The sixth Cohort of our Africa Fact-checking Fellowship dubbed “Special Grand Nord” groups 15 fellows selected Fellows from Ngaoundere, Garoua & Maroua.
75! This is not an anniversary figure. Rather, it represents the number of young people (journalists, bloggers, civil society actors…) #defyhatenow has officially engaged in countering misinformation, disinformation and mal-information both online and offline in Cameroon. As the Fellowship steadily grows in maturity, a new touch has been added to the Africa Fact-checking Fellowship, as the selection process now goes Regional. As nature would require, the innovation starts from the Northern end of the country and then moves down South. So Adamaoua, North and Far North Regions are the happy beneficiaries!
After five successive cohorts between January 2020 and January 2022, we are proud to present the 15 new Fellows that have joined our anti mis/disinformation band wagon. Out of over 100 applicants, 6 female and 9 male journalists and civil society actors are the new faces of #AFFCameroon. They are: Baimélé Jerôme, Swaboka Felix, Adiang Loris-Clet, Ngoh Kum Peter, Sintebe Rebeka, Judith Lassou Tchouyiki, Fadimatou Boubakary and Dikwe Fodambele, all journalists based in Garoua, headquarters of the North Region. Two Civil Society actors working on peacebuilding, media information and literacy programs: Taiwe Parfait and Rougayatou Inna Fatoumata based in Ngaoundere, alongside three journalists namely, Pouorgounal Madouli Junie Adélaîde, Waji Kiga Elis and Ibrahim Zaoro represent the Adamaou Region. The Far North Region has two journalists, Hinsia Nikodemus and Dorcas Ekupe based in Maroua.
Presently, a total of 60 professionals have been trained who are online content creators among which bloggers, journalists and digital rights activists. They are based and operate in various regions of Cameroon namely: South West, North West, Littoral, Centre, Adamaoua, Far North and West. This new batch takes the total number up to 75 trained Fellows. In the past, Fellows from different parts of the country used to converge on one town for onsite sessions. The 6th Cohort therefore seeks to group these actors in the information production chain at regional levels, to better harness their skills towards tackling social ills that are particular to them. The quarterly batch is dubbed “Special Grand Nord”.
The Africa Fact-checking Fellowship was designed to track and map viral trends on social media related to major thematic issues in Cameroon. It also aims to transform Fellows to future trainers to ensure a smooth transmission of acquired skills. The main objective is to create a mass of fact-checkers, countering misinformation, hate speech on online and offline space; as well as support the work of digital rights advocates contributing to peace processes in Cameroon. #AFFCameroon therefore aims to quality and verified content production, while curbing the spread of fake-news within the digital space in Africa. To know more about past cohorts (1, 2, 3, 4 and 5) kindly follow the link to our website.
