News agency journalists are usually far from the spotlight, but AFP fact-checkers are stepping away from their desks, smartphones in hand, to demonstrate their online sleuthing in short, shareable videos.  

Since October 2022, the results have been published on three YouTube playlists: “AFP Fact Check: how to verify information online” (English), “Vrai ou faux? Comment vérifier une info” (French), and “AFP Fact Check: ¿Cómo verificar lo que es verdadero o falso?” (Spanish). 

As our global fact-checking team has grown to be the largest in the world, with more than 140 people working in 26 languages, the videos are just one way we’ve experimented with new formats to respond to misinformation directly where it is found online.   

Journalists lead the way

Pairs of journalists shooting clips in the open spaces and hallways of AFP’s Paris headquarters have become a common sight over the past two years — a scenario repeated in more than 20 other bureaus around the world. 

In a process coordinated from Paris, journalists at their desks in Warsaw, Dakar, Bangkok, or Washington, D.C., write and shoot brief scripts to complement their in-depth written investigations.  

For most journalists, it’s the first time they’ve appeared on screen, and Cristina Abellan-Matamoros, who writes and produces the videos in Spanish, says it’s a priority for her to establish a good relationship with them. 

“As they’re an ocean away, I contact them quickly in the process and try to reassure them in case they have doubts or questions,” she said. “I try to be as open and available as possible and so far, it’s worked. Everyone is happy after making a video for the playlist.”

In their tutorials and case studies, fact checkers clearly explain how they debunk false information they find online and show the proof and tools they used in the process. Screenshots and recordings are animated and edited with the narration in Paris. 

“The trick is to show in the blink of an eye what the problem is, sometimes highlighting just one detail,” said Myriam Adam, who produces videos for the French playlist. “Everything has to look simple, pleasing, and be crystal clear.”

Greatest hits

Our most successful videos gain thousands of views across platforms, including a case study of a perennial meme making false claims about images from the start of the Syrian war to a difficult look at how AFP journalists worked online and on the ground to debunk claims of a staged massacre in Bucha, Ukraine.  

Since the videos deal with the “how” of online verification, they remain relevant beyond the news cycle. For example, a tutorial on video verification with the INVID-WeVerify tool, co-developed by AFP, now has more than 48,000 views.  

The rise of the short format has allowed our small team to produce more news-pegged content, including an investigation on AI-generated images from a Ron DeSantis campaign ad cited widely in the media. The video case study has drawn more than 27,000 views. 

A new series in at least eight European languages, with English subtitles, examines disinformation in Europe before the June 2024 EU elections.  

Finding a following

The result is a steadily growing audience on YouTube, Instagram, and other platforms. We’ve had positive feedback from older and younger viewers, including in schools. 

The videos are part of a wider project to share up-to-date training on tools for verifying online information with journalists, along with our digital courses training platform, where we’ve just launched an online course on tackling disinformation during elections in English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese, as well as in-person workshops, supported by the Google News Initiative. 

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