ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (Dec. 16, 2021) – The Poynter Institute, a global nonprofit dedicated to journalistic excellence, announces an expansion of its International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) to advance accountability journalism worldwide. The IFCN has named Enock Nyariki as community and impact manager and Deirdre Gonsalves as program officer.
“We are thrilled to welcome two accomplished professionals to the IFCN team,” said Baybars Örsek, director of the IFCN and director of international programming at Poynter. “Enock brings keen digital media skills and an ability to foster meaningful collaboration that transcends borders and language barriers. Deirdre has a proven track record to deliver expert technical and administrative guidance while managing high-performing grant portfolios, training programs and learning management processes. Together, the pair will elevate our work to fight misinformation and advocate for the growing community of fact-checkers around the world.”
As community and impact manager, Kenya-based Nyariki will lead the unified fact-checking efforts to extend the reach and impact of the IFCN. Nyariki will play an integral role in tracking, monitoring and evaluating trends, academic research and regulation efforts against global misinformation. He will be instrumental in developing, implementing and supporting collaborative projects and initiatives to uphold the integrity of the universal information ecosystem such as the world’s largest annual fact-checking summit hosted by IFCN, Global Fact.
Watch expert panelists and fact-checking organizations lead important sessions at Global Fact 8
“At a time when misinformation is threatening to ruin democracies and fact-checkers are facing harassment in many parts of the world, I can’t think of a better season to join IFCN and help build resilience while supporting the noble work being done by fact-checkers everywhere,” said Nyariki. “I’m looking forward to connecting with members of the community and collaborating to increase the impact of their important work.”
Before joining the IFCN team, Nyariki held the managing editor and news editor positions at IFCN signatory PesaCheck, Africa’s largest indigenous fact-checking organization working to debunk misleading claims said by public figures in 12 African countries. He led a team of 35 employees to verify statements in five languages including Amharic, French, English, Afaan Oromo and Swahili. Nyariki, who attended Moi University and the University of Nairobi, serves as a representative for the fact-checking community in Africa, the Middle East and Turkey region in Meta’s Third-Party Fact-Checking Consulting Group and addresses harassment against fact-checkers as a member of an IFCN working group launched in July 2021. He has spoken at various journalism events including the International Symposium on Online Journalism, The African Investigative Journalism Conference and Highway Africa.
Connect with Enock Nyariki, community and impact manager of Poynter’s IFCN.
Gonsalves will help lead, define and execute high-priority initiatives to increase global media literacy as the IFCN’s program officer. She will steer the collaborative activities and events between the IFCN and its verified signatories and manage the application process for the IFCN’s Code of Principles, a series of commitments to truth and transparency that promote excellence in fact-checking for organizations that regularly publish nonpartisan reports on the accuracy of statements said by prominent figures and institutions. Gonsalves will also support the IFCN’s grant programs for fact-checkers seeking fellowships or funding to launch innovative proposals that combat the universal threat of misinformation including the IFCN’s newest programs, the Climate Fund Misinformation Grant Program and the Global Fact-Checking Mentorship Program.
“Like many, I recognize that while worldwide digital connectivity has created a great many opportunities for positive change, the ethos and delivery of unbiased journalism has been mightily challenged in the seismic wake of this wondrous information age,” said Gonsalves. “IFCN’s mission is a considerable countermeasure to the interminable presence of misinformation. It is absolutely a privilege to contribute my knowledge and experience as a part of the hardworking IFCN team in supporting the global aim of advancing accountability in journalism.”
Gonsalves has spent more than two decades helping communities think critically and organizations build capacity as a skillfully-dedicated grants and program manager. Her work in journalism at National Public Radio (NPR) and American Psychological Association’s trade publication APA Monitor illuminated opportunities to deepen her impact. Gonsalves has held numerous positions that power innovative solutions and sustain critical missions as grants and contracts analyst for Eastern Europe and Eurasia at Internews Network, grants management specialist for the U.S. Department of Justice, and program officer for AmeriCorps. Gonsalves received her formal training in media at Hampton University, secured her Master’s degree from Howard University, and obtained her graduate studies certificate from Johns Hopkins University.
Connect with Deirdre Gonsalves, program manager of Poynter’s IFCN.
The new roles further Poynter’s commitment as a central hub for accountability journalism with three groundbreaking fact-checking enterprises: the International Fact-Checking Network, the Pulitzer Prize-winning PolitiFact and a digital-first initiative called MediaWise, which empowers teenagers, first-time voters and seniors to tell fact from fiction online. Poynter is also home to the Craig Newmark Center for Ethics and Leadership, a resource for journalists and citizens to navigate today’s complex media landscape. As owner of the Tampa Bay Times, the global nonprofit supports the efforts of newsrooms local and national with journalism education and professional development that reached more than 60,000 journalists over the last year.
For more information, visit poynter.org.
About The Poynter Institute
The Poynter Institute for Media Studies is a global leader in journalism education and a strategy center that stands for uncompromising excellence in journalism, media, and 21st-century public discourse. Poynter faculty teach seminars and workshops at the Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida, and at newsrooms, conferences, and organizations around the world. Its e-learning division, News University, offers the world’s largest online journalism curriculum, with hundreds of interactive courses and tens of thousands of registered international users. The Institute’s website produces 24-hour coverage about media, ethics, technology, and the business of news. Poynter is the home of the Craig Newmark Center for Ethics and Leadership, the Pulitzer Prize-winning PolitiFact, the International Fact-Checking Network and MediaWise, a digital information literacy project for young people, first-time voters, and senior citizens. The world’s top journalists and media innovators rely on Poynter to learn and teach new generations of reporters, storytellers, media inventors, designers, visual journalists, documentarians, and broadcasters. This work builds public awareness about journalism, media, the First Amendment, and discourse that serves democracy and the public good. Learn more at poynter.org.
