ICFJ will consider candidates on a rolling basis and will conduct interviews as soon as appropriate candidates are identified. Applications may close if Fellows are selected, so please submit applications as soon as possible.

TruthBuzz Fellowship: Fact-Checking that Makes the Truth Go Viral

With the support of Craig Newmark Philanthropies, the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) is expanding its TruthBuzz initiative, designed to find new ways to help verified facts reach the widest possible audience.

In 2018, TruthBuzz will recruit five full-time Fellows to work in newsrooms in some of the most populous nations: Brazil, India, Indonesia, Nigeria and the United States. Modeled on the ICFJ Knight Fellowships, TruthBuzz will embed experts in these outlets to help reporters adopt compelling storytelling methods that improve the reach and impact of fact-checking and help “inoculate” audiences against false or misleading information.

The goal of TruthBuzz: increase audience trust in news media by communicating fact-checked information in a compelling, shareable way. TruthBuzz Fellows will be change-makers who can drive the adoption of new ways of making facts go as viral. ICFJ will collaborate with First Draft, a project of the Shorenstein Center at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

TruthBuzz was originally launched as a global contest to find new ways to help verified facts reach the widest possible audience. The winning entries from 2017, which included caricatures of politicians, time-lapse videos and an app modeled on a classic video game, identified novel methods to combat misinformation and share solid and instantly understandable fact-checking.

Want to be a TruthBuzz Fellow?

Are you a media expert with a track-record of success leading innovative projects in newsrooms? Do you have sharp audience-engagement skills? Interested in deploying your multimedia savvy to combat misinformation in your country? If so, consider applying for a full-time, six-month TruthBuzz Fellowship.

The TruthBuzz Fellowship is only open to English-speaking media professionals already working in one of the target countries: Brazil, India, Indonesia, Nigeria and the United States. The Fellowship will start in summer 2018, between June and August.

Fellows will be embedded with two to three partner media organizations in each of the countries to spur the production of compelling stories that fact-check and debunk misinformation. All fellows will receive a monthly honorarium as well as a professional allowance to supplement their work with partner newsrooms.

ICFJ will consider candidates on a rolling basis and will conduct interviews as soon as appropriate candidates are identified. Applications may close if Fellows are selected before the deadline, so please submit applications as soon as possible. The Fellowship in the U.S. will be full-time for a period of 12 months. To read the full criteria and TruthBuzz Fellow FAQ, click here.

ICFJ will gather the selected TruthBuzz Fellows at ICFJ’s office in Washington, D.C., for an orientation. First Draft News and ICFJ will provide additional training to the Fellows and the partner newsrooms in-country. The training will cover both the principles and techniques of fact-checking and verification as well as training on visual storytelling.

The Fellows in this program will be expected to share and communicate their innovations through ICFJ’s social media channel and our online platform, IJNet, which offers resources, tips and expert advice for journalists in seven languages. Over the course of the fellowship, there may be opportunities for TruthBuzz Fellows to travel to conferences to share their work with wider professional audiences.

Preferred newsroom partner criteria:

• The partner newsroom has to be located in one of the five target countries: Brazil, India, Indonesia, Nigeria and the United States
• The partner should be engaged in regular fact-checking and be interested in innovative projects that take fact-checking viral.
• The partner should have infrastructure to support the TruthBuzz Fellow including different digital teams (for example: an audience-engagement team, video team, interactives desk). The partner newsroom should be willing and able to continue the Fellow’s work after the program ends.
• The partner should be willing to designate a point-person or two to liase with ICFJ and First Draft staff.
• The partner newsroom’s reporting must adhere to the highest ethical standards of fact-checking.
• If you are interested in becoming a newsroom partner, please reach out to Cassandra Balfour: cbalfour@icfj.org and Alexsandra Canedo: acanedo@icfj.org.