ISLAMABAD: The Centre of Excellence in Journalism at the Institute of Business Administration (CEJ-IBA) has launched a non-partisan fact-checking initiative, iVerify, to advance the scope of independent and unbiased reporting in the country’s journalistic landscape.

Addressing the iVerify launch ceremony here at the Serena Hotel in Islamabad, Amber Rahim Shamsi, Director CEJ-IBA, said that the tool would prove to be an important step in ensuring transparent and verifiable news reporting and investigation methodologies, says a press release issued here.

“Seeing the rise of misinformation in both digital and conventional media spaces, the fact-checking mechanism established by iVerify shall become a cornerstone of reliable, non-partisan journalism in Pakistan,” the press release quoted her as saying.

She said that iVerify currently offers one of the few robust verification approaches for journalists in the country, with an emphasis on eliminating bias, authenticating facts, and processing news articles through manual examination. It is internationally accredited by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and has been successfully implemented in a number of countries around the world.

The tool allows journalists and media professionals to submit their stories via iVerify’s portal on the CEJ-IBA website, where their stories are gauged through a multi-pronged approach comprising data-driven and language-based evaluation before being verified for accuracy in terms of factual representation and contextualization.

The launch was followed by a panel discussion by senior media professionals, including Mansoor Ali Khan, Farhad Jarral, Absa Komal, Umer Cheema, and Nizam Salarzai, who dissected the utility of a fact-checking tool in a high-stakes journalism environment. Given the potentially volatile nature of newsrooms during election transmissions anticipated during the incoming general elections, the panel agreed that the tool would prove to play a critical role in curbing the spread of misinformed news stories and making space for responsible, careful journalism.

Published in Dawn, January 11th, 2024