THE Baguio Chronicle has joined another group of media organizations, academic institutions and civil organizations to fight mis- and disinformation in the lead up to the coming elections in May.
Chronicle joins ABS-CBN, dzUP, FYT, Interaksyon, MindaNews, PhilStar Global, Philippine Press Institute (PPI), Press One, Probe and VERA Files, as well as civil society groups Akademiya at Bayan Kontra Disimpormasyon at Dayaan (ABKD), BarangayHub, Fact Check Philippines and the Philippine Association for Media and Information Literacy in the relaunched Tsek.ph initiative.
In the academic sector, the initiative also has the Asian Center for Journalism at the Ateneo de Manila University, Colegio de San Juan de Letran, Trinity University of Asia Communication Department, UP Los Baños, UP Department of Journalism’s Fact-Check Patrol and FactRakers and the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Journalism Program.
The Chronicle is currently part of two separate initiatives for fact-checking and combating misinformation, the other being the #FactsFirstPH initiative, which also has members from various sectors nationwide.
First launched in 2019, Tsek.ph is a pioneering collaborative fact-checking coalition that covers claims on platforms and campaign promises of candidates, election-related statements and remarks, and election-related posts on social media, blogs and other platforms.
“Initiatives like Tsek.ph are vital and necessary,” said Elena Pernia, vice president for public affairs of the University of the Philippines (UP). “Especially now, when an enlightened Filipino citizenry is key to our elections so that we are correctly informed about who and what the candidates running for national and local positions stand for,” she said.
Tsek.ph is supported by the UP System, Google News Initiative, UP Journalism Department and the UP College of Mass Communication Foundation.
