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Disinformation has become a growing challenge for many consumers of media and information but it has been a particularly concerning for journalists and media organizations.

Journalism industry already suffering from years of decreased advertising revenue mainly due to the rising dominance of internet search engines and social media giants are also being attacked on their credibility. We have all heard the phrase “fake news” being used mostly by political actors as a blanket term to discredit any media report that is not to their liking.  

Therefore, in this current hostile environment for journalists, the “Workshop on Fake News: Concerns, Challenges, & Way Forward” on 11 April was very timely organized at the Tun Abdul Razak Institute for Broadcasting (IPPTAR), the Asia Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development and the Ministry of Communication and Multimedia of Malaysia. UNESCO was invited as one of the speakers/trainers for the workshop to address the issue of disinformation and misinformation.

Ms. Philomena Gnanapragasam, the Officiating Director for AIBD, welcomed the workshop as a concrete contribution to improve the professional standards of fellow journalists in Malaysia.

Dr. Ming-Kuok LIM, the Advisor for Communication and Information of UNESCO Office in Jakarta was on hand to give a two-part presentation on disinformation. Dr. Lim elaborated on the origin of disinformation, the various typologies of disinformation, as well as an overview of the various legal measures that different governments are employing to address the issue. He also encouraged the 40-plus journalists, editors, and producers from television and radio who were participating in the workshop to reclaim their mantle as the “original fact-checkers”.

During the second part of the presentation, Dr. Lim introduced various practical tools that are freely available online to help journalists verify photographs, videos, and social media accounts. All journalists should have the competencies to fact-check and verify their source materials before publishing them as part of core function of journalism. Dr. Lim guided the participants to use for themselves several of these applications designed to verify images.

Other guest speakers included Mr. Roland Husson, Councillor for Cooperation and Cultural Affairs of the French Embassy in Kuala Lumpur and Mr. Fong Choong Fook, Director of LGMS, a private company that deals with cybersecurity.

91�鶹������Ʒ���� been highly engaged on the topic of countering disinformation and misinformation. Most recently, 91�鶹������Ʒ���� published the “”. This handbook has been translated into Bahasa Indonesia and will be made freely available online shortly. #FightFakeNews.