Focus Areas
By establishing an in-house media technology development and research base, Inform Africa aspires to be a pioneer in the field of fact-checking, media training, and support other local media houses in Ethiopia.
INFORM AFRICA
Focus Areas
Countering Disinformation
The transmission of incorrect information has become prevalent in the age of democracy, free speech, and social media. As a result, study into misinformation trends and fact-checking procedures are required more than ever. Fact-checking, which is a procedure that aims to verify sometimes factual information in order to promote the integrity and correctness of reporting, is one way to combat disinformation online. Inform Africa undertakes investigations and publishes reports and newsletters in collaboration with worldwide and regional fact-checking organizations, content platforms, and technological firms.
Media Literacy
Inform Africa runs Media Literacy campaigns at all levels to promote civic involvement, raise understanding of the power structures inherent in popular media, and assist individuals in developing critical and inquiry skills.
Inform Africa conducts basic training on abilities to access, analyze, evaluate, create, and act using all forms of communication, capacity assessments, and increasing local capacity at all stages; researching and lobbying activities for better communication in collaboration with government broadcasting supervisory entities, higher educational institutions that teach journalism and communication, local and international media houses, civic societies, and think tank groups.
Digital Rights and Security
Inform Africa believes in human rights in the digital age, including online privacy and freedom of expression, are extensions of the equal and inalienable rights outlined in the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Digital rights are those that allow people to access, use, produce, and publish digital media, as well as computers, electronic devices, and other communication networks. They are strongly tied to freedom of expression and privacy. Inform Africa advocates for data protection tools and methodologies to be localized, as well as security and digital rights, personal data protection, equal access to the internet, policy enforcement and legal protections.
Media Monitoring and Research
Inform Africa believes that efficient media monitoring, which is organized strategically and based on research into the media landscape and the tastes of the target audience, is critical to the industry’s development. Inform Africa monitors media from various perspectives, provides well-researched inputs for multi-stakeholders of the press, and supports the media to play the role of the fourth state in Ethiopia and the region in order to create a media culture in which truth, liberty, accountability, and responsibility flourish. Inform Africa performs several studies on the effects of various mainstream and social media outlets on social and psychological elements in partnership with Addis Zeybe and other partners.
Media Training
Inform Africa strives to be a forerunner in the field of media education. Offers a particular kind of communication training for interacting with media, based on in-house specializations and subspecialties knowledge and skills in the areas of investigative reporting, data journalism, internet media, storytelling, and more.
Inform Africa recognizes Ethiopia’s dearth of high-quality investigative journalism. The positive externalities of investigative journalism are changes in policies or government action. As a result, Inform Africa, in collaboration with its local media partners, seeks to promote the profession’s development and growth.
Data may be used to turn something abstract into something that everyone can comprehend and relate to. One hurdle preventing this 21st-century profession from blossoming in Ethiopia’s media sector is a scarcity of well-trained and experienced data journalists. Inform Africa collaborates with its media partner Addis Zeybe to increase Data-Driven or Data Journalism competence and practice. Data journalism’s expansion will aid the general public, as well as specific groups and people, in understanding trends and making decisions based on the findings.
Media Technology Development
The development of media technologies is a priority for Inform Africa. Inform Africa is involved in the design, adoption, and use of hardware, software, or tools used to compose, create, produce, deliver, and manage media messages, including artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and augmented reality environments, in collaboration with in-house technologists to manage information disorder.