Hyderabad, [India]: Telangana High Court Judge Justice B Vijaysen Reddy, released a book titled ‘Fact Check Cheyadama Ela- Cheap Fake Nunchi.. Deep Fake Dhaka‘ (How to fact-check – from Cheap Fakes to Deep Fakes) in an event held at the High Court premises, today. Senior Journalist, fact-check trainer Sudhakar Reddy Udumula, Factchecker and online researcher Satya Priya B N, authored the book. Fact-Check Cheyadam Ela? is the first verification handbook and fact-check manual in the Telugu language.
Speaking on the occasion, Justice B Vijaysen Reddy said, “I am delighted to release the book on Facts Check and elated to know the concept of Facts Check. With the growing awareness and ever-expanding social media platforms, its necessary to have the facts check system, so that all the stakeholders benefit. Every professional and every activity should have some responsibility as the system runs on checks and balances. We all are aware of instances of false reporting of news and misinformation and malicious campaign being indulged intentionally. Therefore, the victims of false reporting and misinformation should have some platform and this facts check will be very handy, to larger extent help them ventilate their grievances. As we know the people who are victims of false information and reporting, many a times lodge complaint with the police station, I feel this fact check is an intermediary system and the promoters of this concept who are neutral persons will render good services to the society and the stake holders. Between the victims and the system like police and courts, if intermediary persons are available, it will benefit the victim and in the larger interest it will sub-serve the public interest. Because the press is the fourth pillar, there should also be some counter check mechanism and I feel this facts check will definitely benefit several stake holders and definitely the victims of misreporting and false information.”
The book will be useful for legal professionals, journalists, journalism students, fact-checkers, media educators, PR professionals, political scientists, health professionals, and the general public. Common people who want to know the truth behind WhatsApp forwards or Facebook posts or any information online can also use this book, which contains basic to advanced techniques and tools for fighting ‘fake news’, disinformation, and misinformation.
Professor K Stevenson, the Dean of Social Sciences and Head of the Department of Journalism at Osmania University, who was also present during the book release, said, “From cheap to deep fakes, the book gives insights into what’s happening during natural disasters, public campaigns, and pandemics.”
The book contains various chapters ranging from scenarios of Misinformation and Disinformation, basic rules of Fact Checking, how to select viral claims, Text, Photo, Video, Audio Verification, Critical Thinking, Finding out Geolocation, Extracting Metadata, Researching Websites, data verification, climate change verification, fact-checking health claims, Deep fakes, Social media audit, finding news on social media, Google Trends, Digital Safety, qualities of a fact checker, rules of writing fact checks, and Laws related to Disinformation.
Sudhakar Reddy Udumula had earlier authored the book ‘Blood Sanders – The Great Forest Heist,’ an investigative work on Red Sanders smuggling. Sudhakar Reddy has trained thousands of journalists, journalism students, law graduates, and media educators on fact-checking skills in colleges, universities, press clubs, and media academies. He recently participated in the APAC Trusted Media Summit in Delhi and Global Fact 10, a fact-checking summit by the International Fact-Checking Network and Seoul National University in Seoul, South Korea. Both authors are part of the Google News Initiative India training network. BN Satya Priya leads the fact-checking unit of a portal, an International Fact-Checking Network signatory. She had worked as a Freelance Senior Researcher with BBC World Service. The book is available on Amazon for purchase.
