The North Africa Western Asia region was where our Check work really started. We have worked with numerous partners over the years, as well as students on university journalism courses, with aims of developing journalism and specific skills such as verification. A variety of work has also been funded through the NAWA-Investigative Fund.
Poor infrastructure is an issue in both rural and urban areas, where access to power and the internet can make it hard to communicate, mobilise, share sources, and publish work. These conditions also fluctuate inconsistently.
Bureaucracy and other state pressures can make it very hard for alternative journalists or organisations to be registered and therefore deemed to be operating legally. Oppositional websites and platforms are frequently shut down and journalists arrested.
State actors often use their own mainstream media platforms, or those used by activists (such as Facebook), to attack and criminalise opposing media sources and narratives, dismissing them as ‘fake news’.
State actors often use their own mainstream media platforms, or those used by activists (such as Facebook), to attack and criminalise opposing media sources and narratives, dismissing them as ‘fake news’.