Radio 786 recently took part in a two-day, in-person elections reporting workshop in Cape Town, hosted by Africa Check, Moxii Africa and the South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF) .as part of the Partnership on Information Integrity in Elections (PIIE) on the 2nd and 3rd of September.
The workshop came at an important time for journalists preparing to cover South Africa’s upcoming local government elections, providing an opportunity to strengthen practical reporting and fact-checking skills before the election campaign intensifies.
The training focused on some of the key challenges journalists face during elections, including identifying and debunking false information online, applying fact-checking techniques to everyday reporting, understanding the role of the media during elections and considering journalist safety.
For Radio 786, the workshop was an opportunity to learn how to navigate an information environment where rumours, misleading claims, old photographs and false information can spread rapidly through platforms such as WhatsApp and Facebook, as well as through local political networks.
With journalists often serving as an important source of information for communities, the workshop emphasised the need for accuracy, fairness and public interest when reporting on elections. Understanding candidates, voting procedures, political claims and election-related misinformation is particularly important at local level, where issues directly affect communities.
The workshop also highlighted the broader role journalists play in protecting information integrity and helping voters make informed decisions.
