Mediacorp hires VMLY&R to build platform for citizen tip-offs and news verification

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Global brand experience agency VMLY&R and Singapore’s national public broadcaster Mediacorp have launched CNA Eyewitness, an open, collaborative channel that allows journalists and citizens to work together in the creation of news stories. This platform is aimed at bridging the gap between citizen contributors and news media, enabling greater collaboration, faster reporting of breaking news stories and curbing of fake news to aid aspiring journalists, citizens and whistle-blowers.

Through consolidation of citizen contributions from the CNA app (iOS and Android), Telegram, Facebook’s chatbot, Twitter Direct Messages and forms on the CNA website, the app will facilitates timely, on-the-ground viewpoints from CNA readers. Editors can then fact-check and verify the information with contributors before developing the content into credible articles for CNA.

VMLY&R developed the unified CNA Eyewitness dashboard as well as a Facebook chatbot for contributors after identifying the opportunity for greater connection between CNA and citizen contributors,.

Preethi Sanjeevi, managing director for VMLY&R Singapore said the “absolute importance of authentic news validated by on-ground realities has never been more apparent than now. CNA Eyewitness is meant to solve exactly this challenge – with an eye on reduction of misinformation and enabling more personal stories, it connects journalists to Singaporeans island wide.”

Willy Tan, lead, digital news & lifestyle, Mediacorp, said that he is glad to collaborate with VMLY&R in developing CNA Eyewitness, which will “transform the way Mediacorp collects information by allowing its audiences the flexibility in reaching out and using its preferred channel of communication.” Through this platform, not only will Mediacorp be able to receive information across multiple platforms, effectively increasing the volume of citizen tip-offs, but also “enhance its efficiency in developing new content, consolidating its position as the go-to source for timely, trusted news.”

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