The formation of a Global Council to Build Trust in Media and Fight Misinformation was announced at the International Journalism Festival in Perugia, Italy. The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) and The World Editors Forum are founding members of the Council, along with the Ethical Journalism Network, European Broadcasting Union, Global Editors Network, Global Forum for Media Development and the Online News Association.
These organizations represent hundreds of broadcasters and publishers across the globe and are uniting around this single issue to facilitate realistic, practical and workable solutions to build trust in media and fight misinformation.
The Council will be non-political and will come together around the core issues of information sharing, innovation, collaboration and coordination of initiatives and ownership of WAN-IFRA’s narrative in the wider ecosystem.
WAN-IFRA CEO Vincent Peyrègne welcomed the initiative and said, “Misinformation is a menace worldwide – but most newsrooms simply don’t have the resources or access to US and European funded initiatives. Sharing who is doing what and emerging best practice is vital for trust in journalism, and ultimately the health of open societies. The council’s aim to connect, collect and share is important for the industry.”
The first action of the Council is to work together on a repository of resources and map initiatives from across the industry to better inform the global journalism community of ongoing efforts regardless of size funding or location. This repository will be added to through the strong networks and memberships of the founding Council members as well as public submissions.
The next stage of the Council’s activities will be to connect individuals, organizations and initiatives from across their respective networks with anyone who could add to or benefit from them. Also, awareness of complementary work or initiatives will allow funding to go further and avoid unnecessary duplication from within the community.
