EUROPEAN MEDIA PROJECTS

3 QUESTIONS TO

CHRISTINE BUHAGIAR

REGIONAL DIRECTOR EUROPE

Why did the Agency decide to enter into this

partnership with the EU? What’s the added

value?

Above all, these European media projects enable AFP to deve-

lop factchecks produced by our digital investigation journa-

lists and make them available to the public in several Euro-

pean countries.

T

o enable access to this content, we have set up internet sites

in six EU countries. We are working on similar sites in a dozen

other EU countries where these factchecks are needed.

These projects also give us the chance to work with other

European media. The first Hungarian digital investigation

media was created thanks to the training we provide and our

partnerships with media organisations. The site we have de

-

veloped with this media, Lakmusz.hu, has been viewed by

millions of visitors in a country where disinformation is rife.

What type of projects did AFP work on in

2022?

There were three main projects

Creating internet sites to counteract the spread of false

information which we mentioned above

Projects that bring together news agencies For exa

mple EDNH a datajournalism site dealing with broad Eu

ropean topics which we manage with five other European

news agencies in nine languages There is also A European

Perspective This allows for example Finnish public televi

sion to show content on its site in Finnish that comes from

German or Spanish TV or indeed AFPTV In the same way

France Televisions can broadcast programmes from Irish

Spanish or Bavarian TV

Innovation projects These are crucial for the agency The

Invid project which enables the user to debunk and cor

rect false images being used to spread disinformation was

created by AFP thanks to European funding. This funding

is also enabling us to work on algorithms that detect disin-

formation, the use of AI in the newsroom, tools for better

monitoring, or even incorporating virtual reality techniques

into our production.

How has AFP organised itself to carry out

these European projects

We have won about 20 of these projects and keeping track

of them is a complicated process editorially technically and

financially We have worked very hard on our organisation

in recent months We set up a team of project heads super

vised by Delphine Ramond These people run one or several

projects and they work with deputy chief editor for projects

Joyce Zablit pictured who ensures their editorial quality

A point person has been appointed in most of the Agencys

departments legal technical commercial financial HR as

well as Digital Investigation so that everyone is in the loop

and can contribute to the projects It is crucial that everyone

can share in this adventure which needs to become part of

the companys fabric

"

We have won about 20 of these projects and keeping track of them is

a complicated process, editorially, technically and financially. We have

worked very hard on our organisation in recent months.

"

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