One of six organizations from around the world will take home this year’s award for Most Creative Format at the 11th annual GlobalFact conference, held this year in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Organizations submitted their most creative and innovative fact check formats published between June 2023 and April 2024 to qualify for this award. Finalists hail from Argentina, Brazil, Croatia, Georgia, Spain and Taiwan. The winner will be announced on June 28, the final day of the conference.
Last year’s winner, Cek Fakta – Liputan 6, won the award after creating a 128-page book called Lawan Hoaks (Fight Hoax), which was based on 21 debunked claims that spread during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Indonesian organization distributed the graphics-heavy book to schools, libraries and universities.
This year, multiple organizations implemented gamification techniques and several explored long-form fact checks that included podcasts. Other approaches included an interactive large language model and an on-site event targeting young people at a large music festival. The nominees are as follows:
Chequeado implemented a project called Checked Paddles. Targeting young people, the Argentine organization attended Lollapalooza Argentina, the largest pop-rock musical festival in the country, and asked participants to determine whether statements were true or false, holding up a paddleboard to signify their answers. Questions ranged in topic areas, with some about socially sensitive topics like climate change (“2023 was the hottest year recorded worldwide”) and some being humorous (“if food falls and is in contact with the floor for less than five seconds, it can be eaten safely”). Participants could then scan a QR code to see the expanded fact check. Ultimately, Chequeado interacted with 7,000 people in two days in a personal and direct way.
Brazil’s Aos Fatos built on the success of its Fátima chatbot and developed its own large language model, FátimaGPT, to deliver fact checks from questions asked by readers. Utilizing a process called retrieval-augmented generation, FátimaGPT exclusively pulled from Aos Fatos fact checks and stories for sources, resulting in a personalized, conversational and verified fact check for consumers.
The History of Climate Crisis Denialism from Faktograf sought to counter misinformation, propaganda, and lobbying from the fossil fuel industry. In an effort to dispel the narratives of climate change deniers, the Croatian organization produced a series of 13 interconnected articles on the history of climate change denial, describing how the fossil fuel industry, faced with the knowledge that Earth’s climate is rapidly changing due to increasing fossil fuel consumption, developed a strategy of denial that included deception, bribery and mounted public relation campaigns. The series was also released in podcast form, with graphics created to help circulate content on social media platforms.
One of two organizations to create a fact-checking game, Myth Detector’s Operation Infektion is an immersive game that tasks players to become a KGB agent to create a large-scale disinformation campaign against the United States. Calling itself a “reverse psychology” model, the game helps people better understand mis- and disinformation and develop critical thinking skills by planning and creating their own dissemination campaign, while also learning more about Soviet propaganda techniques.
Spain’s Newtral created a video podcast series, Me Lo Creo Y Me Cuadra, designed to debunk conspiracy theories and urban legends. Topics span centuries and include a supposed ancient technologically advanced empire and contemporary conspiracy theories like QAnon. Podcasts delve into both the history and basis of these theories, as well as the data and research to debunk them. Podcasts are available on a variety of platforms, including YouTube and Spotify.
In anticipation of the 2024 Taiwanese presidential election, Taiwan FactCheck Center designed a game of its own, challenging players to see if they can distinguish between real images and videos and those created via artificial intelligence. Players are then guided through tips and tricks to detect these deepfakes and encouraged to utilize a tipline to help combat fake content.
