Two workshops were held under this program with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan participants. The first training workshop, titled “Countering Fake News Propaganda & Disinformation Linked to Polio Amid COVID-19 Pandemic,” was led by Tayyeb Afridi, founder of the Tribal News Network, and Dr. Hafsah Muhammad, Assistant Professor at Khyber Medical University. The workshop aimed to elevate journalistic capacity and enhance fact-checking and investigative reporting skills in which12 journalists from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and tribal areas were sensitized.

The training included lessons on identifying reliable sources in fact-checking, debunking viral misinformation, and deciding whether a statement is checkable. It also included information about the two viruses – poliovirus and SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 in human beings – and their transmission to help journalists debunk conspiracy theories about the virus.The second workshop titled Report responsibly through mobile journalism, mitigating the impact of Covid-19 and polio was led by Mr. Gibran Ashraf, Director of MOJO Pakistan and Afia Salam, journalist and development practitioner as the guest speaker. The workshops aimed to build the capacity of journalists and help them understand mobile journalism skills and its relevant techniques for reporting on COVID-19 and polio. So, through these skills, they can efficiently cover the pandemic and polio and counter disinformation and fake news around the outbreaks in Pakistan. The workshop sensitized 12 journalists from the Balochistan region.