Al Jazeera’s fact-checking agency resolves 20% of requests automatically via WhatsApp

These journalists needed to regularly fact check sources and connect with the internal editorial team at the Sanad agency. These communications were vital to the success of reporters who require quick answers from remote parts of the world. They were, however, consistently running into a few key issues.

• Email was too slow. When communicating with journalists in the field, email was slow and took too much effort. If a reporter wanted to verify a specific quote or statistic, they had to find a laptop with internet access, upload images, draft and send the email, and then wait for a reply. This led to a lot of back-and-forth and was ultimately too time consuming to fact check sources on the go.

• Responses were all manual. Every request could only be processed by a live agent on weekdays during working hours. Meanwhile, journalists work 24/7, limiting their ability to break timely news.

• Technology was hindering – not helping. Many field reporters work from remote areas with limited access to the internet or even a computer. They needed a solution that was not only faster and automated, but also far more mobile-friendly and operable on low-bandwidth.

  
  

In addition to processing fact-checking requests more efficiently, the editorial team wanted to empower journalists to easily search Sanad’s newsfeed, and they wanted to increase engagement with their email newsletter content. Ultimately, they wanted to support these journalists through a channel that was more convenient, available around the clock, and easier to use.