First Draft Local News Fellowship

First Draft's Local News Fellowship was a 2020 program in which five local journalists based in newsrooms or collaboratives in five key states were trained in monitoring online mis- and disinformation and best practices for countering it. These fellows developed programs based on the needs locally. In Wisconsin, the fellow worked with Wisconsin Watch to produce guides for local journalists, as well as reporting content that was shared among news outlets. In Colorado, the fellow worked closely with Colorado News Collaborative and produced an online guide answering voters questions. In Ohio, the fellow produced voter guides printed in locally owned Black newspapers. In Michigan, the fellow developed translations of materials on spotting online misinformation in several languages spoken by. local immigrant populations, and the distributed hard copies in stores they frequented.