User Generated Content Verification Handbook for Journalists Launched by the European Journalism Centre

The European Journalism Centre Releases the Verification Handbook for Journalists.

The European Journalism Centre (EJC) has released the Verification Handbook, the first ever guide for using user-generated content (UGC) during humanitarian emergencies.

Whether it is debunking images of ‘street sharks’ during Hurricane Sandy, or determining the veracity of videos that depict human rights abuses, reporting the right information is critical in shaping responses from the public and relief workers as a crisis unfolds.

By providing the exact methods needed to validate information, photos and videos shared by the crowd, the Verification Handbook forms an essential component of any organisation’s disaster preparedness plan.

The Verification Handbook draws on the experiences of practitioners from some of the world’s premier news and aid organisations, including BBC, Storyful, The Guardian, ABC, Buzzfeed UK, NHK, Poynter Institute, Digital First Media, the Tow Center, GigaOM, the Qatar Foundation’s Computing Research Institute (QCRI), the Internews Center for Innovation & Learning, OpenStreetMap, Amnesty International, Circa, Meedan, the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC), WITNESS, the Dart Centre Europe, and Shabab Souria.

The Media Development Trust in collaboration with Mishal Pakistan will be publishing an Urdu of the Verification Book for the journalists’ community and the media industry in Pakistan.

Three Fatima Jinnah Women University students secured “Trust Gold Medals”.

Three Fatima Jinnah Women University students secured “Trust Gold Medals”.

Media Development Trust developed the “Trust Gold Medals” to encourage more women to come in media.

The "Trust Gold Medal Award" winners Umm e Kalsoom, Ifrah Zahid and Humna Tassawar 

of Fatima Jinnah Women University, Rawalpindi 

Media Development Trust in collaboration with Mishal Pakistan and AGAHI created the trust gold medals to improve more human capital in the field of media and communication. These trust gold medals are awarded to the top position holders of Media & Communication in leading journalism schools across Pakistan.

Governor Punjab and Chancellor Fatima Jinnah Women University, Chaudhary Muhammad Sarwar awarded the trust gold medals to three position holders of Communication and Media Studies department at the 13^th convocation of the university at the Convention Center, Islamabad. Addressing the students, the governor said that higher education opens unlimited vistas and possibilities of success and growth. He stressed the need for valuing time and stated that intelligence did not work alone; hard work is the key to success in practical life.

President Media Development Trust and CEO Mishal Pakistan, Amir Jahangir and President Agahi, Puruesh Chaudhary were also present at the occasion. The trust gold medals were awarded to the top position holders in Masters Program, Umm e Kalsoom and Ifrah Zahid and top position holder in bachelors program Humna Tassawar.

On this occasion President Media Development Trust and CEO Mishal Pakistan, Amir Jahangir said that Media Development Trust is working to bridge the gap between academic research institutions for a more focused approach on industry-academia collaboration. Discussing the global development scenario, he said that Pakistan unfortunately ranks at 131 in literacy rate at Global Gender Gap report of the World Economic Forum.Pakistan at 95 in enrollment in tertiary education and at 131 in labor force participation among 136 countries according to the Global Gender Gap report of the World Economic Forum. There is a dire need to develop industry-academia collaboration to improve the human capital and bridge the gender gap.

President AGAHI, Puruesh Chaudhary while sharing her views said that media’s contribution to the sustainability of functioning democracies and its potential to serve as a catalyst for human development provides the justification for the creation of Trust Gold Medals to encourage qualified workforce in the field of journalism. It is an effort to foster an enabling atmosphere in which free and independent media can flourish with plurality and diversity and to create high level of professional standards among the journalists.

Sharing her views about Trust Gold Medals, an initiative of Media Development Trust, Chairperson Communication and Media Studies Department, Dr. Shamim Mahmood Zaidi said that we are honored to be a part of industry academia collaboration with Media Development Trust and will put all its efforts to make this initiative credible and objective.

She said that the Department of Communication and Media Studies (DMCS) has been envisioned as a center of excellence for promoting media and communication studies in the country. We aim to accomplish this in a manner that can be useful for the media professionals, academic scholars, researchers, development sector, policy-makers and regulators.

Media Development Trust established in 2011 and it is third time that “trust gold medals” awarded to the Fatima Jinnah women University students. Media Development Trust is an initiative to improve industry-academia linkage through media and communication, the initiative engages leading professional and researchers in media development across the globe. Media Development Trust also creates synergies and understanding through media and communication between societies for better understanding of issues arising from cultural, social and political challenges.