WORKSHOP

Fake news! Fake news? Cross-border challenges and out-of-the box options for debunking false stories

“Fake News is everywhere,” we’re often told, which corrupts the public discourse. And yet this can mostly be addressed by pre-bunking, debunking, and fact checking. But how successful are these strategies really, and what are their limitations? Is the underlying assumption—an oversupply of misinformation—really the whole story here, or could other factors play a role, perhaps demanding different strategies?

In this session, we will challenge common assumptions about misinformation and discuss often-neglected aspects of the debate. We’ll work with the audience to develop evidence-based journalistic strategies to address the misinformation crisis, enriched with on-the-ground examples from journalists and researchers.

  • Purple Chrystyl Romero
    Session proposer and speaker | Hostwriter | Philippines
    Purple Romero has worked in the field of debunking of misinformation in the academe and journalism sectors in the Philippines and in Hong Kong. She has conducted various workshops on fact-checking misinformation and has reported about climate issues for more than a decade for local and international news organisations.
  • Michael Stang
    Session producer and moderator | Freelance | Germany
    Michael Stang is science journalist based in Germany. He works for radio stations, teaches in schools about fake news, and is the author of the Graphic Novel Mensch! which is about human evolution and has been translated in more than 10 languages.
  • Malemba Mkongo
    Speaker | People Daily | Kenya
    Malemba Mkongo is a seasoned Kenyan journalist with nine years of experience in print and digital media. She currently works at People Daily as a feature writer and sub-editor, specialising in science, gender, and human rights.
  • Rita Ponce
    Speaker | Freelance | Portugal
    Rita Ponce is a Portuguese biology researcher who then became a science writer. She teaches university courses on science communication, participates in an European project on the prevalence of fake news about climate change, and is also a freelance fact-checker.
 

The World Conference of Science Journalists (WCSJ) will take place at the CSIR International Convention Centre, Pretoria, South Africa from 1 – 5 December 2025, with the theme “Science journalism and social justice: journalism that builds understanding and resilience”.

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