Truly Media – Truly Great
,Exciting times for Truly Media — in just two tweeks, we got to present DW’s and ATC’s verification platform at four high-profile events. And yes, that actually included demoing Truly to the German Chancellor.
First of all, DW chose Truly Media as one of nine 'highlight projects' that were showcased at the German Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt) on 30 May 2018, in the scope of the broadcaster's 65th anniversary. Julia Bayer and Jochen Spangenberg introduced the platform to members of the German diplomatic services, some of whom have to deal with the consequences of misinformation and propaganda every day.
An even bigger day came a week later. June 5th saw DW's main anniversary event. This time, Jochen Spangenberg and Wilfried Runde had been invited to represent Truly. More than 300 people, mostly Members of Parliament, Ministers, State Secretaries, DW Board members, current and former DW staff and invited dignitaries met at Paul-Loebe-Haus, which is part of the German Parliament (Bundestag). The guest of honour: German chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel–who actually stopped by for a Truly demo and was very interested in what she saw. Her comment on the platform and the work of the Truly partners: "well done–keep going".
Fast forward to June 11th, day 1 of the Global Media Forum in Bonn. This is where Mariya Gabriel, EU Commissioner for the Digital Economy and Society, took a closer look at the Truly platform and asked for a demo, once again provided by Jochen Spangenberg. Gabriel is known for her interest in the verification topic and launched the EU initiative to fight misinformation. The Commissioner was happy to learn that Truly is in fact based on some of the outcomes of our EU co-funded research project REVEAL.
The final presentation in these publicity-packed weeks took place on June 15th, when Jochen Spangenberg went to see the Supervisory Board (Rundfunkrat) of Deutsche Welle about Truly. The Board Members also took considerable interest. They were delighted that, together with our partners at Athens Technology Center (ATC), we have developed a tool like Truly.
Julia Bayer and Jochen Spangenberg presenting Truly Media at the German Foreign Office
As the DW team behind the platform, we're of course very grateful for high profile
PR and dissemination opportunities like these. And we're proud about the positive feedback received. However, what's probably most important: Truly Media is a successful and stable platform that serves parts of the global verification community (for example at Amnesty International) in the fight against misinformation every day. And we'll continue to improve it.
Photos: DW
