About: Abhishek is the associate editor at Jagran New Media, where he heads the Fact Check vertical of Vishvas News, the organization's dedicated fact-checking wing. He is an information integrity expert, serving as a Certified Trainer with the Google News Initiative (GNI) India Training Network and a Lead Instructor for ADiRA (AI for Digital Readiness and Advancement). He is widely respected for his specialized expertise in combating disinformation, establishing robust fact-checking methodologies, promoting media and AI literacy, and advocating for the ethical and responsible integration of emerging technologies in journalism.

With over 16 years of experience in journalism, Abhishek has built an extensive portfolio working with prestigious outlets including Press Trust of India (PTI), Business Standard, The Economic Times, Catch News (Rajasthan Patrika), and News Nation Digital.

A specialist in data analysis and business journalism, he dedicated over half of his career to these fields before pivoting to media integrity. Today, he is a certified Google News Initiative (GNI) trainer for fact-checking and news verification. He also leads training sessions for ‘Sach Ke Sathi,’ Jagran New Media’s award-winning media literacy initiative.

With a strategic focus on building cognitive resilience against digital manipulation, Abhishek’s work centers on equipping newsrooms, journalists, and civic communities with advanced verification skills. Through ADiRA, he bridges the gap between traditional verification and the AI era, driving initiatives that foster digital literacy, AI integration, and critical cognitive skills to prepare society for an evolving information landscape. Over his distinguished career, Abhishek has successfully designed and spearheaded large-scale verification and media literacy frameworks.

Qualification: Abhishek holds a postgraduate diploma in Journalism and Mass Communication from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), New Delhi; a postgraduate degree from Guru Jambheshwar University of Science & Technology, Hisar; and a graduate degree in the same field from Delhi University.


Certification:
•Google News Initiative fact-checking and news verification trainer.
•Trainer with AI for Digital Readiness & Advancement (ADiRA)!
•JournalismAI Discovery, Polis London School of Economics
•Certificate of participation SEBI Investor Awareness Test
•India Data Portal Workshop organised by the Bharti Institute of Public Policy, Indian School of Business.
•CrowdTangle training and Hands-on Fact-Checking: A Short Course – Poynter University’s eLearning course.
•Training of Trainers – Decoding the Misinformation and Disinformation for Senior Citizens, MICA.
•Certificate of Completion – Deepfake Basics, Great Learning Academy
•Certificate of Completion – Leadership and Management, Great Learning Academy
•Certificate of Completion – Verifying Climate Claims, AFP
•Certificate of Completion – Fact-Checking Fundamentals with IFCN
•Certificate of Completion – Tackling disinformation during elections, AFP
•Introduction to Digital Journalism By Reuters.
•Pursuing Financial Markets from Yale.
•CrowdTangle For Instagram: How To Use City To Make Your IG Pop and First Draft Training
•Insight Flexible Learning Course, First Draft
•Attended several other workshops on fact-checking and MIL organised by IFCN, GNI, Facebook, Crowdtangle, and ICFJ.
•Certificate of Completion – Tackling disinformation during elections – Part 1, AFP
•GNI PollCheck’s Digital Investigation Accelerator, GNI
•Completed the Google News Initiative India Training Network recertification program 2023, GNI
•He has also completed the Data Journalism, Verification, Election, and Introduction to Machine Learning courses in the Google News Training Centre.
•Attended Exploring the Impact of AI in Journalism, Svran Apeejay Journalism Foundation (SAJF)