be embedded with two to three partner media organizations in each of the countries to: spur the production of compelling stories that fact-check and debunk misinformation. All Fellows will receive a monthly honorarium as well as a professional allowance to supplement their work with partner newsrooms.

Want to be a newsroom partner?

Interested in combating misinformation in your country? Do your meticulous fact-checks get lost in the news cycle? If you’re looking to make your fact-checking compelling for your audiences, consider working with an ICFJ TruthBuzz Fellow. We’re looking for partners in Brazil, India, Indonesia, Nigeria and the United States who are excited about the idea of working with a media expert to spice up their already excellent fact-checking work.

As a partner, your newsroom will receive tailored trainings (at no cost to your organization) from First Draft News and ICFJ. Partners will also work side-by-side with a TruthBuzz Fellow for six months to get your fact-checking trending.

Partners should be willing to let different teams work closely with the TruthBuzz Fellow.

Preferred newsroom partner criteria:

• The partner newsroom has to be located in one of the five target countries: Brazil, India, Indonesia, Nigeria and the United States
• The partner should be engaged in regular fact-checking and be interested in innovative projects that take fact-checking viral.
• The partner should have infrastructure to support the TruthBuzz Fellow including different digital teams (for example: an audience-engagement team, video team, interactives desk). The partner newsroom should be willing and able to continue the Fellow’s work after the program ends.
• The partner should be willing to designate a point-person or two to liaise with ICFJ and First Draft staff.
• The partner newsroom’s reporting must adhere to the highest ethical standards of fact-checking.

If you are interested in becoming a newsroom partner, please reach out to Alexsandra Canedo (acanedo@icfj.org ) or Cassandra Balfour (cbalfour@icfj.org ).

The deadline to apply is Sunday, April 29, 2018.

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