As manipulative information and propaganda escalate during the times of conflict and war, access to trusted and unbiased information becomes even more vital. During such critical times, citizens must be equipped with the skills to identify manipulative information and false media content. While,  journalists are tasked with debunking fake news and providing reliable information to the public.  The list below summarizes resources and tools meant to help citizens and journalists to recognize manipulative information and make better decisions.

 

IREX's Tools and Resources

Overview

IREX is committed to helping individuals, communities, and organizations protect information integrity and build resilience to manipulative information. 

Supporting Information Integrity and Resilience | IREX

 

Learn to Discern (L2D)

IREX’s Learn to Discern approach helps people of all ages develop healthy habits for engaging with information, online and offline.

• Learn to Discern (L2D) - Media Literacy Training | IREX
• Learn to Discern: Media Literacy Trainer's Manual | IREX
• What we learned about building resilience to manipulative information from Learn to Discern | IREX
• Winning The War On State-Sponsored Propaganda: Results From An Impact Study Of A Ukrainian News Media And Information Literacy Program (uri.edu)
• Randomized control trial finds IREX's media literacy messages to be effective in reducing engagement with misinformation | IREX
• How IREX can help communities respond to COVID-19 or prepare for future pandemics | IREX
• IREX and the Great Courses launch online course to fight misinformation | IREX
• Very Verified Steps for Protecting Yourself from Disinformation
• Six Tips for Avoiding Manipulation - Daily defense against digital misinformation. 

 

Online Courses (Free)

IREX's online courses explain the influence of manipulative information and equip people with valuable research tools to trace sources.

• Very Verified - An online L2D course in English for adult learners in Ukraine
• Jordan Learning Management System - An online L2D course for youth in Jordan
• Gali Fakta - An online information literacy course and game for Indonesian residents
• Very Verified Kosovo - An English language adaptation of the original Very Verified for Kosovo
• Very Verified Albania - An adaptation for Albania and Albanian audiences in the Balkans 
• Very Verified North Macedonia - An adaptation for North Macedonia. 

 

Securing Access to Free Expression (SAFE)-L2D

• SAFE-L2D training curriculum on “Resilience to Impacts and Security of Journalists: how to work in the era of information disorder”
• L2D-SAFE Handout on Fake News, Propaganda and Influence Operations – How Journalists Work in a New Chaotic Media Environment

 

Promoting Quality Information About COVID-19

Media literacy is a key tool to build resilience to health-related misinformation, including misinformation related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Covering COVID-19 Handbook for Journalists| IREX including tools for fact-checking misinformation and hoaxes
• Advice and resource for journalists covering COVID-19| IREX

 

Non-IREX Tools and Resources

• Verification Handbook for Investigative Reporting in English and Ukrainian. Also available in Spanish, French, Portuguese, Arabic, Turkish, Croatian, Italian here
• Essential Guide to Understanding Information Disorder by First Draft News (Nonprofit coalition seeking to protect communities from harmful misinformation)
• Guide to Check News by Tom Trewinnard (Russian)
• Handbook for Journalists Exposing Corruption by ICFJ (Russian)
• Bellingcat.com
• A Guide to Fact-Checking Investigative Stories by Nils Hanson
• Four Quick Ways to Verify Images on a Smartphone by Raymond Joseph
• Six Fake News Techniques and Simple Tools to Vet Them in English and Russian by Olga Yurkova.
• Google Fact Check Tools
• International Fact-checking Network
• StopFake.org Ukrainian factchecking project
• Factcheck.ge (Georgian factchecking platform in Georgian, English, Russian, Azerbaijani and Armenian Languages)
• Journalism in the Face of Misinformation Digital Book by Gabo Foundation (Spanish).