Google News Initiative Workshop concluded
Nagpur :- RTM Nagpur University’s Department of Mass Communication arranged a workshop on Online Verification and Fact Checking for students to educate them against the fake news. This workshop was conducted by Ankita Deshkar, Journalist and a certified Google News Initiative, India Training Network trainer. Fake news has been rampant on social media lately. With some simple tools and knacks like Google Reverse Image Search and frame-by-frame video inspection, most of the fake news can be debunked by anyone. Media organisations can be seen doing fact-checks on viral content every day nowadays. Also, some media platforms are entirely dedicated to fact-checking. The growing demand of skilled fact-checkers is bringing career opportunities to mass comm students. This workshop introduced this career option to the students.
Google News Initiative (GNI) is an umbrella initiative of Google for fighting against misinformation and supporting digital journalism. This initiative trains and works with publishers and journalists to follow this objective. GNI Certified Fact-checkers like Ankita Deshkar debunks the fake news as well as train others to contribute. Deshkar not only taught the fact-checking to the students but also explained how they can get professional certifications to pursue a career in it. Prof. Shruti Ingole, faculty member, proposed the vote of thanks. Dr Moiz Mannan Haque, HoD has been actively working against the fake news ; just like the ‘Dekh Bhai Fake’ initiative, this workshop was also his brainchild.
