Short-Term Consultant – Media Specialist

About MENAACTION

MENAACTION, established by youth from the MENA region, is a nonprofit organization designed to advocate for the rights of MENA youth. MENAACTION is for youth by youth, focusing on issues of policy, advocacy, democracy, and human rights. MENAACTION looks to build a vast network of young people in the region and MENA youth around the world, as it believes in the meaningful engagement of youth as stakeholders and active agents. MENAACTION is rooted in empowering voices in and from the MENA region to lead efforts to engage youth into decision making. Through a focus on youth and a combination of policy, advocacy, democracy, and human rights, MENAACTION provides a unique and distinct approach to addressing issues in the region.

Scope of Work

MENAACTION is looking to solicit the services of a media specialist to support one of MENAACTION’s current projects, TAQASI, which looks to train Jordanian journalists on how to detect and identify fake news and how to verify and fact-check such content, with emphasis on content disseminated in Jordan by Russian media or Russia-sponsored or aligned media outlets in Jordan, the Arab world, or beyond.

The specialist will be responsible for finding, analyzing, and reporting on news content in English and/or Arabic in comparison to original Russian sources. The Specialist is expected to deliver a final report that:

• Must include specific examples of Russian, or Russian-sponsored/aligned, news content (such as articles, videos, exposés, Op-Eds, etc.) from various sources and outlets, including written media, visual media, and social media.
• Must include commentary on any differences between the Arabic/English content and the original Russian content, such as change in tone, context, liberty in translation, overlooked facts, among others.
• Must include commentary on general trends found throughout the research process.

The Specialist will be responsible for designing their own method that result in successful delivery of the final report.

Level of Effort

This is a short-term consultancy for a total of four (4) working days. While the project is implemented in Jordan, this consultancy can be conducted remotely, as there is no in-person presence required.

Qualifications

• The Media Specialist must be fluent in Russian and English.
• The Media Specialist must demonstrate experience in media monitoring.
• Fluency in Arabic is a plus
• Knowledge of Russian media is a plus