On August 12, 2025, journalism students from Mount Kigali University (MKU) and the East African University of Rwanda (EAUR) participated in a one-day training session on Fact-Checking and Journalism AI Tools. The workshop was organized under the Rwanda Media Programme (RMP) in partnership with Fojo Media Institute.
The training was facilitated by Swedish journalist and RMP Programme Manager, Annelie Frank, who addressed the growing challenges of false and harmful information in the digital era. She noted how the COVID-19 pandemic fueled an “information war,” with conspiracy theories spreading rapidly and, in some cases, endangering lives.
She explained that the problem extends beyond misinformation, false content shared without harmful intent, to include disinformation, which is deliberately fabricated to mislead; malinformation, where genuine information is used to cause harm; and misleading information, which may contain elements of truth but is presented in a distorted way.
She also introduced students to verification tools such as TinEye, which can help trace the origin of a photograph and determine whether it has been used in other stories. She urged participants to verify facts before sharing and to avoid amplifying unverified claims, cautioning against the overuse of the term fake news, which can undermine trust in credible media.
In the second session, Claudine Mahoro, RMP University Coordinator, trained participants on the effective use of artificial intelligence in journalism. She demonstrated how AI tools can assist in summarizing reports, generating headlines, structuring stories, and refining ideas, while emphasizing that AI cannot replace field reporting or firsthand observation.
She warned against relying “solely on AI-generated content, highlighting its limitations, such as a lack of real-time updates and the risk of factual errors”. She encouraged students to combine traditional journalistic rigor with modern tools to enhance accuracy and credibility.
The training concluded with a call for students to uphold truth, ethics, and professionalism while embracing technology to strengthen their reporting.
