Striving to revolutionize journalism’s ability to investigate and fight mis/disinformation

VERDAD is a powerful tool that monitors Spanish-language radio stations to identify and record disinformation, then translates it into English. It is an open-source resource that is now live and free for all journalists to utilize. This tool was built with collaboration and support from the Reynolds Journalism Institute and MacArthur Foundation. Sign up by going to the tool and either using your google login or making an account. 

VERDAD uses state-of-the-art audio transcription and AI translation technologies to capture and process audio streams. This allows for highly accurate, simultaneous monitoring of multiple radio stations across the country. 

For the past five weeks, VERDAD has recorded 40 Spanish language radio stations in the states of Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Nevada, Michigan, Georgia, and North Carolina, as well as states with large Latino populations like Texas and Florida. It records and highlights possible conspiracy theories, misinformation, and disinformation about the LGBTQ community,  immigration, abortion, reproductive rights, voter suppression, and more. We heard mis/disinformation in the form ads, people calling into shows, and hosts repeating the mis/disinformation.

Join us for a live demo of VERDAD Dec. 19 at 11 a.m. CT to see how you can utilize this powerful tool and ask questions. 

How we got here

In 2022, we received a tip that would deeply impact Latino communities. Russian propagandists were buying airtime on Spanish-language radio stations to spread mis/disinformation. It was alarming to hear that foreign agents were possibly spreading disinformation, but it was even more concerning that it could be happening on Latino radio in the United States. 

If you step into any Latino household, restaurant, or workplace, you will likely hear a Spanish-language radio station playing in the background. In fact, about 97% of Latinos tune in to the radio each week, a rate higher than the national average. Spanish radio, a platform trusted by immigrant and Latino communities for news and cultural connection, is the perfect place to spread conspiracy theories about voter fraud and misleading information on social issues to sow division and suppress civic participation.

Battleborn Progress, a voter mobilization non-profit in Arizona, confirmed it had heard disinformation on a local station. They called the station to demand it stop running the ad. At the time, Battleborn Progress was so concerned they were ready to hire someone to listen around the clock. 

In Florida, the organization Florida Rising monitored Spanish radio after the Capitol Insurrection. They helped author a report on the spread of disinformation on Latino radio in Miami. For the 2024 presidential election, Florida Rising recruited a steady rotation of volunteers to listen and translate what they were hearing.

We wanted to find a better way to monitor radio stations outside of physically listening for hours. How could we help them and the journalists who cover these communities to monitor these radio stations more effectively? 

Building the tool 

We prioritized building VERDAD to monitor disinformation on Spanish-language radio stations as other reporters pursued the story (it was turned into a series by Feet in 2 Worlds in partnership with WNYC’s Notes from America, palabra, and Puente News Collaborative). 

Rajiv Sinclair and Sukari Stone, design engineers at Public Data Works, helped us build this monitoring and translation tool. They had a history of working with journalism outlets to help advance representative democracy and were the perfect fit to make this idea a reality. 

In early November, we launched VERDAD and have already seen impactful results. VERDAD recently recorded disinformation on WWFE – 670 AM, a Florida radio station, suggesting that Planned Parenthood’s primary goal is to decrease the African-American population, falsely associating the organization’s founding with a racist agenda. What we’ve found is much of the disinformation aligns with known Russian propaganda being pushed on Sputnik Radio. 

Mis/disinformation has been called the most severe short-term threat to human development by a recent convening of 1,400 global risk experts at the World Economic Forum. 

False claims harm our democracy by exacerbating political polarization, disrupting electoral processes, and undermining trust in federal, scientific, and journalistic institutions, according to a study published in the Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review.

In Latino communities in the United States, mis/disinformation emerged as a critical issue during the COVID-19 Pandemic and spread into election cycles. Latinos have a growing political influence in the U.S. and are the largest ethnic minority, representing over 14.7% of eligible voters. Their voting patterns can significantly influence local, state, and national elections – making them a key demographic for persuasion or voter suppression efforts. It is no wonder bad actors saw radio as the perfect place to target Hispanics. 

If you serve Latino communities, cover mis/disinformation, cover foreign agents interfering in U.S. elections, Latino voting patterns and/or want to learn more about utilizing this tool for your work, please join me in our webinar on Dec. 19 at 11 a.m. CT and/or contact me at martina955@gmail.com. 

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Cite this article

Guzmán, Martina (2024, Nov. 21). VERDAD, a new free-to-use tool that helps journalists investigate mis/disinformation spread on Spanish language radio. Reynolds Journalism Institute. Retrieved from: https://rjionline.org/news/creative-ways-to-connect-your-community-with-resources/