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First Check Diaries by Jisha Krishnan

First Check Diaries by Jisha Krishnan

An apple a day keeps the doctor away, goes the adage. But for how long? Sooner or later, we all have to make that visit to the doc. Some do...

First Check Diaries by Mridula Kapil Bhargava

First Check Diaries by Mridula Kapil Bhargava

In 1992, I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. I was just a child and had no idea what it meant! I soon realised that the autoimmune condition where the...

First Check Diaries by Jisha Krishnan

First Check Diaries by Jisha Krishnan

As the results of the world’s largest democratic elections unfolded yesterday, four words echoed everywhere. Those who supported the victors, those who sympathised with the other contenders, just about everyone...

First Check Diaries by Pratibha

First Check Diaries by Pratibha

It is equally fascinating and terrifying that for the millions of years humans have spent trying to unwrap the secrets of this world, there are still just as many, if...

First Check Diaries by Jisha Krishnan

First Check Diaries by Jisha Krishnan

“If they can make penicillin out of mouldy bread, they can sure make something out of you.” The quote is attributed to Muhammad Ali, the legendary boxer, and I couldn’t...

First Check Diaries by Dr Sabba Mehmood

First Check Diaries by Dr Sabba Mehmood

Today, there is an abundance of information available online. But there is also a significant amount of misinformation. It has become vital to separate fact from fiction. The rise of...

First Check Diaries by Aliya Zainab

First Check Diaries by Aliya Zainab

Not too long ago, I was a social media junkie. Guilty of falling for every health tip and trick on online platforms. Whether it was ways to get flawless skin...

First Check Diaries by Jisha Krishnan

First Check Diaries by Jisha Krishnan

The tendency to process information by looking for, or interpreting it, in a manner that is consistent with our existing beliefs is very common. And this is amply evident when...

First Check Diaries by Jisha Krishnan

First Check Diaries by Jisha Krishnan

The tendency to process information by looking for, or interpreting it, in a manner that is consistent with our existing beliefs is very common. And this is amply evident when...

First Check Diaries by Dr Apurvakumar Pandya

First Check Diaries by Dr Apurvakumar Pandya

As a social and behavioural scientist, I have been intricately involved in the battle against health misinformation. In the digital age, where information spreads rapidly and often unchecked, the epidemic...

First Check Diaries by Jisha Krishnan

First Check Diaries by Jisha Krishnan

How do you like your coffee? With butter? And some oil? Apparently, bulletproof coffee is what the celebs are having – instead of breakfast – to shed some superfluous body...

First Check Diaries by Dr Annick Mondjo

First Check Diaries by Dr Annick Mondjo

Happy New Year! How time flies! It’s 2024 already. I remember the day in January 2020, when for the first time I raised my voice against an inaccurate post on...

First Check Diaries by Dr Cait McMahon OAM

First Check Diaries by Dr Cait McMahon OAM

As one of the early members of First Check, I became concerned about the impacts of the work of fact-checking on mental health. I undertook a survey during COVID and...

First Check Diaries by Jisha Krishnan

First Check Diaries by Jisha Krishnan

I come bearing exciting news: First Check has a new website! And we would love to get your feedback and suggestions. Tell us what you like, what you don’t. What do...

First Check Diaries by Tracey Nomatter Ruzengwe

First Check Diaries by Tracey Nomatter Ruzengwe

For as long as I can remember, I have been fascinated by science and the way it explains the functioning of the human body. During my high school days, I...

First Check Diaries by Dr Arulchelan Sriram

First Check Diaries by Dr Arulchelan Sriram

Have you heard the popular folktale about Akbar and Birbal, the Mughal emperor and his ingenious advisor, that beautifully captures the human tendency to give (often useless, sometimes harmful) health-related...

First Check Diaries by Tej Kumar

First Check Diaries by Tej Kumar

Have you heard of the condition where people find it hard to meet and interact with new people? It’s not about being shy or an introvert; the condition is called...

First Check Diaries by Walter Balane

First Check Diaries by Walter Balane

As a journalist and radio broadcaster, fact-checking has become an integral part of my work. We need to check, verify, and counter-check facts, before using them in storytelling. My fact-checking...

First Check Diaries by Jisha Krishnan

First Check Diaries by Jisha Krishnan

Today is International Fact-Checking Day, promoted by the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) in partnership with fact-checking organisations around the world. As a verified signatory of IFCN, First Check has been...

First Check Diaries by Dr Safieh Shah

First Check Diaries by Dr Safieh Shah

During the early days of the pandemic, I had immigrated to Canada and was keen to contribute my skills as a humanitarian public health scientist with global experience, in a...

First Check Diaries by John Aloyzeus Reotutar

First Check Diaries by John Aloyzeus Reotutar

Once a victim of health misinformation, I know from my own experience that it can lead to grave mistrust and negatively impact public health. Even before the pandemic, health misinformation...

First Check Diaries by Dr Chandrika Kambam

First Check Diaries by Dr Chandrika Kambam

Happy New Year! As we enter 2023, the battle against misinformation has to get stronger. In today’s era of digitalisation, information spreads at the speed of light, and misinformation spreads...

First Check Diaries by Saleem Samad

First Check Diaries by Saleem Samad

Almost three years ago, Bangladesh, like most countries, experienced a nightmare when the coronavirus infection turned into a pandemic. The deaths and infection rates were galloping at an unprecedented pace....

First Check Diaries by Dr Manisha Arora Pandit

First Check Diaries by Dr Manisha Arora Pandit

Like most people of my generation, I too have a fairly significant online presence. However, until recently I had no idea of the massive scaling effect of social media and...

First Check Diaries by Dr Sameera Ranasinghe

First Check Diaries by Dr Sameera Ranasinghe

I was introduced to the world of fact-checking after working in the public health sector for more than eight years. Although health promotion was one of my fields of expertise,...

First Check Diaries by Qian Sun

First Check Diaries by Qian Sun

It was late January, 2020. Amidst the catastrophic COVID-19 crisis in China, I landed in Delhi. Soon, I met Syed Nazakat (the founder and CEO of DataLEADS) and a conversation over...

First Check Diaries by Abara Erim

First Check Diaries by Abara Erim

Health misinformation, I strongly believe, must be treated like a disease because it behaves like one. My experience during the Ebola outbreak in Nigeria in 2014 fuels my passion for...

First Check Diaries by Dr Ahmad Firdaus Mohd Haris

First Check Diaries by Dr Ahmad Firdaus Mohd Haris

“We’re not just fighting an epidemic, we’re fighting an infodemic. Fake news spreads faster and more easily than this virus (COVID-19) and is just as dangerous.” - Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus,...

First Check Diaries by Dr. Rohini Karandikar

First Check Diaries by Dr. Rohini Karandikar

As a member of First Check, I feel like a warrior, fighting the infodemic. The pandemic showed us how people contracted,spread, or even succumbed to COVID-19 because they fell for...

First Check Diaries by Dr. Nicola Simone

First Check Diaries by Dr. Nicola Simone

“The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.” - Ludwig WittgensteinBefore joining First Check, I was an independent fact-checker with a personal page on Facebook. When I...

First Check Diaries by Dr. Debanjan Banerjee

First Check Diaries by Dr. Debanjan Banerjee

“We now live in a world where information is potentially unlimited. When information is cheap, meaning turns expensive.” - George Dyson I believe that every physician is inherently a fact-checker,...

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