JEDDAH, 19th July, 2023 (WAM) — On July 18th, the Union of OIC News Agencies (UNA), in collaboration with international video news agency Ruptly, have held a virtual workshop on ‘How to Apply Verification Principles to News Coverage’ for over 500 media professionals from across the OIC Member States.
Opening the online session, UNA Acting Director General, Mohammed Abd Rabbo Al-Yami, stressed that fake news is one of the most dangerous phenomena threatening public confidence in the media, especially in light social media used by many around the world to access or verify news: "The challenge has now become greater for journalists with the rapid development in the techniques of fabricating content and media disinformation, as studies indicate that fake news has turned into an industry of its own with writers and editors hired to create fake stories to increase views site traffic."
He also stressed the importance of verifying media content, determining its credibility and background, and identifying the necessary skills and applications required for these processes to maintain our credibility and avoid falling into the trap of fake content.
Al-Yami thanked Ruptly for its fruitful cooperation with UNA and its keenness to share its wealth of expertise in video and journalistic investigations with media professionals in Islamic countries.
Ruptly CEO, Dinara Toktosunova, stressed that accuracy is always been essential element in the agency's work since day one, praising Ruptly’s development of a variety of tools to help verify photos and videos it receives, especially from social media sources.
She highlighted Ruptly’s development of a special Verification Unit to ensure accuracy across all its content, and indicated the agency’s willingness to share verification tools and expertise with partners and clients, commenting: “It is always a privilege to collaborate with UNA and to bring its members, and our peers, an invaluable look at the role of verification in news today. We hope that by offering our workshops to this prestigious audience the advances we have made in the field of video verification might become common practice across all media. Today, technological innovations mean every phone and camera can become an important source of news, and only if coupled with an equally innovative approach to scrutinizing content accuracy can the media industry maintain and advance its credibility. We look forward to continuing to co-operate with UNA across various areas in the near future.”
Head of the Ruptly Verification Unit, Marie Sakellariou, provided a comprehensive presentation on methods of verification and media content validation during the workshop, and led participants through key elements of the verification processes for newsrooms to help them learn about the basic work that must be done before publishing and distributing video content.
Participants were also introduced to tools and resources that can be used to verify the authenticity of photos and videos, helping establish provenance and whether they belong to their stated location and date.
Under the instruction of Sakellariou, participants in the workshop carried out practical training during which they were able to identify videos locations, their accuracy, and whether there were duplicates, using a number of online tools.
Notably, the workshop comes within the framework of the training programs offered by the Union of OIC News Agencies for the benefit of media professionals in the OIC Member States.
Advisor to the Strategic Vision Group ‘Russia – the Islamic World’, Anna Belikova, indicated that the session falls under the framework of cooperation between UNA and international media institutions.
She applauded UNA's effective participation in several prominent conferences held in Russia, such as the "Kazan Forum 2023" last May, during which the Union organised an extended media session entitled ‘Russia – the Islamic World: Media Cooperation for Sustainable Development and Economic Prosperity’ in cooperation with Tatmedia.
Belikova also noted UNA's contribution to organising several media forums aimed at bringing together leaders from across international media, including the ‘Russia – the Islamic World: Practical Steps in Media Cooperation’ conference, held in Moscow in December 2022 and at which UNA and Ruptly signed a memorandum of cooperation.