17 April 2019

Asia-Pacific Exclusive

First Draft opens an Asia-Pacific bureau at UTS to tackle misinformation in the lead up to
the election campaign and beyond.

Global misinformation experts First Draft have launched their first bureau in the Asia-Pacific
region to assist journalists and publishers unearth and expose misleading, false and untrue
claims.

The Bureau will be based at the Centre for Media Transition at the University of Technology
Sydney.

It will train and work with professional journalists and student reporters across the country
to develop the skills and expertise to reveal disinformation networks which threaten
Australian democracy.

The aim of the First Draft Sydney Bureau at the CMT is to upskill and provide real world
experience to the next generation of journalists via innovative, practical projects.

Political misinformation is a key concern of Australian voters, who will head to the polls next
month.

One of the Sydney Bureau’s first tasks will be to conduct a collaborative monitoring of the
Australian federal election.

“We’re really proud to be opening this bureau in Sydney, and to be working with local
partners across the region. Disinformation and hate are increasingly intertwined, and
investigating these networks is a complex challenge, one that requires different sectors and
industries to work together,” said Claire Wardle, First Draft executive chair.

“We’re already seeing influence campaigns playing out in the lead-up to the vote, but more
importantly we want to create a collaborative network that will continue past Election Day.”

The opening of the First Draft Sydney Bureau has been funded by the Google News Initiative
as part of a series of innovative projects in the Asia-Pacific region.

“We’re pleased to be supporting First Draft in opening their first bureau in APAC, working
with local partners UTS,” said Nic Hopkins, Google News Lab lead for Australia and New
Zealand.
“We’ve supported First Draft at a global level since 2015 and together we’re committed to
stemming the flow of misinformation and disinformation by collaborating directly with news
organisations, especially ahead of elections.”

The CMT is an applied, collaborative research centre within the Faculties of Law and Arts
and Social Sciences at UTS. It is concerned with news industry best practice, new business
models and regulatory adaptation in digital environments.

CMT’s co-director Peter Fray said, “The prevalence of misinformation threatens to

undermine the very fabric of our society, the stakes are that high.”

“The CMT in particular and UTS in general, are delighted to be part of the First Draft
initiative and to play our part in making public debate more evidence-based and hopefully
civil.”

First Draft’s Australian bureau will be headed by Anne Kruger, experienced journalist and
academic, who recently led research into misinformation in the Asia-Pacific region for the
University of Hong Kong.

“First Draft Australia is casting a wide net into social media for deep discovery of potential
disinformation issues circulating online over the election period,” she said.

“But it doesn’t stop there. Our coalition of media and academic collaborators is working to
sort information from misinformation which can have ongoing ramifications in the offline
world.”

The First Draft Australia team will work closely with the CMT to help design teaching and
training materials as well as lead research into the changing nature of journalistic practice
and the ways in which citizens and media interact.

First Draft is headquartered in London and led by managing director Jenni Sargent. First
Draft will also have a bureau in New York at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of
Journalism CUNY. The Australian and New York bureaux will work closely with the London
office to share verification resources, map disinformation networks and encourage and
support cross-border collaboration on the CrossCheck International platform.

For more information

Anne Kruger
First Draft Australia Bureau Chief
Anne.Kruger@uts.edu.au
(02) 9514 3104