KARACHI: Senior journalists and media professionals gathered at the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) Karachi for a hands-on workshop on “Fact-Checking and Countering Digital and AI-Led Disinformation,” organised by the Centre for Excellence in Journalism (CEJ) under the leadership of its Director, Shahzeb Jillani.
Prominent media personality and forensic science communicator Dr. Umair Haroon attended the session and took an active part in the proceedings. He was joined by senior media personnel including Ahsan Lakhani, Abid Mujtaba, Irshad Sanjrani and Shoaib Burney.
The workshop lands at a moment when generative tools have made fabricated audio, video and imagery cheap to produce and hard to spot. For Pakistani newsrooms — where breaking news often travels first on WhatsApp and X before it reaches an editor’s desk — the verification gap has become an editorial risk rather than a technical curiosity.
Dr. Umair Haroon has long drawn attention to the challenge posed by AI-generated content and has consistently stressed the need for practical verification tools in modern newsrooms. Sharing his perspective during the session, he said continuous hands-on training is essential for media professionals, adding that journalists must be equipped to identify manipulation, verify claims accurately, and uphold credibility in an increasingly complex information environment.
The workshop was led by Syed Talal Ahsan, Project Supervisor of CEJ-iVerify Pakistan. Participants were introduced to a range of practical tools and techniques for verifying claims, detecting digital manipulation, and countering emerging forms of digital and AI-led disinformation.
Through interactive discussions and hands-on exercises, attendees tested verification methods, shared newsroom experiences, and explored strategies to strengthen fact-checking practice. The format gave participants a working platform to exchange insights and reinforce collaborative approaches against the spread of false and misleading information.
The workshop forms part of IBA-CEJ’s ongoing effort to build professional capacity across Pakistan’s media industry and to promote responsible journalism in the face of new technological challenges — a capacity-building track that has increasingly shifted from classroom theory to newsroom-floor practice.
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