First Draft, a project of Harvard Kennedy Schoolās Shorenstein Center is thrilled to announce the first day of publishing for Comprova, a new collaborative journalism project that brings together 24 newsrooms in Brazil to verify misinformation online. Project partners will work together to authenticate information related to elections in Brazil, which take place on October 7 and 28 this year.
Over the past six months, First Draft has been working closely with Abraji, the Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalists, to provide training and project design support. Abraji is leading Comprova in Brazil, and the impact of the collaboration will be studied by a team of researchers at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Comprova will be the first journalism consortium to use the WhatsApp Business API, which will help reporters at newsrooms across the country review and respond to incoming messages at scale. The WhatsApp number isĀ +55 (11) 97795-0022, and the public will be prompted to submit tips about confusing or false content related to the election.
The WhatsApp component for an election project connected to First Draft, which previously facilitatedĀ CrossCheck, itsĀ award-winning projectĀ focused on the 2017 French election, as well as partnering with fact-checking agencies during theĀ BritishĀ andĀ GermanĀ elections. The WhatsApp number will accept questions and tips from the public, and will facilitate the detection of trends in misinformation reported around the country. Researchers at the Harvard Kennedy School will be investigating how misinformation circulates on WhatsApp in the lead up to the election, and will be testing effective debunks on the platform. The findings will help inform newsroom best practices for requesting tips about misinformation as well as disseminating debunks to the public via WhatsApp.
Source: Journalism Project Comprova Begins to Publish in Brazil | First Draft News