The first-ever guide for using user-generated content (UGC) during humanitarian emergencies was recently released by the European Journalism Centre (EJC).
Verification handbook – European Journalism CentreThe Verification Handbook will help journalists report the right information as a crisis unfolds.
The handbook provides exact methods needed to validate information, photos and videos shared by the crowd. Drawing on the experiences of practitioners from some of the world’s premier news and aid organizations, the Handbook includes insights from BBC, Storyful, The Guardian, ABC, Buzzfeed UK, NHK, Poynter Institute, Digital First Media, the Tow Center, GigaOM, the Qatar Foundation’s Computing Research Institute, the Internews Center for Innovation and Learning, OpenStreetMap, Amnesty International, Circa, Meedan, the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, WITNESS, the Dart Centre Europe, and Shabab Souria.
An online version of Verification Handbook is available for free at verificationhandbook.com, and a PDF, Kindle and Print version will be released in February. An Arabic version of the Handbook will also be released soon thereafter.
The initiative is funded by the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, as well as by the African Media Initiative, and supported by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the United Nations Development Program, the Ethical Journalism Network, Humanity Road and many other organizations.
