A young graduate from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles turned entrepreneur – Khyati Kohli – held a session with the students of Journalism and Mass Communication at DAV University on fact-checking using Google tools. The workshop held under the aegis of Google News Initiative India Training Network was aimed at empowering the students with the basic tools of fact-checking and awareness about misinformation.

Khyati – the managing director at an online news platform True Scoop – highlighted how the students of journalism could tackle climate misinformation and verify misleading data and claims like false numbers. Khyati Kohli, who also authored a novel The Shame’s on You at the age of 20, said that visuals left a lasting impression on people’s minds and they had the tendency of believing what they see. Technology had made it easier to create compelling and believable fake images. Posts that used text and visuals were more believed than textual disinformation, she said. Giving examples, she highlighted how it was difficult to distinguish between original and manipulated images.

Misinformation could be detected and a three-step visual investigation could help in detecting any mischief. “Look closely, zoom the different parts of the picture and make a list of probable things you can find in the online search,” she said. Use appropriate keywords to search for the details of the picture. She said that several tools like Google Lens could also help find fake news or misinformation.

After the workshop, Khyati Kohli also took questions from the students. She also talked about her debut novel and how it highlighted the struggles associated with being a woman in India. Mr. Rakesh Behal, Editor-In-Chief, and Guneet Kaur, Special Correspondent from True Scoop were also present at the workshop. The students also held an informal discussion with them about the challenges in journalism.

Applauding the initiative, the Vice-Chancellor of the University Dr Manoj Kumar said that dispelling misinformation held importance in the contemporary scenario and added that the institute would look forward to many more such events in the future.

The Coordinator, the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication Mr. Rama Shankar, faculty members Ms Kavita Devi and Mr Arvinder Singh also attended the workshop.