Bulgarian School of Politics “Dimitry Panitza” conducted national training for 42 journalists from local and regional media under the initiative “Counterpropaganda close to you” – improving the capacity of local media and local news sites to tackle disinformation and fake news” between 29 November and 1 December 2024 in the city of Gabrovo.
The participants had intensive three-day sessions, in which the theoretical part alternated with group-dynamic trainings under the guidance of moderators. At the beginning of the training, Prof. Georgi Prodanov presented the handbook for journalists “Fake news and information chaos” developed as part of the initiative. Prof. Simona Veleva, Acting Chairman of the Council for Electronic Media (CEM) shared with the participants the current trends in the consumption of media content, emphasizing the key role of regulations for transparency and media independence. During the next lecture, Ralitsa Manolova focused on building partnerships with local institutions and civil organizations. Georgi A. Angelov, senior analyst at Sensika Technologies presented innovations in the use of artificial intelligence in journalism. During the last lecture of the training, Prof. Hristo Panchugov focused on disinformation and anti-EU propaganda.
The initiative “Counterpropaganda close to you” – improving the capacity of local media and local news sites to tackle disinformation and fake news” is implemented within the framework of the “ProEUvaluesBG ” project and is funded by the European Union and the “Open Society Institute – Sofia” foundation ” (OSI – Sofia).
More details about the results and the initiative can be found here.