Journalists Awarded for Published Articles Exposing and Countering Disinformation
At an awards ceremony held on May 16, journalists were honored for their contributions to addressing disinformation challenges through their published articles, as part of the “Contemporary Disinformation Challenges in the Face of Foreign Military Presence” project.
Implemented in Georgia, Ukraine, and Armenia, PMCG is cooperating with the Lithuanian NGO Civic Resilience Initiative (CRI) on this project, which was funded by the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In the course of the project, journalists participated in training sessions entitled “Information Warfare – How to Identify and Effectively Counter Disinformation.” Thereafter, they were encouraged to write articles on disinformation issues to be submitted for publication. Accordingly, the authors of the published articles deemed most exceptional received a financial prize and a certificate of appreciation.
Winners Prepared to Continue the Fight Against Disinformation
One of the successful awardees, Maria Pavlukh from Ukraine outlined:
“For the competition launched under the “Modern Challenges of Disinformation in the Face of Foreign Military Presence” project, I wrote articles exposing hidden Russian propaganda, deepfakes, and disinformation.
“Before drafting these pieces, I attended an excellent training organized by PMCG Ukraine where I learned interesting methods through which to write exposés, the “truth sandwich,” as well as modern means of verifying the accuracy of photos, videos, and deepfakes. Having such knowledge is crucial today in times of information warfare, as it allows one not to fall for the enemy’s tricks and to expose false materials that would otherwise sow panic among people.
“I thank the organizers for the opportunity to participate in this international competition. In the future, I will apply the new knowledge gained in another international article competition on protecting public figures during war.”
Meanwhile, another of the award-winning journalists, Mariam Kakhadze from Georgia reflected on how the project and competition had taught her some highly valuable techniques for her career. In particular, she noted:
“Within the framework of the project, I once again analyzed the importance of disinformation. At the expense of the discussed examples, I improved my media literacy skills and in the future I will take a more critical look at current events in the world.”
Equipping New Generations with Techniques to Combat Disinformation
Specifically, PMCG’s role within this project was largely to prepare a training package and methodology for the sessions, comprising online and in-person components, as well as delivering the training and monitoring service quality and assessing post-training activities.
Ultimately, as the quoted award winners allude to above, the project participants are now better equipped to write articles on disinformation worthy of publication, and to use the methods learned in the project to verify accuracy of news and information, thus countering the dissemination of so-called “fake news.”
