The European Fact-Checking Standards Network (EFCSN) has started a training and mentorship program for young fact-checking organisations, pairing mentees with verified members of the EFCSN as mentors, with the support of Porticus.
The program supports free and independent media organisations, many of them based in countries where such organisations face difficulty, helping them grow and develop their operations in line with the standards of independence, transparency, and journalistic quality outlined in the European Code of Standards for Independent Fact-Checking Organisations.
Ten fact-checking organisations from different Central and Eastern European countries were selected to participate as mentees, including: Factcheck.bg (Bulgaria); FactReview (Greece); Internews Kosova (Kosova); CivilNet (Armenia); Lupiga (Croatia); CESI – Center for Education, Counselling and Research (Libela) (Croatia); Digital Skills Coalition Belarus / VšĮ DigitalHub, LT (Belarus); Medizin Transparent (Austria); Eurocomunicare (Romania); and Amfora.al (Albania).
Four experienced organisations, Maldita (Spain), DPA (Germany), Newtral (Spain) and Faktoje (Albania), were selected as mentors and will be paired with mentees to work on specific needs of these organisations by sharing experiences and best practices.
Participating mentees will receive a grant for their participation. Those organisations that are not yet members of the EFCSN also will be given fee waivers for applying to the EFCSN to encourage continued collaboration with the community.
The program will also include training sessions to help the organisations expand their fact-checking capacities and establish procedures, as well as prepare them for the EFCSN’s application process.
Training sessions will cover topics relevant to growing fact-checking organisations, such as Editorial Management; Digital Research and Verification; Archiving; AI for Fact-Checkers; Communication; Business Models and Fundraising; and Transparency.
For both mentors and mentees, the program also provides networking opportunities and strengthens the cross-border connections between fact-checking organisations across Europe.
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