On 18 February 2026, the Union of Tanzania Press Clubs (UTPC), in partnership with JamiiAfrica through its Information Integrity Department, JamiiCheck, and the Geita Press Club (GPC), delivered specialized fact-checking and information-verification training to 21 journalists in Geita. The initiative was later extended to Bukoba on 20 February 2026, where an additional 21 journalists were trained in collaboration with the Kagera Press Club (KPC), bringing the total number of beneficiaries to 42 media professionals.
The training sessions were designed to strengthen journalists’ capacity to detect, verify, and counter misinformation and disinformation at a time when manipulated content spreads rapidly across digital and social media platforms. Through practical, hands-on sessions, participants learned core verification techniques, including reverse-image searches, source triangulation, basic geolocation methods, and structured newsroom verification workflows that improve reporting speed while safeguarding accuracy and credibility.
In addition to technical skills, the program introduced participants to contemporary digital verification tools and examined the responsible use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in journalism. Facilitator Innocent Mangu, the Information Integrity Department’s lead, demonstrated how AI can support background research, data analysis, and content authentication, while emphasizing that editorial judgment, ethical standards, and human oversight remain central to trustworthy journalism.
Participants were also introduced to the JamiiCheck platform and its citizen-centric verification model, which enables members of the public to submit claims for fact-checking and access verified, evidence-based reports. This approach strengthens public participation in combating misinformation while reinforcing transparency and accountability in the media ecosystem.
Given Tanzania’s rapidly expanding digital media landscape, the rapid growth in social media use, and the continued public reliance on journalists as trusted information providers, such capacity-building initiatives are both timely and essential.
JamiiAfrica aims to use these trainings to enhance journalists’ ability to operate effectively in online information spaces, raise professional standards, and support the development of a resilient, collaborative fact-checking ecosystem across Tanzania and the wider African region.
