The International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) is now accepting applications for its “training of trainers” opportunity for individuals in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).
The centre announced this in a news report on its website. The training is part of ICFJ’s Disarming Disinformation, a three-year global project with lead funding from the Scripps Howard Fund.
“Our goal is to equip journalists and community leaders worldwide with the knowledge and skills to empower their local communities. We also aim to equip professionals passionate about tackling disinformation to hold workshops and events for their communities, help more people spot and push back against harmful, false information that can undermine democracy, endanger people’s well-being and more.
“Effectively combating disinformation and fostering healthy, fact-based information ecosystems requires community-level awareness and action,” ICFJ Senior Program Director Paul Rothman said.
This opportunity is not limited to journalists, but applicants must have previous experience with disinformation issues and the credibility needed to build trust with their future trainees.
Applicants will be invited to attend a four-hour online course (in English) led by The Poynter Institute’s MediaWiki. Five applicants will be selected from each region to attend in-person training.
Each in-person participant will receive a $2,000 grant to implement their community events and workshops.
Applications close on August 4, 2023, and the online course will commence three days later, on August 7, from 12-4 pm GMT.
The immersive online course will cover a wide range of essential topics such as news literacy, media and information literacy, the seven mis- and disinformation types, and fact-checking tools such as geolocation.
The centre noted that candidates who do not attend the online course will not be considered for the subsequent in-person training and grant selection process.
Those who want to attend the online course but do not want to be considered for the grant selection can select this option in the application form.
After the training, grantees will return to their countries, where they will be expected to develop and organise their events and workshops for at least 60 people before June 2024.
