Global news agency Agence France Presse has created a new training platform to help equip journalists and students to handle digital investigations and misinformation.

The course was developed by AFP’s digital investigations team with the support of Google News Initiative.

Sifting through misinformation is now a key skill for coverage from breaking news to elections, the war in Ukraine, the COVID pandemic or following the latest trends on social media. The training courses were developed in response to an urgent need for all journalists – whatever their beat – to be equally at ease in the digital world as in the real one.

A new platform provides short modules for working and future journalists to complete in their own time, with videos, examples, quizzes and tips from its global digital investigations service. Included are ten modules of about an hour each in English and French. The content is designed for all levels of experience, providing training at no cost to boost essential digital skills and save time searching for reliable information while dealing with online sources in breaking news situations.

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

In the coming months, the platform will be updated with new examples, exercises and webinars, and training in Portuguese and Spanish.

For more details, visit the AFP Digital Courses platform.

AFP global news director Phil Chetwynd said rapid developments on social media platforms and fast-moving disinformation meant journalism skills constantly needed to be updated: “We want to share learnings from our digital investigations team with all journalists, helping them to work more efficiently and safely online.”