NOFO: Countering Disinformation Training for Vernacular Language Journalists (India)

Project Goal

• This project aims to build the skills of journalists to counter disinformation and create a network of well-informed journalists who believe in verifying facts before publishing or airing them.

Project Objectives

• Over 100 journalists working in regional languages will be trained in fact checking and they would become responsible journalists who will help newsrooms and newspapers to stop airing and publishing unverified news.
• These 100-plus journalists will create a network of journalists in their regions and India to advocate for the verification of news before competing for breaking news. These journalists will become dependable fact checkers to prevent  fake news in their respective newsrooms.
• In the long-term this training will help minimizing the spread of misinformation and disinformation in India and then will slowly set a trend for media in the whole of the Indo-Pacific to practice verification of news before publishing or airing them.

Funding Information

• Total available funding: $175,000
• Award Ceiling: $175,000
• Award Floor: $100,000
• Anticipated program start date:  August 01, 2024
• Length of performance period:  18 months
• Number of awards anticipated: 1 award.

Expected Deliverables

• This funding opportunity seeks to train 100 to 125 vernacular journalists to counter disinformation in their respective newsrooms. The participating cohort should be linguistically representative, reporting in India’s five regional languages, and geographically representative, working in New Delhi and U.S. Mission’s four consular regions. The trainings will occur in a phased manner within 18 months.
• The grantee will target reporters from vernacular press, television, and leading digital platforms that report in vernacular languages.  The grantee will focus on reporters who work in the field and are vulnerable to spreading disinformation, potentially because they have limited resources and knowledge to differentiate between real news and fake news.
• The training will help them with skills to check facts and create a network of responsible journalists across media houses in five metropolitan cities in India.  The initiative will include a mix of classroom learning, online training and practical training, workshops, and field visits such as (but not limited to):
  • 30 hours of classroom training under each language, in-person and virtual, homework, demonstration of skills and submission of work on Fact Checking.
  • Workshops led by U.S. and Indian experts (such as editors, professors, and leadership from the state press academies).
  • Hands-on practicums taught by reputable fact-checkers from institutions like GNIT.
  • Resources for participants to share with their media house colleagues and leadership about fact checking and its importance for journalists and news consumers.
  • An award/recognition at conclusion of program for demonstrated responsible journalism/fact checking by one of the participants.
  • Subscription(s) to fact checking software/networks to encourage participants to continue utilizing skills developed during this program.

Project Audience(s)

• The grant will target a cohort of 20 to 25 vernacular language journalists from print, television, and digital reporters from leading television networks in each of Mission India’s five consular districts (New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, and Hyderabad), for a total of 100-125 total trained journalists.  At least 40 percent of the total trained journalists must be women journalists.   These reporters can be from any of the districts within the Consular Region and should be between the age of 20 to 40 years, should work primarily in the field, and preferably be junior within their organizations. Participants should not have received fact checking training in the past.  Journalists from underprivileged backgrounds from any religion would be given priority.
• A larger gathering of journalists can be accommodated in workshops for awareness building, but the classroom training should focus on each of the 20-25 primary journalist cohorts enrolled for the training.
• The secondary audience is the public that speaks these five regional languages and relies on local television stations as their main sources of news.

Eligibility Criteria

• The following organizations are eligible to apply:
  • Not-for-profit organizations in India
  • Civil society/non-governmental organizations in India
  • Think tanks in India
  • Public and private educational institutions in India
  • Public International Organizations and Governmental institutions in India.

For more information, visit Grants.gov.