SAMPOD

Gen Z journalism misinformation project kickstarts in Samoa

The Samoa Gen Z Misinformation Project officially kickstarts on Friday 22nd October at the National University of Samoa with over 90 journalism students participating.

Implemented by the Samoa Alliance of Media Practitioners for Development (SAMPOD), the project builds the skills of journalism students in managing misinformation in the process of news gathering.

Fridays workshop will introduce the students to the concept of misinformation, disinformation and malinformation in a special presentation by Esther Chan, a representative of First Draft, a nonprofit coalition which works on empowering people with knowledge and tools to build resilience against harmful, false, and misleading information.

Funded by the International Federation of Journalists the workshop is part of the IFJs region wide project on “Building The Capacity Of Media Associations To Assess Regulatory Environments And Strengthen Professional Journalism In The Pacific.”

The project was initiated by SAMPOD in response to the role that misinformation on social media has played in Samoas elections.

“The aim of the project is to strengthen the future of journalism in Samoa by equipping young aspiring journalists with the tools to distil online information in the production of their stories,” said Lagipoiva Cherelle Jackson, of SAMPOD.

The first workshop is facilitated by Senior Lecturer of the Journalism School Misa Vicky Lepou and organized by SAMPOD Co-Founder Rudy Bartley.

“We are excited by the workshop and the interactive nature of these very important issues for our students,” said Misa.

The workshop will be followed by other activities including fact checking case studies and a campaign to counter misinformation online.