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Description
2020 was a year of unprecedented penetration of science into the media. The COVID-19 pandemic quickly became a central topic, remained important for the rest of the year and attention was drawn to experts as never before. No-one has been prepared for such a turn and it became evident that the media have serious trouble covering scientific topics. One of the main reasons for the latter is the transformation the media sector has been experiencing: lay-offs among editorial boards resulted in the loss of specialized fields in journalism and made it impossible for journalists to specialize in a given field they acquire in-depth knowledge of. Surveys among journalists carried out by the Association of European Journalists (AEJ) have shown that very few journalists develop their professional skills through regular training. At the same time the majority of the scientists fail to present the topics they work on in a manner which is comprehensible for the media and the general public. The latter opens a wide door to pseudoscience and disinformation, which have detrimental consequences on public health and the status of the society in general. This project aims at close cooperation between journalists and scientists. The project envisages a series of mutual training and work on checking the facts. The goal is to build a sustainable model of relations between the different participants in the project so that they can easily keep their mutually beneficial cooperation after the project ends. This partnership will also take place on a special platform for checking the facts and a council of experts will be set up for it. The project partners are an organization of journalists, a resource centre, Bulgarian research organizations and a Norwegian organization specialized in media literacy. Each of the partners will contribute with its capacity to setting up the joint team to carry out training and check the facts.
Summary of project results
The project is aimed to address the growing misinformation and the spread of fake news, especially when there is a lack of skills in searching for and interpreting scientific data and arguments. The activities involve close collaboration between journalists and scholars on a specialized fact-checking platform.
The project activities included the development of a training module for journalists and scholars, 78 published fact-checks on the first Bulgarian platform Factcheck.bg, a handbook for covering climate change, the video series "Let Me Explain to You," the podcast "The Facts Speak," as well as instructional videos on using free online fact-checking tools. Four regional training sessions were conducted in the country, and materials from these sessions were disseminated by two national media outlets (NOVA and Darik), further expanding the project''s audience.
AEJ-Bulgaria solidified its image as an organization capable of organizing training in fact-checking and media literacy. The project''s training sessions were led by experienced journalists and fact-checkers who authored a handbook for journalists on fact-checking in the digital environment. Publications on Factcheck.bg reached 400,000 users. Over 200 journalists and members of the academic community were trained online and in-person. The podcast "The Facts Speak" produced 7 episodes, listened to at least 8,000 times on the website and additionally on the project''s social media. The 5 instructional videos on fact-checking with digital tools were viewed 30,000 times by the project''s completion.
Summary of bilateral results
Norwegian partners from Norsensus shared valuable experiences with their Bulgarian counterparts and participants in organized webinars. Examples of effectively integrating media literacy into secondary education programs were provided. The webinars offered a broad audience from different parts of the country the opportunity to participate and ask questions firsthand.