Vietnam News Agency’s anti-fake news project wins int’l press prize

 Hanoi (VNA) - A project on fighting fake news by the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) has been named Best Project for News Literacy, one of ten categories within the framework of the Asian Digital Media Awards 2020 presented by the World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA).

The prize will be officially announced at WAN-IFRA’s Digital Media Asia 2020 event on October 15.

The VNA project, named “The fight against fake news – Creative ideas and Effective solutions”, consists of three parts: an anti-fake news song in 15 languages, a TikTok account Factcheckvn targeting young people, and a training campaign that equips students with skills to spot fake news called “Say No To Fake News”.

Fake news is spreading all around the world, and Vietnam is not an exception, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Vietnam News Agency, known as one of the leading media agencies in Vietnam, has been pioneering in the fight against fake news with thousands of in-depth publications under various forms of media. The publications not only alert viewers and readers about the threats of fake news but also actively reveal incorrect information in the press.

Since 2019, the agency has implemented a series of creative initiatives, lifting the fight to a new level.

The song “No Fake News”, performed by local rappers DaLab, was released on March 27 and immediately caught widespread attention. A version with English subtitles was released the following day, followed by 13 other versions in French, Spanish, Russian, Italian, German, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Arabic, Thai, Indonesian, Lao, and Khmer.

Posted on all VNA online platforms, the song was promoted on major TV channels as well as in newspapers. It has reached millions of people and has more than 377,000 views on DaLab’s YouTube channel.

All the 15 versions are available on RapNewsPlus at https://bit.ly/39ZHmAa.

The song was publicised on all websites and platforms of VNA as well as other major channels in Vietnam like VTV, VOV and VTC.

It also marked the debut of the VNA’s official TikTok account, Fackcheckvn, in April (https://www.tiktok.com/@fackcheckvn), targeting Generation Z. This is the first time in Vietnam a media agency has opened its own channel for fact checking on TikTok. Videos published by the account featuring information on issues in Vietnam and around the world as well as revealing fake news have attracted hundreds of thousands of views. One of them topped 1.4 million views.

The most interesting is the “Say No To Fake News” project that aims to increase the social responsibility of media agencies through outdoor activities.

Implemented by the VNA Youth Union, the project helped organise a training campaign that provided skills for students to recognise and respond to fake news. The campaign was first carried out in December 2019, reaching about 100 students in Da Nang city and then in HCM City, Hanoi, Hai Phong, Can Tho and Dong Thap.

The network of the VNA’s correspondents based in all 63 cities and provinces in Vietnam helped the campaign reach tens of thousands of students who are expected to share the anti-fake news skills with their friends and family members.

The Asian Digital Media Awards recognise Asian publishers who have delivered unique and original digital media projects in the last 12 months, from new approaches to digital subscriptions to impactful native advertising campaigns - projects that inspire us all.

Entries to the awards compete in ten categories including Best News Website or Mobile Service, Best Paid Content Strategy, Best in Audience Engagement, Best Data Visualisation and Best Digital Marketing Campaign for News Brand.

In the category which the VNA’s project won - Best Project for News Literacy, entries must comprise projects aimed at enhancing news literacy skills, promote critical thinking and further the smart consumption of news. Projects that demonstrate strong evidence of success in engaging a specific audience or age group will be granted extra credit.

Also winning in this category is a project by Singapore Press Holdings./.