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AFP Partners with MediaNumeric to Launch Pioneering Online Academy for Data-Driven Media Skills in Europe
As part of its continuous effort to tackle disinformation, Agence France-Presse (AFP) is pleased to announce the launch of the ‘MediaNumeric Academy’ – a training programme in data journalism and fact-checking created for the future generation of journalists. The initiative aims to foster the development of a European media ecosystem that prioritises audiences and users, emphasising fairness, economic sustainability, and technological progress.
The MediaNumeric Academy is designed to cater for students, journalists, and media professionals who wish to enhance their skills in data journalism and discover new tools for identifying misinformation. The platform is available in English and enrolment is completely free of charge.
Structured into three self-paced modules, participants will learn how to:
- search, decipher, and analyse data;
- write and visualise data effectively;
- identify misinformation and disinformation.
In addition to these skills, the Academy also explores the challenges posed by generative artificial intelligence for the media industry in Europe.
Delivered through videos and interactive quizzes, the training features presentations by European experts in data science, digital investigation, data visualisation, and media innovation. The list of experts includes Julie Brunet (Datacitron), Dario Compagno (University of Nanterre), Kuba Piwowar (Google, SWPS University), Tim Manders (The Netherlands Institute of Sound & Vision), and Marion Dautry and Natalia Sawka (AFP).
Upon successfully completing the training, participants receive certificates that attest to their newly acquired skills, now deemed essential in the media industry.
The Academy is the culmination of a three-year project by MediaNumeric, a collaborative consortium of leading European entities in news, media education, archives, and innovation.
Co-financed by the European Commission under the Erasmus+ programme, the project is led by The Netherlands Institute of Sound and Vision (NISV, Netherlands), in collaboration with Agence France-Presse, Institut National de l'Audiovisuel (INA, France), InHolland University (Netherlands), SWPS University (Poland), Storytek Innovation & Venture Studio (Estonia), and Centrum Cyfrowe (Poland).
The project involved three training sessions for students in Paris, The Hague, and Warsaw. The launch of the MediaNumeric Academy took place during the conference "The Resilience of News Media: Data, Storytelling & Democracy," held on November 27 and 28 at SWPS University in Warsaw, Poland.
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