SpotCast

 LEBANON

SpotCast is an independent community media platform founded in 2022 in Akkar, the most marginalised region of northern Lebanon. It operates as a model of bottom-up democratic foresight, building civic and informational resilience where democratic erosion takes hold first. Its goals are producing rigorously independent local journalism in a region excluded from national discourse, training community reporters from Akkar, and building durable media infrastructure that resists disinformation, polarisation, and civic disengagement. Actions include daily multimedia reporting on environmental, social, gender, cultural, and accountability issues; investigative documentaries including the UNESCO-awarded 2024 film Basira; training in fact-checking, ethical reporting, and digital safety; and the launch of an FM community radio studio extending reach across the digital divide. SpotCast is rooted in Akkar but national in reach, with over one million monthly viewers, a core team of three, and 22+ trained volunteer journalists embedded in the communities they cover. Partners include Internews, DW Akademie, IRC, the European Endowment for Democracy, Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, and Maharat Foundation. By showing how independent journalism functions as democratic infrastructure under state weakness and information stress, SpotCast offers a replicable case of democratic foresight from the margins, relevant to the Forum's pillars of learning, protecting, and innovating for democracy.

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Eurovision News Spotlight

 SWITZERLAND

AI systems increasingly divert audiences away from trusted journalism, weakening the visibility and sustainability of quality news. The EBU has built a collective response through two interconnected strands. The first focuses on AI and news integrity through research, governance and innovation. The EBU/BBC News Integrity study found that 45% of AI-generated news responses contained significant issues. Alongside this work, the EBU has developed a Digital News and Data Hub (DNDH), bringing together A European Perspective (AEP), YEP (Your European Perspective) News, Neo, multilingual AI tools and public-service news discovery solutions. These initiatives complement the AI Principles Blueprint and the FACTS IN: FACTS OUT campaign, strengthening the visibility, accessibility and integrity of trusted journalism. The second strand is Eurovision News Spotlight, a network of 30 public service media organisations providing cross-border fact-checking, verification, intelligence-sharing and training. Together, these initiatives strengthen democratic resilience by responding to current harms while preparing for future risks, including AI assistants becoming dominant gateways to news and coordinated disinformation campaigns targeting elections across multiple countries. Together, these initiatives model collective democratic resilience

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Shikiriza Check

 BURUNDI

Shikiriza Check is an initiative aimed at strengthening information integrity and citizens’ resilience to information disorders in Burundi. Launched in April 2024, the project contributes to promoting peace, social cohesion, democracy and security through fact-checking, media and information literacy (MIL), and digital literacy. The project pursues three objectives: combating information disorders, strengthening citizens’ critical-thinking skills, and promoting a responsible information and digital culture. To achieve these aims, Shikiriza Check produces fact-checking content and organises training sessions, awareness-raising campaigns and conferences. The initiative primarily targets young people, women, journalists, students, content creators and underrepresented communities. Since its launch, it has published more than 100 fact-checking pieces, organised several training sessions and held the first National Fact-Checking Conference in Burundi. It has also established two university MIL clubs, contributed to the creation of REJADEME—the first Burundian network of journalists committed to combating information disorders—and was nominated for the 2025 Mediterranean Journalism Conference in Marseille. Led by Journal Shikiriza, the project collaborates with media outlets, universities, civil society organisations and the Burundi Press House. As a member of the Factoscope network, it aims to extend its impact across the Great Lakes region.

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