For more than 60 years, UNESCO has campaigned for press freedom and access to quality information for all.

The spread of disinformation across the globe is impacting how we think, vote in public elections and make government policy. Although the COVID-19 pandemic has shown how lies cost lives, the challenges posed by false and hateful forms of expression are even greater: they affect our identities, our knowledge, and our democratic systems. 

So, how can we prevent readers who no longer always trust leading media outlets from falling into the fake-news trap?

As part of its Media and Information Literacy program, UNESCO, in partnership with DDB Paris is launching this week a global awareness campaign called ‘read the sources’.

It all started with a single idea: information is like food.

Its quality depends largely on the quality of its ingredients. When you don’t know what your information is made from, you can’t tell if it’s good or bad. 

This is why UNESCO welcomes the invitation by two leading international media outlets - The Globe and Mail and Society - to look behind the scenes of investigative journalism by revealing, for the very first time, the sources used to underpin key stories they have covered. The two publications have made available more than 300 documents, including images, audio recordings, interviews and hundreds of PDF files, through a digital experience available on  readthesources.com

Understanding what makes good information and recognising the rigorous work of journalists and the importance of verified sources are the goals of the #ReadTheSources initiative. 

This global communication campaign is visible from this week until the end of the month, all driving to the experiential website.

Coinciding with the tenth anniversary of the Media and Information Literacy Week, this initiative will now continue, and new partnerships will be formed with international newspapers in 2022.