Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

WhatsApp misinformation course goes viral

08/08/2022

A digital learning course on mis and disinformation delivered via the messaging platform WhatsApp has gone viral in Sudan.

The first seven days after publication has seen a surge in uptake, with over eight thousand people signed up and participants who have completed the course are proudly displaying their certificates on social media.

The course, delivered in partnership with the British Council and funded by UKAid, aims to show the damaging impact of disinformation and fake news and to offer practical solutions to help spot and counter false information. The self-paced free course is being aimed at both the media and civil society, and is designed to be easily accessible with no expensive data downloads.

False information does get through The course has been written by Derek Ivens, a Thomson Foundation trainer with nine years' experience training in Sudan. He worked with Sudanese colleagues to make sure the course, which is available in Arabic and English, is relevant to the audience.

There are lots of training courses in how to spot when a social media account is fake, or whether a picture has been manipulated, he says. But the advice is often rather technical, and may involve software not easily available in Sudan. Our emphasis is to show that anyone who asks the right questions, and uses their judgement, can start to make a difference - and to stand up for the truth.

Disinformation affects almost every person in Sudan - so it makes sense to use a platform which is accessible to as many people as possible, he adds. Sudan has been targeted by people or organisations who want to destabilise the country. Despite some efforts by internet and social media companies, false information does get through - so its important that journalists and society at large know the truth about whats happening.

Disinformation affects almost every person in Sudan

Derek Ivens, TF trainer in Sudan

Reaching the hard to reach The course has spread across Sudan with participants coming from Darfur, Port Sudan and North and West Kordofan amongst many others.

We are delighted that this course is being used across the country by people who are often hard to reach and have little access to media training. We are seeing enrolments in the Internally Displaced Persons camps in El Fasher for example, says Helen Scott, Director of the foundation's Sudan courses. We first developed delivering training via WhatsApp during the Covid-19 pandemic when we were asked by the British Embassy in Khartoum to provide a fast response learning tool for journalists. We worked with the team in Sudan on content and Hosam El Nagar, the foundation's Director of Innovation and Learning pioneered the tech side.

Thomson Foundation has been working in Sudan continuously since 2012.

How to take the course The course is available in Arabic and English

To register for the Arabic language course follow these instructions:

1) Open the WhatsApp app and send the word Sudan in a message to the number 1 903-459-6893.

2) Or click on the following link from your phone https://wa.me/ 19034596893/?text=SUDAN and send the word Sudan in the conversation that appears.

To register for the English language version follow these instructions:

1) Open the WhatsApp app and send the word MISINF to the number 1 903-459-6893 via WhatsApp.

2) Or click on the following link from your phone https://wa.me/ 19034596893/?text=MISINF and send the word MISINF in the conversation that appears.

Our work in Sudan

Covid-19 Training in Sudan gets smart on WhatsApp

Giving Sudanese a voice in rebuilding their economy

Shifting the focus: Sudan on the edge of change

Top illustration: Michelle Thompson

Helen Scott Editorial Associate

About: Helen is an experienced trainer, consultant and project manager with a background in programme making and management. She is the Director of Thomson Foundation's Sudan programme.

Explore our projects across the globe
LINK: http://www.thomsonfoundation.org/latest/whatsapp-misinformation-course...
See more stories from thompsonfoundation

More from Thomson

22/05/2023

Unveiling a seminal course on AI ethics in the newsroom

The Thomson Foundation is proud to unveil a pioneering free, online training course designed to help newsrooms address a defining issue of the modern age: the e...

12/05/2023

60 years: Our alumni s stories

Sixty years after it was founded Thomson Foundation - now joined by the Berlin based Thomson Media, continues to innovate. Its blended approach to life-long lea...

09/05/2023

Investigative journalism competition Western Balkans and Trkiye

Journalists from Western Balkans countries and T rkiye are invited to submit their investigative stories for the EU Award for Investigative Journalism 2023. On...

06/05/2023

Media under siege: how journalists are being silenced.

The onslaught of false news against real news is unprecedented. In the Middle East, an alarming trend of people doubting published news is overwhelming, Mohamm...

04/05/2023

Why Moldova is ahead of Romania in Media freedom

This article is written by Vitalie Cojocari, a journalist and broadcaster with Euronews in Romania. He is a mentor for the Thomson Media project EU support for ...

26/04/2023

Connect 6: The power of mentoring

Three months after Thomson Foundation offered six young journalists a once-in-a-lifetime chance', its world-class mentoring programme Connect 6' is re...

25/04/2023

Let's hear it for audio

Despite reports to the contrary, radio isn't dead. In fact, not only has it been revived but its combined with its close cousins, the podcast and the long r...

25/03/2023

Finding their voice - the women bringing parity to Pakistan's media

To increase women's participation; these four words, written down in four seconds, in a proposal can take months, if not years to achieve. Especially, wh...

24/03/2023

Rwanda: developing a course for investigative journalists in Rwanda.

When I started out as an investigative journalist, there were few practising journalists in Kenya to learn from or manuals that I could read to sharpen my skill...

23/03/2023

Journalift: Access all languages

Journalists in the Western Balkans have been given access to free resources and training in their own languages thanks to a unique platform launched by Thomson ...

22/03/2023

Ukraine: collaboration in time of war

One million refugees have been welcomed into Germany since the Russian invasion who aside from being far from home have lost contact with their community and in...

21/03/2023

Building the Resilience and Relevance of independent media

Millions of people in Tajikistan have read, watched and listened to an extraordinary social media campaign which has clearly shown the population's hunger f...

08/03/2023

Valley Voices: Accessing women s voices

It's August in Pakistan and much of the country is underwater. Catastrophic flooding has killed hundreds, left millions homeless and destroyed infrastructur...

15/02/2023

She Leads Media: Bettina Fellowship scales up at Africa Media Festival

A strong, fearless and effective media, where talent is recognised and rewarded regardless of gender. That's the goal of She Leads Media: Bettina Fellowshi...

07/02/2023

Bad news for false news: how we re countering misinformation in Sudan

Our pioneering WhatsApp course is leading the way in training journalists and citizens to spot misinformation and disinformation in Sudan - a country targeted b...

03/02/2023

Valley Voices: Empowering women in rural Pakistan

The finale of the third Valley Voices project saw women journalists and writers gain confidence in writing about some of the more controversial topics facing wo...

23/01/2023

Connect 6: Thomson Foundation launches mentor programme

Take six of the brightest young journalists and connect them to six of the best in the industry and you have the recipe for Connect 6', a new, world-class ...

10/01/2023

Unique new course on the art of writing news analysis

You're a journalist and news breaks that Pele, arguably the greatest footballer the world has ever known, has died. A colleague in your newsroom is assigned...

14/12/2022

A mobile masterclass for South African award winners

Two former winners of the Vodacom Young Journalist of the Year award in South Africa have finally been treated to their prize of an all-expenses paid trip to Lo...

08/12/2022

Why female journalists in Pakistan don t like coffee

Sabin Agha is a Pakistan-based documentary filmmaker, multimedia journalist and a blogger. She has been teaching women journalists at Tribal News Network (TNN)...

29/11/2022

Yashraj Sharma, Young Journalist Award 2022 Winner

Yashraj Sharma is the interim editor of the online news portal of The Kashmir Walla. He is the winner of the Thomson Foundation's Young Journalist Award 202...

25/11/2022

Yashraj Sharma, Young Journalist Award 2022 Finalist

Yashraj Sharma is the interim editor of the online news portal of The Kashmir Walla. He is a finalist in Thomson Foundation's Young Journalist Award 2022. ...

24/11/2022

Jyoti Yadav, Young Journalist Award 2022 Finalist

Jyoti Yadav is a journalist from New Delhi, working for India's fastest growing news website The Print. She is a finalist in Thomson Foundation's Young ...

23/11/2022

Carlos Ral Kestler, Young Journalist Award 2022 Finalist

Carlos Ra l Kestler is a 23-year-old journalist from Guatemala. He is a finalist in Thomson Foundation's Young Journalist Award 2022. Every time a tyre t...

21/11/2022

Empowered - a year on from winning the Young Journalist Award

One year ago, I woke up and was surprised to find out the great news that I was selected as the winner of Thomson Foundations Young Journalist Award 2021. This ...

07/11/2022

How to write news stories better

Ewen Macaskill introduces the second in his series of news writing courses for the Thomson Foundation - Advanced Writing: The art of storytelling Storytelling...

04/11/2022

New safety course for Ukrainian journalists

During a time of war, it's essential that journalists are prepared for any eventuality, however unlikely. With that in mind, Thomson Foundation has respon...

20/10/2022

Revealing the 2022 Young Journalist Award finalists

It has been tough three weeks for the panel of judges at the UK Foreign Press Association (FPA) who had the unenviable task of selecting three finalists for the...

19/10/2022

Environmental journalism courses now available in Arabic

Three landmark environmental training courses devised by the Thomson Foundation have been translated into Arabic as part of a major push to guide and inform loc...

28/09/2022

Young Journalist Award shortlist revealed

A remarkable number of entries arrived from all over the world for this years Young Journalist Award - Cameroon to Colombia, Ukraine to Uganda and Egypt to Ecua...

12/09/2022

Why Pakistan needs more women leaders

This article is written by Hudaibia Iftikhar, a blogger working in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province of Pakistan. Despite being highly educated, she holds a ...

23/08/2022

Western Balkans footprints: Innovation in media training makes an impact

Running a media organisation in the Western Balkans (WB) is far from easy. A region beset by instability, corruption with challenges to media freedom which prov...

08/08/2022

WhatsApp misinformation course goes viral

A digital learning course on mis and disinformation delivered via the messaging platform WhatsApp has gone viral in Sudan. The first seven days after publicat...

28/07/2022

Why the environment crisis doesn t make news in Serbia

Dina or evi is a journalist with the Centre for Investigative Journalism of Serbia (CINS). She has won a number of national and international awards for her w...

01/07/2022

Fresh perspectives: Young Journalist Award 2022

Thomson Foundation is celebrating 60 years of promoting excellence in journalism and to mark the occasion, we're offering six rising stars the chance to con...

24/06/2022

Finding Africa s new voice

Hello, can you hear me? The zoom screen springs to life and the responses quickly follow. Yes, we can. Good morning . The greetings come from Kenya, Nigeri...

20/06/2022

A new chapter in a migration story

The crisis in Ukraine has again focused world attention on the plight of refugees and mass migration. It has also challenged journalists to report on the issue ...

10/05/2022

Changing the way news and stories about Africa are told

The moment you see your byline next to a story is a magical moment for any journalist. It brings with it a sense of relief, pride and hope that you'll get n...

06/05/2022

International success for Montenegrin mobile journalist

Success in our training programmes is measured in many ways but one of the most rewarding is reading or watching powerful stories produced by young journalists ...

25/04/2022

Shifting the focus: Sudan on the edge of change

A pioneering band of creatives in Sudan are promoting social change through photography. The Thomson Media training for digital media entrepreneurs formed part ...

31/03/2022

Telegram course: Reacting to a chemical attack

Chemical and biological weapons may be banned but that has not stopped them being used in recent conflicts and for journalists reporting on the war in Ukraine k...

25/01/2022

A vote of confidence: Empowering women politicians in Gagauzia

The look of politics in Gagauzia, the small autonomous territory in southern Moldova, is decidedly male. Just two of the 35 members of local parliament are wome...

13/01/2022

The Bettina Fund: Transforming women's careers

Eleven women who participated in the inaugural Bettina Fund - Women in Media Leadership programme say it will transform their careers as they have gained confid...

18/12/2021

Investigating Moldova: Journalists pick up two awards

Stories on ecology and corruption, developed with Thomson Media support, are among the best investigations of the year. By Dima Stoianov, media support expert ...

17/12/2021

Boosting media portrayals of minorities in the Western Balkans

Media in minority languages are relatively well developed, but one segment is significantly neglected in the six countries of the Western Balkans - Albania, Bos...

14/12/2021

The definitive guide to podcasting has arrived

Award-winning podcasters and journalists from the UK, India, Kenya, Australia and South Africa have joined forces to create what's believed to be the first ...

08/12/2021

Podcasts: Why I love audio

The 7th of January 1991 was a big day for me. It was the day I started working as a radio journalist. As someone who writes for a living, I'm supposed to a...

30/11/2021

Persistence pays off for the first ever Malaysian Young Journalist winner

PROFILE: Young Journalist Award 2021 winner It was Kai Hui Wong's persistence in her investigations which led her to reveal abuses of power that convin...

30/11/2021

Doing the groundwork: Monika Mondal wins our environmental prize

PROFILE: Young Journalist Award 2021 (environment) winner It's hard to believe that Monika Mondal only started her journalism career last year at the hei...

17/11/2021

Who are the Young Journalist Award 2021 finalists?

Three journalists - from India, and for the first time, Colombia and Malaysia - are the finalists for the 2021 Thomson Foundation Young Journalist Award, in par...