AMID the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, misinformation and misleading articles are being circulated on social media platforms, especially Twitter, as an amplification tool to pass on false information.
Here are some resources to enable people receive reliable information.
Twitter lists
- Jane Lytvynenko, a senior research fellow at the Technology and Social Change Project at Harvard Kennedy School’s Shorenstein Center who is originally from Ukraine has come up with lists for Ukraine monitoring. Some of the Tweets may need Google to translate for those who don’t speak Ukrainian and Russian.
- A CNN reporter Daniel Dale provided a list of reporters on the ground and others who know what they’re talking about.
- Josh Marshall, editor and publisher of Talking Points Memo has created a list of journalists, diplomats, heads of state and commentators to follow for information on developments in the Ukraine crisis.
- Rebecca Shabad, politics reporter for NBC News also made a list of sources, journalists, officials and experts on Ukraine and Russia to follow for the latest.
Dropped paywalls, products made free
The Financial Times has dropped its paywall on the Ukraine coverage.
Sweden’s Svenska Dagbladet has dropped the paywall on its live coverage.
The Kyiv Post and Kyiv Independent are not paywalled. The Kyiv Independent has a Patreon and GoFundMe.
Fact-checking and debunking
The international investigative journalism collective Bellingcat is maintaining a fact-checking spreadsheet of dubious and debunked claims from the Ukraine frontlines, noting, “Many of the more dramatic claims aired by Russian state media or pro-separatist channels of Ukrainian aggression in recent days appear to have little truth to them. On the contrary, some videos appear to be flagrant attempts at disinformation.”
Molly Mckew shares a helpful summary of Russian messaging targeting Russians, Ukrainians, broader regional and Western audiences in the early days of Putin’s war on Ukraine by @selectedwisdom’s @MiburoSolutions team
Trying to: stop Ukrainians fighting, keep them from getting support.
Kayleen Devlin and Olga Robinson of the BBC’s disinformation monitoring unit looked at some of the techniques Russia is using to try to spread pro-Kremlin media narratives.
Livestreams
Lytvynenko wrote for The Atlantic about watching a Reuters Livestream of Kyiv’s Maidan Square.
“The stream of Maidan is different from all the noise. Nothing’s fake here; there’s no algorithm; and once I hide the live chat, there isn’t even a conversation to parse.
“It’s not a green screen against which TV pundits discuss Russia’s next move. The Livestream is not trying to convince me of anything; it’s just showing me things as they are.”
Maps
Datawrapper’s Lisa Charlotte Muth has created a list of maps from graphics reporters that are reliable.
- New York Times
- Le Monde
- ZEIT Online
- Wall Street Journal
Blessing Otoibhi is a Multimedia Journalist and Anchor host for the News in 60 seconds at The International Center For Investigative Reporting. You can shoot her a mail via [email protected] or connect on Twitter @B_otoibhi