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DIGITAL INVESTIGATION

LANDMARKS

SOPHIE NICHOLSON

DEPUTY CHIEF EDITOR IN THE DIGITAL

INVESTIGATION DEPARTMENT

Disinformation and digital investigation are increasingly

part of our general coverage and feature more and more on

our production wires. Today, more than 140 AFP journalists

work on digital investigation around the world in 24 lan-

guages.

In such a fast-moving sector, the Agency launched major

projects in November 2021 to perfect the digital investiga-

tion skills of journalists and students the world over. This

also reinforces AFP’s position as world-leader in the fight

against disinformation. These projects, supported by Goo-

gle, took shape in 2022:

For the first time, online digital investigation training

courses open to everyone: digitalcourses.afp.com.

•Training workshops for journalists and journalism stu-

dents all over the world

•Videos with tutorials and case studies presented by our

journalists available on the AFP YouTube channels

• A project on the French elections – Objectif Désinfox, – with

a coalition of French media fighting against disinformation

from February to June 2022.

The online training platform Digital Courses was launched

in English and French at Global Fact 9, an international fac-

tchecking conference in Oslo A Portuguese version was

launched in August at the Abraji international conference

for investigative journalism

The courses are aimed at journalism school students and

experienced journalists wanting to improve their skills by

using online tools for searches, finding archives, geolocating

via maps, protecting themselves against cyberbullying, etc.

The platform offers a dozen or so modules, with a certifi-

cate awarded at the end of each one. More than 16,000 cer-

tificates were awarded in 2022. In 2023, we will also have

modules in Spanish.

Several journalism schools, in France, Asia and Latin Ame-

rica, have already integrated their online training modules

into their curricula.

We have also had very good feedback about our five trai-

ning workshops that we organised for journalists and stu-

dents in Bangkok, Hong Kong and Nairobi.

The short videos are broadcast via playlists on YouTube,

Twitter and Instagram. Anyone wanting to learn digital in-

vestigation techniques can benefit from our journalists’

tips. They are in English, French and, shortly, Spanish.

Around 20 videos with tutorials were published in 2022,

around one every two weeks.

We also launched the Objectif Desinfox coalition figh-

ting against disinformation, bringing together 23 French

media organisations, which published 202 factchecks and

23 videos during the French presidential and legislative

elections

These new training projects required us to form a new team

with skills in digital investigation training and video

"The Agency launched major projects in November 2021 to perfect the

digital investigation skills of journalists and students the world over."

AFP SOCIAL STORIES

PRESENTATION

CAMILLE BOUISSOU

DEPUTY CHIEF DIGITAL INVESTIGATION EDITOR,

SOCIAL MEDIA COORDINATOR

Can you explain how this new AFP product,

Social Stories, came about?

More and more people are turning away from the news.

Young people have been using social media to get their

news for years. The Story format is everywhere: Ins-

tagram, TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, YouTube Short. These

networks have become the main way for young people to

consume news.

We first had the idea for Social Stories in 2022 and we put it

into action in record time, with two main criteria:

• Producing a quality product that met AFP standards

• Targeting an audience we had not necessarily aimed for

until now

On August 15, 2022, we launched a format compatible with

these platforms, in English and French, under the name

Social Stories. Since then, we have been producing 50 per

week. That is our commitment. Subscribers to AFP News

can easily integrate them into their website, in an AMP for-

mat that allows them to be read very quickly, and onto their

platforms.

We pull together the best of AFP’s image production, in

France and abroad, to give a brief summary of the news or

explainers of less than two minutes Our AFP Social Stories

are available on the AFP News platform A subscriber to this

format can keep abreast of the news twice a day due to a

roundup of that days most important stories

What is the content?

It’s about producing attractive and relevant Stories, with

context and explanations. That’s the richness of three me-

dia in one.

For example, we adapted a fascinating feature on Fast

Fashion, clothes sold very cheaply in Europe by the big re-

tail firms, which contribute to global warming. We have also

done explanatory Social Stories, such as one on Germany’s

Leopard tank. We offer Stories on sport, environment,

culture, etc.

Who produces these Social Stories?

We have a team of seven, three in London and four in Paris.

We trawl through the Agency’s production, videos, photos,

text, to pick out what we think will appeal most to young

audiences. Then we draw up a script adapted to the format,

with a dynamic montage.

Our team is very young and very much in touch with today’s

world. They are very connected and in touch with what is

being said and done. They can take the pulse of the social

networks.

We are offering the product for sale to clients and prospects

in 2023 There will be separate video and text bundles

which will allow the client to adapt the format to their own

working language

"It’s about producing attractive and relevant Stories, with context and

explanations. That’s the richness of three media in one."

Annual Report 2022 - AFPAnnual Report 2022 - AFPAnnual Report 2022 - AFPAnnual Report 2022 - AFPAnnual Report 2022 - AFPAnnual Report 2022 - AFPAFP IN NUMBERSTHE YEAR AS SEEN BY PHIL CHETWYND, GLOBAL NEWS DIRECTORTHE YEAR AS SEEN BY PHIL CHETWYND, GLOBAL NEWS DIRECTORTHE YEAR AS SEEN BY DALILA ZEIN, MANAGING DIRECTORTHE YEAR AS SEEN BY DALILA ZEIN, MANAGING DIRECTORTHE YEAR AS SEEN BY PATRICE MONTI, SALES AND MARKETING DIRECTORTHE YEAR AS SEEN BY PATRICE MONTI, SALES AND MARKETING DIRECTORTHE YEAR AS SEEN BY PATRICE MONTI, SALES AND MARKETING DIRECTORTHE YEAR AS SEEN BY PATRICE MONTI, SALES AND MARKETING DIRECTORWAR IN UKRAINEWAR IN UKRAINEWAR IN UKRAINEWAR IN UKRAINEWAR IN UKRAINEWAR IN UKRAINEWAR IN UKRAINEWAR IN UKRAINEWAR IN UKRAINEWAR IN UKRAINEEXCLUSIVESEXCLUSIVESINTERVIEW - SOPHIE HUET, GLOBAL EDITOR-IN-CHIEFINTERVIEW - SOPHIE HUET, GLOBAL EDITOR-IN-CHIEFINTERVIEW - SOPHIE HUET, GLOBAL EDITOR-IN-CHIEFINTERVIEW - SOPHIE HUET, GLOBAL EDITOR-IN-CHIEFQATAR WORLD CUPQATAR WORLD CUPQATAR WORLD CUPQATAR WORLD CUPSCOOP AT THE CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY CONGRESSSCOOP AT THE CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY CONGRESS2022 IN SUMMARY2022 IN SUMMARY2022 IN SUMMARY2022 IN SUMMARYELECTIONS IN FRANCEELECTIONS IN FRANCEELECTIONS IN FRANCEELECTIONS IN FRANCE3 QUESTIONS TO JESSICA LOPEZ – DIVERSITY3 QUESTIONS TO JESSICA LOPEZ – DIVERSITY3 QUESTIONS TO JESSICA LOPEZ – DIVERSITY3 QUESTIONS TO JESSICA LOPEZ – DIVERSITYNEW FORMAT: AFP SOCIAL STORIESDIGITAL INVESTIGATION: ONLINE TRAININGDIGITAL INVESTIGATION: ONLINE TRAININGDIGITAL INVESTIGATION: ONLINE TRAINING3 QUESTIONS TO CHRISTINE BUHAGIAR – EUROPEAN MEDIA PROJECTS3 QUESTIONS TO CHRISTINE BUHAGIAR – EUROPEAN MEDIA PROJECTSINTERVIEW – OTMAN MERICHE, FACTSTORY MANAGING DIRECTORINTERVIEW – OTMAN MERICHE, FACTSTORY MANAGING DIRECTORINTERVIEW – OTMAN MERICHE, FACTSTORY MANAGING DIRECTORINTERVIEW – OTMAN MERICHE, FACTSTORY MANAGING DIRECTORORGANISATIONAL CHARTORGANISATIONAL CHARTPRIZES & AWARDSPRIZES & AWARDSPRIZES & AWARDSPRIZES & AWARDSPRIZES & AWARDSPRIZES & AWARDSPRIZES & AWARDSPRIZES & AWARDSPRIZES & AWARDSPRIZES & AWARDSPRIZES & AWARDSPRIZES & AWARDSPRIZES & AWARDSPRIZES & AWARDSPRIZES & AWARDSPRIZES & AWARDSPRIZES & AWARDSPRIZES & AWARDSPRIZES & AWARDSPRIZES & AWARDSPRIZES & AWARDSPRIZES & AWARDSPRIZES & AWARDSPRIZES & AWARDSPRIZES & AWARDSPRIZES & AWARDSPRIZES & AWARDSPRIZES & AWARDSPRIZES & AWARDSPRIZES & AWARDSPRIZES & AWARDSPRIZES & AWARDSPRIZES & AWARDSPRIZES & AWARDSPRIZES & AWARDSPRIZES & AWARDSPRIZES & AWARDSPRIZES & AWARDSPRIZES & AWARDSPRIZES & AWARDSPRIZES & AWARDSPRIZES & AWARDSPRIZES & AWARDSPRIZES & AWARDSPRIZES & AWARDSPRIZES & AWARDSPRIZES & AWARDSPRIZES & AWARDSPRIZES & AWARDSPRIZES & AWARDSPRIZES & AWARDSPRIZES & AWARDSPRIZES & AWARDSCONTACTS & ADRESSESCONTACTS & ADRESSES
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