Category: News

The Centre for Freedom of the Media (CFOM), University of Sheffield, has conducted a two-year comprehensive study of editorial standards of accuracy and complaints handling pre- and post-IPSO. At a time of intense political debate about disinformation in general, and also in relation to the Covid-19 pandemic, the ability to find accurate and trustworthy information has never been more important. The aim of the research, conducted by Dr. Chrysi Dagoula (University of Groningen), Professor Jackie Harrison (University of Sheffield) and Dr. Irini Katsirea (PI) (University of Sheffield) is to explore member publishers’ editorial standards and, in particular, whether and how standards of complaints handling have changed within the industry.

Every year, World Press Freedom Day (May 3) is a day when we celebrate the fundamental principles of press freedom and the invaluable work journalists do to provide the public with reliable and accurate information. Confronted as we are with the current COVID-19 pandemic, the role of journalism that is guided by a commitment to the truth – and an absolute obligation not to deceive – is more important than ever.

Two members of the Centre for Freedom of the Media research team at the University of Sheffield, Julie Posetti (who is Global Director of Research at the International Center for Journalists) and Kalina Bontcheva (who is Head of the Natural Language Processing Research Group at the Department of Computer Science), have written two new UNESCO Policy Briefs that assess the worrying extent of misinformation that has accompanied the COVID-19 crisis. The research was produced in partnership with the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ).