The second day of the Communication & Media Days Split 2025, organized by the Communication and Media Studies program at the University of Split, was dedicated to the topics of disinformation and fact-checking.
The day began with a panel titled "Fact-checking Projects in Croatia - Challenges of the Information Crisis," during which speakers presented their fact-checking initiatives. The first presentation, "Young and Older Generations Together for Truth - DU-Check as a Bridge Between Generations," was delivered by Tereza Buconić from the Department of Media and Public Relations at the University of Dubrovnik. This was followed by the talk "VerifEye - Ways and Methods of Checking the Accuracy of Published Information from the Domain of Interest of Children and Youth," presented by Tomislav Levak, Gabriela Peranović, and Ena Lusavec from the Academy of Arts and Culture at the Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek. Josip Šipić and Iva Zelić from the organization Libela.org addressed the topic "Gender Disinformation Narratives in Election Campaigns: The Case of Croatia." Danira Matijaca from the School of Medicine at the University of Split presented the results of an analysis of the spread of health-related disinformation in a talk titled "Between Truth and Myth: Analysis of Health Claims in Comments on Facebook Pages of National Media." The panel concluded with Marija Slijepčević from VERN’ University in Zagreb and her presentation "The Truth About Tourism: A Fact-Checking Approach to Combat Misinformation." The discussion was moderated by Jelena Jurišić from the University of Split.
After a short break, the HUOJ roundtable titled "Truth on Trial: How to Defend Against the Deepfake Threat?" took place, focusing on the impact of deepfake technology, its potential for manipulating information, and possible methods of detecting such content. Panelists shared their experiences from various projects: Tomislav Levak with VerifEye, Josip Šipić with Gender Facts, Marija Slijepčević with TurFacto, Danira Matijaca with MedLitmus, and Tereza Buconić with DU-Check. The roundtable was moderated by Luka Šipić from the organization Vrh komunikacije.
The afternoon was reserved for a student workshop divided into three segments. The first part, "How to Respond to Disinformation with Fact-checking Tools?" was led by Iva Zelić and Josip Šipić from Libela.org. The workshop was based on the work of the Libela portal and the Gender Facts project, a fact-checking tool focused on gender-based disinformation.
The second part of the workshop included two presentations. Karla Martinić from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Zagreb presented an analysis titled "Critical Discourse Analysis and Emotion Manipulation Using the Example of a Disinformation Article About the Killing of Israeli Children." Mihaela Češljar and Eva Miladinović from the Academy of Arts and Culture in Osijek spoke about their project NEWAVES - Collaborative Alliance for Radio Recovery and Boost of Community News Media in Low-density Territories. This session was moderated by Iva Zelić.
The day concluded with a panel titled "Journalism as a Profession of Information Verification - Newsroom Experiences," featuring four presentations based on real-world journalism practices. Mašenjka Bačić from the portal Oštro opened the session with "The Ethical Dilemmas of Artificial Intelligence Use in Journalism," discussing ethical challenges posed by AI in the newsroom. This was followed by "How Local Journalists are Resisting the Increasing Demands of Their Work with Collegiality," presented by Franka Jović Tonkli from HRT. Damir Petranović, a freelance journalist collaborating with T-portal, Nacional, and Dalmatinski portal, spoke about the role of local media in elections through his talk "The Role of Credible Local Media in Reporting on Local Elections." The final talk of the day, "Working in the Editorial Office of a Local Media: How Much Technology Has Made Our Work Difficult," was presented by Mate Prlić from Dalmatinski portal. The final panel was moderated by Tamara Kunić from VERN’ University in Zagreb.
Read more: Dalmatinski portal article
Karla Jelić
The day began with a panel titled "Fact-checking Projects in Croatia - Challenges of the Information Crisis," during which speakers presented their fact-checking initiatives. The first presentation, "Young and Older Generations Together for Truth - DU-Check as a Bridge Between Generations," was delivered by Tereza Buconić from the Department of Media and Public Relations at the University of Dubrovnik. This was followed by the talk "VerifEye - Ways and Methods of Checking the Accuracy of Published Information from the Domain of Interest of Children and Youth," presented by Tomislav Levak, Gabriela Peranović, and Ena Lusavec from the Academy of Arts and Culture at the Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek. Josip Šipić and Iva Zelić from the organization Libela.org addressed the topic "Gender Disinformation Narratives in Election Campaigns: The Case of Croatia." Danira Matijaca from the School of Medicine at the University of Split presented the results of an analysis of the spread of health-related disinformation in a talk titled "Between Truth and Myth: Analysis of Health Claims in Comments on Facebook Pages of National Media." The panel concluded with Marija Slijepčević from VERN’ University in Zagreb and her presentation "The Truth About Tourism: A Fact-Checking Approach to Combat Misinformation." The discussion was moderated by Jelena Jurišić from the University of Split.
After a short break, the HUOJ roundtable titled "Truth on Trial: How to Defend Against the Deepfake Threat?" took place, focusing on the impact of deepfake technology, its potential for manipulating information, and possible methods of detecting such content. Panelists shared their experiences from various projects: Tomislav Levak with VerifEye, Josip Šipić with Gender Facts, Marija Slijepčević with TurFacto, Danira Matijaca with MedLitmus, and Tereza Buconić with DU-Check. The roundtable was moderated by Luka Šipić from the organization Vrh komunikacije.
The afternoon was reserved for a student workshop divided into three segments. The first part, "How to Respond to Disinformation with Fact-checking Tools?" was led by Iva Zelić and Josip Šipić from Libela.org. The workshop was based on the work of the Libela portal and the Gender Facts project, a fact-checking tool focused on gender-based disinformation.
The second part of the workshop included two presentations. Karla Martinić from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Zagreb presented an analysis titled "Critical Discourse Analysis and Emotion Manipulation Using the Example of a Disinformation Article About the Killing of Israeli Children." Mihaela Češljar and Eva Miladinović from the Academy of Arts and Culture in Osijek spoke about their project NEWAVES - Collaborative Alliance for Radio Recovery and Boost of Community News Media in Low-density Territories. This session was moderated by Iva Zelić.
The day concluded with a panel titled "Journalism as a Profession of Information Verification - Newsroom Experiences," featuring four presentations based on real-world journalism practices. Mašenjka Bačić from the portal Oštro opened the session with "The Ethical Dilemmas of Artificial Intelligence Use in Journalism," discussing ethical challenges posed by AI in the newsroom. This was followed by "How Local Journalists are Resisting the Increasing Demands of Their Work with Collegiality," presented by Franka Jović Tonkli from HRT. Damir Petranović, a freelance journalist collaborating with T-portal, Nacional, and Dalmatinski portal, spoke about the role of local media in elections through his talk "The Role of Credible Local Media in Reporting on Local Elections." The final talk of the day, "Working in the Editorial Office of a Local Media: How Much Technology Has Made Our Work Difficult," was presented by Mate Prlić from Dalmatinski portal. The final panel was moderated by Tamara Kunić from VERN’ University in Zagreb.
Read more: Dalmatinski portal article
Karla Jelić
