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Fact-Checking in journalism

£5800.00£5200.00

Course Introduction

This course introduces participants to the principles, methods, and professional practices of fact-checking and verification in journalism. It focuses on identifying false, misleading, manipulated, or unsupported claims and determining whether information can be reliably verified before publication.

Participants will develop practical skills in source evaluation, claim identification, online verification, reverse image searching, social media verification, open-source research, data and document checking, misinformation and disinformation analysis, and evidence-based reporting. The course also addresses the ethical responsibilities of fact-checkers, including accuracy, transparency, fairness, source protection, and avoiding amplification of false information.

Course Content

Introduction to Fact-Checking and Verification

  1. What is fact-checking?

  2. The role of verification in journalism

  3. Fact-checking vs. investigative journalism

  4. Identifying checkable claims

  5. Facts, opinions, interpretations and allegations

  6. Assessing the newsworthiness of a claim

  7. Understanding misinformation, disinformation and malinformation

  8. Common forms of misleading information

  9. Establishing reliable evidence

  10. Accuracy and transparency in journalism

Source Evaluation and Research

  1. Identifying primary and secondary sources

  2. Evaluating source credibility

  3. Assessing expertise and authority

  4. Finding original documents and evidence

  5. Cross-checking information across multiple sources

  6. Government and institutional sources

  7. Academic and research sources

  8. Expert interviews and verification

  9. Identifying anonymous and unreliable sources

  10. Detecting conflicts of interest and potential bias

Digital and Social Media Verification

  1. Verifying information on social media

  2. Identifying the original source of online content

  3. Reverse image searching

  4. Verifying photographs and videos

  5. Geolocation and visual verification

  6. Checking dates, locations and context

  7. Identifying recycled or miscaptioned content

  8. Verifying social media accounts

  9. Detecting manipulated images and videos

  10. Basic verification of AI-generated or synthetic content

  11. Archiving online evidence

  12. Documenting the verification process

Data, Documents and Evidence

  1. Reading and analysing official documents

  2. Checking statistics and numerical claims

  3. Understanding datasets

  4. Identifying misleading statistics

  5. Checking graphs and visualisations

  6. Comparing claims with official data

  7. Using public databases and records

  8. Checking research papers and reports

  9. Identifying inconsistencies in documents

  10. Building an evidence trail

  11. Recording sources and citations

  12. Presenting evidence clearly to audiences

Fact-Checking Political and Public Claims

  1. Fact-checking statements by politicians and public officials

  2. Checking claims made during elections

  3. Verifying campaign statements

  4. Fact-checking government announcements

  5. Checking claims about public policy

  6. Verifying economic and social statistics

  7. Fact-checking health, science and environmental claims

  8. Identifying misleading comparisons

  9. Understanding context and historical claims

  10. Applying consistent standards across political actors

  11. Right of reply

  12. Avoiding partisan or ideological bias

Publishing and Communicating Fact-Checks

  1. Selecting evidence

  2. Writing a clear fact-check

  3. Presenting the original claim accurately

  4. Explaining the evidence

  5. Providing context

  6. Reaching a fair conclusion

  7. Using ratings and classifications responsibly

  8. Citing sources transparently

  9. Correcting errors

  10. Avoiding unnecessary amplification of false claims

  11. Writing fact-checks for digital audiences

  12. Using graphics and multimedia to explain evidence

  13. Social media distribution

  14. Maintaining editorial independence

Practical Final Project

Participants conduct a complete fact-checking investigation based on a real or simulated claim.

The project should include:

  • The original claim

  • Why the claim is being checked

  • Sources and evidence

  • Verification methodology

  • Supporting documents/data

  • Interviews or expert evidence where appropriate

  • Analysis

  • Final assessment of the claim

  • Links/references to supporting evidence

  • A completed fact-check article

Participants present their fact-check and receive feedback on accuracy, methodology, source quality, evidence, fairness, transparency and clarity.

Methodology

The course uses a practical, evidence-based and research-oriented approach.

Short lectures

The trainer introduces verification principles, research methods, misinformation concepts and professional standards.

Case studies

Participants analyse real examples of misinformation, misleading claims, manipulated media and successful fact-checking investigations.

Hands-on verification exercises

Participants work with online claims, photographs, videos, documents and datasets to determine what can and cannot be verified.

Source evaluation exercises

Participants compare different sources and assess their reliability, authority, independence and potential bias.

Digital verification workshops

Participants practise techniques such as reverse image searching, source tracing, geolocation and online archival research.

Data and document analysis

Participants examine statistics, reports, datasets and official documents to identify errors, inconsistencies and misleading presentations.

Fact-checking simulations

Participants work as a fact-checking team responding to claims made by politicians, public institutions, media organisations and social media users.

Peer review

Participants review each other's fact-checks and assess the quality of the evidence and reasoning.

Final fact-checking project

Participants produce a complete, publication-ready fact-check based on a selected claim.

Target Audience

The course is suitable for:

  • Early-career journalists

  • Professional journalists

  • Fact-checkers

  • Investigative journalists

  • Political journalists

  • Digital journalists

  • Editors and news producers

  • Researchers

  • Media and communications professionals

  • Social media and content professionals

  • Civil society and public-interest organisations

  • Journalism students

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course, participants should be able to:

  1. Explain the principles and role of fact-checking in journalism.

  2. Identify claims that can be meaningfully verified.

  3. Distinguish facts, opinions, allegations and interpretations.

  4. Evaluate the reliability and credibility of sources.

  5. Locate and assess primary evidence.

  6. Verify photographs, videos and social media content.

  7. Conduct basic open-source research.

  8. Analyse documents, datasets and statistics.

  9. Identify misinformation, disinformation and misleading content.

  10. Fact-check political, public-policy and institutional claims.

  11. Apply consistent and transparent verification standards.

  12. Build a clear evidence trail for a fact-check.

  13. Write accurate, fair and accessible fact-checking articles.

  14. Communicate complex evidence effectively to different audiences.

  15. Apply ethical principles relating to accuracy, fairness, transparency and corrections.

Language(s): English and Arabic 

Duration: One Week

Certificate of Completion: Upon successful completion of the programme, participants will receive a Certificate of Completion.