Online course to tackle climate misinformation

The course was developed by AFP’s award-winning digital investigation and climate teams and is available in four languages: English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish, with the support of the Google News Initiative and part of its Collaboration for Climate Reporting.

The course focuses on tackling misinformation and disinformation, widespread on social media, which undermines understanding of the causes and dangers of climate change.

It lasts around one hour and includes videos, examples, tips and quizzes and provides a certificate upon completion.

Essential climate reporting skills for all journalists

Journalists need to know how to identify false climate change information, to detect greenwashing and identify reliable sources.

This training course, released ahead of Earth Day at Perugia International Journalism Festival, introduces journalists to common types of false and misleading climate claims.

“Equipping our journalists to cover the climate better is a key priority for AFP. This course provides journalists with tools to tackle the harmful climate disinformation that is thriving on social media,” said Phil Chetwynd, Global News Director of AFP.

Flexible, certified courses

More than 10,000 journalists and journalism students are already following courses on AFP’s online training platform, which exists in four languages.

It includes short modules for working and future journalists to complete in their own time, at no cost, to save time verifying information and navigating online.

More advanced courses cover techniques for deeper investigations, tackling health misinformation, and steps to anticipate and deal with online harassment.

The AFP Digital Courses platform is regularly updated with new examples and exercises.