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Good morning. In this edition, I’m sharing a set of frequently asked questions (FAQs) I typically come across while conducting online and offline fact-checking workshops.

Lets begin!

🔖 Last week, I conducted a hands-on fact-checking session for journalists in the Northeast as a part of the EarthCheck series of workshops organised by IndiaSpend and Azim Premji University at Cotton University, Guwahati.

After conducting multiple offline and online fact-checking workshops, I have found that people have a lot of common queries with respect to tools, editorial calls, etc. In this edition, I have compiled some of those questions as FAQs and tried to answer them briefly.

☑️ How do you decide what to fact-check and what not to?

• Relevance: Depends on how relevant/ newsy it is. For instance, right now Turkey's earthquake related claims take priority as they are incident/ time bound.

• Virality: How many people are engaging with that image/ video/ text.

• Impact: How impactful the claim is.

• Prominence: Who is the claim targeting? For example, if it's about a famous public personality/ celebrity/ politician.

• Editorial: Even if some of the aforementioned factors check out, one has to also apply editorial filters.

☑️ Is it important to have a URL for you to archive something?

Yes, a URL/ link is a must. You cannot archive keywords.

☑️ Can you verify on your phone or is a laptop a must?

Yes, you can verify images, videos, text on your phone as well. A laptop is not always necessary. You can use Google Lens, Google images (desktop site version), Google Earth app, Google Maps app, archiving websites on your phone's browser, among others.

☑️ How do you know what is going viral on social media?

Well, there is no one line answer to this. There are multiple avenues to see what is viral on the internet.

• Twitter trends

• Search on social media platforms with keywords related to newsy/trend topics

• Trending hashtags

• WhatsApp groups

☑️ At which step do you stop while fact-checking? How do you decide this much proof is sufficient?

The answer is: Primary source.

When you have found the primary source of the information, that's when you stop. For example, let's say you're verifying an image and you have found that XYZ media outlet published it in some context. However, they have given the picture credit to some other ABC news agency.

In this case, XYZ is a secondary source as they have not captured the image. If you find the same viral image on ABC's website with the photographer's name and other details, that's when you stop because ABC is the primary source of the image. They captured it.

✅ Misinformation This Week 

This week, BOOM published a total of 21 fact-checks. The most prominent nature of claims:

• Alarmist (owing to the devastating Turkey/Syria earthquake), accounting for 34%.

• Communal claims come second at 19%.

Head over to our Twitter thread to read the detailed analysis by Debraj Sarkar. 👇

🚼 Flying With An Infant? Here Are The Rules You Must Know

🔖 In a recent incident at Tel Aviv airport in Israel, a couple proceeded towards security and boarding after leaving their infant at the check-in counter.

Confusion about purchase of airline tickets for the infant, and an argument that followed, seem to have resulted in this incident.

Here’s a guide for both domestic and international travel that Prachi Sibal has compiled.

Read More

What's The Real Reason Behind Assam's Child Marriage Crackdown?

🔖 Assam has been witnessing protests since 3 February, as the state police decided to launch its ‘war against child marriage’. In just 24 hours, the police arrested over 2,044 persons who were allegedly involved in child marriages.

But why this sudden crackdown? After all, it is not the first time that the high Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) and Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) in the state have been highlighted.

Read this report by Pranjal Baruah to know more.

Read More

🔖 A video went viral on social media with the claim that it shows students of Glocal University in Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur raising 'Pakistan Zindabad' slogans. This video was published as news by several mainstream media outlets. Mohammad Salman to find out the truth.

Read More

🔖 Meanwhile, an old video showing cars on a highway being rattled by a powerful earthquake in Tokyo, Japan in 2011 was shared online claiming it is from the recent devastating earthquake that hit Türkiye and Syria.

Anmol Alphonso debunks the claim.

Read More

🅱️ Recommends

📖 This week's recommendation is: Global and Arab media in the post-truth era: Globalisation, Authoritarianism, and Fake news by Aziz Douai

The author briefly describes the rise of the post-truth era and how it manifested in America and Europe (specifically UK) and then goes on to briefly highlight how misinformation in democratic societies can be perceived differently from those in authoritarian regimes, particularly the Arab countries.

Read More

👩‍🏫 Workshops

🔖 Join our workshops and courses on Fact Checking & Media Literacy. Visit 🔗workshop.boomlive.in

Visit Now

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Verified By Boom is written by Divya Chandra, edited by Adrija Bose

and designed by H Shiva Roy Chowdhury.

If you have suggestions about this newsletter or want us to conduct workshops on specific topics, drop us a line at 👉 [email protected] and we will get back to you in a jiffy. Thanks for reading. See you next week.👋

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