About us
Lie Detectors is an independent, award-winning and journalist-driven media literacy organisation. As Europe’s largest organisation of this kind, its remit is to counter the corrosive effect of online disinformation and polarisation on democracy.
To do this, Lie Detectors empowers young people and teachers to tell fact from fake online and understand how journalism works. It trains teachers to pass this knowledge to students safely and effectively.
Lie Detectors contributes research and findings from its practical work into advisory and policy-making processes in the fields of education and digital rights.
Lie Detectors is non-partisan and its remit universal. Its commitment to take no funding from political parties and none from large online platforms is cited by 77% of teachers as an important or very important factor in their decision to host Lie Detectors.
Lie Detectors receives core funding from the Wyss Foundation and is accredited as a charity by the donor-advised fund Myriad. Several of its projects are funded via EU grants. It was conceived and founded in 2017 by award-winning journalist Juliane von Reppert-Bismarck as a response to a growing public crisis of confidence in professional journalism.
"Everyone needs the skills to be a journalist."
— Andreas Schleicher, Director of Education and Skills, OECD
Our work in numbers
We run our workshops in English, French, German and Polish with more languages in development
Reach
Our network of more than 500 trained journalists allows us to work at scale: Lie Detectors is Europe’s leading provider of journalist-driven media literacy education and trains teachers internationally.
Creating a virtuous circle
Journalists work with students
Lie Detectors selects and trains professional journalists with an award-winning script to deliver 90-minute classroom-based workshops for children aged 10-15. Classroom sessions are for all school types and localities. Sessions are interactive, inclusive, non-political and age-appropriate. We aim to harness children's intuitive understanding of their online world. Games and tools give children skills to navigate the online information world with curiosity and care. Training is in line with DigComp2.2, EU EDAP and Digital Literacy recommendations.
Teachers as multipliers
Teachers have the power to continue the conversation we start in the classroom. Our most experienced journalists train teachers in workshops of 120-180 minutes. Peer learning, games and practical tools are a priority, building teachers’ digital literacy and confidence to work independently and safely with their students. Demand is up since Covid. Training is in line with DigComp2.2, Digital Literacy recommendations. Lie Detectors is proud to be a Supportive Partner of eTwinning and a member of the Professional Development Advisory Board for the European School Education Platform. New modules are constantly in development.
Analysis and Evaluation
Cooperation with academia (Bristol, Münster, Munich, Southern Denmark)
Cross-country data on media use of young people
Data on vulnerability
Data on impact
Cooperations, Toolkits and Policy Advice
Data and on-the-ground insights inform policy debateInsights feed into newsroomsExchange between journalistsToolkits for likeminded organisationsSolutions integrated sustainably into education infrastructureEU expert advisory groups
Partners
Lie Detectors partners with organisations with shared values and complementary interests. Lie Detectors and its knowledge partners reinforce one another’s networks and advocacy positions where relevant. Through cooperation, we all benefit from influencing and being associated with one another’s activities. Lie Detectors’ partnerships involve no money or capital flows.
Lie Detectors knowledge partners:
Lie Detectors cooperates with newsrooms
Lie Detectors shares knowledge within educational networks
Lie Detectors shares knowledge within digital and media policy networks
Ethical code
FOR TEACHERS
Lie Detectors trainers commit to ethical codes and we take no funding from political parties or from large online platforms. 77% of educators cite this as an important factor in their decision to host us.
Lie Detectors receives core funding from the Wyss Foundation and is accredited as a charity by the King Baudouin Foundation US. Several of its projects are funded via EU grants.
How we do it
Structure and content:
Professional journalists and media experts teach 90-minute classroom sessions in the presence of a teacher and provide follow-up “News Challenge” materials for use in the classroom. Sessions consist of two parts: in the first half, students discuss disinformation and acquire journalistic tools to decode fakes. A second half uses interactive games to explore journalistic pressures and news agendas and how these may present partial picture of reality. Material for homework or follow-up sessions – where requested – allows children to develop deeper a understanding of storytelling and perspective. All journalists have been trained to discuss their profession and its challenges honestly and transparently. Services offered to classrooms are free of charge and aim to reach a broad and diverse range of schools in Europe. Training for teachers, teacher-trainers and school managers follows the award-winning approach of hands-on, inclusive training by journalists, frank discussion and resources for follow-up.
FOR TEACHERS