The training themed on the crucial subject of “Election Reporting and Fact-Checking” got concluded with high spirits of media persons thriving for principled, functional, and considerable reporting practices.

The training themed on the crucial subject of “Election Reporting and Fact-Checking” got concluded with high spirits of media persons thriving for principled, functional, and considerable reporting practices. The three-day training kicked off on 26th November. 2022 and got accomplished on 28th November 2022. The workshop was designed for aspiring, experienced, and savvy journalists from Punjab inducted at the provincial capital Lahore.

Commenced by the Friedrich Naumann foundation for human rights, press freedom, and community building, Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, commonly FNF, the training was well-suited and practically aligned with the directions for the journalists. Under the umbrella of FNF, the senior program manager at FNF, Mr. Muhammad Aamir Amjad anticipated an impactful workshop that is to inculcate knowledge of election reporting and fact-checking in the participants.

Trainer Mr. Muhammad Badar Alam briefing the participants about the training module

Master Trainers of the training included the veteran journalist Mr. Muhammad Badar Alam, formerly associated with The News, Jang, and Dawn. He was accompanied by Ms. Amal Gani, an investigative journalist associated with the Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN). Both of the trainers inculcated various subject-matter information and critical knowledge to the participants of the training.

Day 1 of the training was all about the conduct of an election with special reference to Pakistan. The topic revolved around the following aspects; Legal – from constitutional provisions to Elections Act 2017. Administrative – from delimitation of constituency boundaries and gerrymandering to election staff, and election documents (such as ballot paper, ECP forms, and result notification). It also focused on the conflicts about elections – returning officers, the high court’s election tribunals, and Supreme Court, etc. Similarly, the participants were lectured about the usage of data in election reporting. It included data entry techniques, data visualization, data wrapper, Flourish applications, and other online tools to make quick graphics happen without a design department.

Alongside, one of the participants of the training Mr. Sarmad Shahbaz, while talking to The Dayspring, marked the comments,

“This workshop is an impactful platform for trainees and aspiring journalists. Being a young media person, I’m already feeling the knowledge transfer giving constructive results as seen in participants’ discussions and debates. I look forward to the healthy and practical activities that can be followed in real-life scenarios”

Second day of the training focused on the burning issue of Misinformation, disinformation, and mal-information and how to cross-check them. It was designated for the theme of Fact Checking in reporting. Various activities were done to learn about the different types of election stories and how to do them ethically.

Participant Mr. Sarmad Shahbaz explaining the points about Mal-Information, Mis-Information and Cyber Security

On the final day, the participants were given a briefing about the election reporting with its union to fact-check. All the participants were involved in group discussions and cross-sectional dialogue on the importance of fact-checking in election reporting. They were briefed about an election reporter’s safety kit: The dos and don’ts to keep oneself safe while covering an election.

The workshop got concluded with the distribution of professional certifications among the participants and their ambition in putting forward the efforts for soundly maintained election reporting having a meticulous focus on fact-checking.