The proliferation of ‘fake news,’ misinformation, and harmful content on digital platforms poses significant risks to democracy, public health, and social cohesion.
As such, the CINIA emerges as a crucial initiative designed to combat these threats through innovative research, interdisciplinary collaboration, and public engagement.
Advance Research
Conduct cutting-edge, interdisciplinary research on information integrity, focusing on Africa’s unique context.
Support Journalism
Offer fellowships and resources for investigative journalism projects that require time and in-depth exploration.
Enhance Public Engagement
Develop workshops and courses to build public capacity in fact-checking, media literacy, and ethical media consumption.
Why CINIA Matters
The Centre for Information Integrity in Africa is crucial for promoting accurate and reliable information across the continent, helping to combat misinformation and support informed decision-making in both public and private sectors.
Protecting Democracy and Society
The integrity of information is foundational to a functioning democracy. Disinformation undermines informed decision-making, jeopardizes public health (e.g.misleading health information), and hampers critical environmental action. CINIA will tackle these issues head-on, promoting accurate, transparent, and reliable information, thereby reinforcing democratic processes and societal trust.
Addressing Critical Global Issues
The Centre’s research will address pressing global challenges such as health misinformation (e.g., COVID-19 ‘infodemic’) and climate change denial. By focusing on the unique dynamics within Africa and the Global South, CINIA will fill critical research gaps and offer tailored solutions, contributing to global knowledge and action.
Fostering Interdisciplinary Solutions
Disinformation is a multifaceted problem requiring diverse expertise. CINIA will foster collaborations between journalists, researchers, data scientists, and policymakers. This interdisciplinary approach will drive innovative solutions, enhance media literacy, and support effective regulatory frameworks.
Strengthening Investigative Journalism
With traditional media facing financial pressures and cutbacks, CINIA will provide essential support for investigative journalism. By offering a sustainable platform for long-term projects, the Centre will enable journalists to undertake critical work that can expose deception and hold power to account.
Building Resilient Media Environments
CINIA will focus on building resilient media environments. This includes supporting independent journalism, promoting media literacy, and fostering public engagement through educational initiatives and public-facing projects.
Meet our Staff
Director of CINIA
Herman Wasserman is Professor and Chair of the Department of Journalism at Stellenbosch University, and a former newspaper journalist. His 17 books include Tabloid Journalism in South Africa; Media, Geopolitics; PowerMedia, Conflict and Democracy in Africa, and Disinformation in the Global South. He is a Fellow and Board Member of the International Communication Association and member of the Academy of Science of South Africa. His awards include the Georg Foster Prize from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (Germany), the Neva Prize (St Petersburg State University), a Fulbright Fellowship (USA) and the Stals Prize for Communication Science (Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns).
He has been a visiting professor at the universities of Groningen, Utrecht, Houston, Ludwig-Maximilians Universität and Tsinghua. He is Editor-in-Chief of the Annals of the International Communication Association and African Journalism Studies, and Associate Editor of International Communication Gazette. He holds an A-rating from the National Research Foundation. He has consulted for the World Health Organization, Deutsche Welle Akademie, OpenAI, AfricaCheck and others.
Researcher
Karen Allen is a former BBC News Journalist and Foreign correspondent with over 25+ years of experience in reporting conflicts, humanitarian response, politics and economics across the BBC’s main international TV, Radio and digital networks. Karen was based in Nairobi as the BBC’s East Africa Correspondent, in Johannesburg as the BBC’s Southern Africa Correspondent and in Afghanistan as the BBC’s Kabul correspondent. She has also reported extensively across Central Africa and the Horn of Africa and was one of the first journalists to be embedded with defence forces during the Iraq war in 2002 – a controversial move - which marked a global shift towards 24/7 news. Karen has consulted for a number of institutions including the Institute for Security Studies, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, World Bank and NATO StratCom. As a practitioner academic, Karen keeps a foothold in the journalism industry and continues to be engaged in podcasting, writing and training. She has lived on the African continent for more than 20 years.
Researcher
Yossabel Chetty is a researcher who began her career in this space at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic just as South Africa went into lockdown. In completion of her Masters in Business Administration at the University of Cape Town's Graduate School of Business, Yossabel conducted a quantitative analysis to understand if there was a correlation between where news is consumed and the acceptance of misleading media narratives. This allowed her to develop a deep understanding of the traditional news media business model and how social media platforms are reshaping this terrain. She has worked on projects related to Democracy, Technology Facilitated Gender Based Violence, Xenophobia, The Energy Transition and Vaccine Hesitancy writing reports for the European Union, the Ford Foundation, WWF, the Presidential Climate Commission and USAID. Through her work with USAID, Yossabel travelled to West Africa multiple times to train young journalists and data scientists on how to conduct ethical social media listening using big data tools.
Project Manager for the IDRC Project
Dr. Martina Della Togna is an interdisciplinary scholar and documentary filmmaker whose work intersects media, democracy and social justice, locating information integrity within institutions of democracy. At CINIA she manages Strengthening Information Integrity in the Global South, a research network across Africa, MENA, Latin America and Asia.
Her doctoral research at Rhodes University's School of Journalism and Media Studies examined organisational listening, institutional gaslighting and accountability in South Africa's Fifth Democratic Parliament (2014 to 2019), asking what happens to public trust when reality is distorted and citizens are undermined by an institution constitutionally mandated to be responsive to ‘We, the people’.
She critically engages the colonial inheritance perpetuated in institutional governance, and asks what it would take to decolonise Parliament. As convenor and lead author of the peer-reviewed Communication chapter of the South Africa Covid-19 Country Report for the Presidency, and lead author on a 2026 Westminster Foundation for Democracy guide to citizen deliberation in climate and green economy governance, Martina prioritises research with real-world application.
She began her career as a journalist and has held senior communications roles at national level in civil society, political and government organisations. At Parliament she established the institution's first Multimedia Unit.
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Dr. Rejoice Malisa van der Walt is a dedicated AI ethics and governance researcher at the
Centre for Information Integrity in Africa (CINIA), based at Stellenbosch University. Committed
to advancing AI safety, ethics, and society, her work focuses on combating information disorder
across various domains in Africa. She has extensive expertise in AI governance, global AI policy
trend analysis, responsible AI adoption in the military domain, and the societal impacts of
disinformation arising from generative AI and AI more broadly. Through rigorous research and
collaborative initiatives, Dr. Van der Walt aims to empower communities, promote responsible
AI adoption, ensure transparent information sharing, and foster a more AI-informed and resilient
society.
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Dr. Janine Deselaers is a researcher and facilitator with a background in political science, media, and development studies. Her work explores questions of gender, identity, communication, and power, particularly how digital technologies shape public discourse and participation. Janine holds a PhD in Development Studies from the University of Bonn, where her research focused on digital advocacy by women’s rights and feminist organisations in Namibia. Previously, she worked as a Research Associate at the DW Akademie’s International Media Studies programme. She has facilitated workshops and participatory learning processes in feminist, media literacy, and civic engagement contexts, and collaborated with organisations including the Namibia Institute for Democracy and Sister Namibia. Janine has also given guest lectures at the Namibia University of Science and Technology and the University of Johannesburg. Originally from Chile and Germany, her work is shaped by experiences across Latin America, Europe, and Southern Africa.
Research Fellow
Dani joined the School of Information, Journalism and Communication at The University of Sheffield in April 2022 as Lecturer in Journalism & Global Communication. Prior to this, he was an Assistant Professor in Journalism at the Valenti School of Communication, University of Houston (2018-2022), and a Hong Kong PhD Fellow in the Department of Media and Communication at City University of Hong Kong (2013-2018).
Before starting his academic career, Dani worked as a journalist for 15 years in his hometown, Barcelona. He first reported on sports for local radio stations and news websites, and then joined the newsroom of Televisió de Catalunya (TV3), where he worked as producer and news editor, covering foreign affairs.
Dani is an active member of the International Communication Association’s Global Communication and Social Change Division, where he served as Secretary from 2020 to 2022. He is also a member of the editorial board of the academic journal, African Journalism Studies and the Annals of the International Communication Association. At the School of Journalism, Media and Communication, Dani also serves as Director of Postgraduate Research, and is the Co-Lead of the Disinformation Research Cluster.
Research Fellow
Jean le Roux is a Senior Analyst at Graphika, specializing in open-source intelligence (OSINT), network analysis, and digital investigations. His work focuses on influence operations, online manipulation, fraud, platform abuse, and the emerging use of generative AI by malicious actors.
Before joining Graphika, Jean spent more than four years at the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab), investigating disinformation and influence operations across Sub-Saharan Africa and beyond. He has a background in journalism, forensic investigations and holds a bachelor’s degree in law.
Communications Practitioner
Janet Heard is a seasoned journalist, newsroom leader, trainer, and media practitioner committed to ethical, solutions-driven journalism in the public interest. In 2025, she transitioned from permanent employment to independent contracting after a distinguished career as a reporter and editor in South African newsrooms, including the Sunday Times and Daily Maverick. Currently focused on media integrity issues, she works as a writer, editor, team leader, and trainer, and is a part-time specialist lecturer in the Journalism Department at Stellenbosch University. She coaches investigative journalists through the Henry Nxumalo Foundation and, from 2026, the Centre for Collaborative Investigative Journalism. Inspired by storytelling’s power to drive positive change, Janet participates in global media initiatives to strengthen sustainable journalism and information integrity, including serving as Policy Brief and Declaration Editor of the M20 initiative in 2025.
An alumna of Rhodes University (B.Journalism), Janet is a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University (2010)
Communications Coordinator
Daniel Roodt is a journalist by training and a communications and PR practitioner by profession, with a growing research focus on strategic litigation against public participation, known as SLAPPs, and disinformation. After completing his BA Honours, he worked at a public relations agency, driving media coverage across multiple client portfolios. He holds a BA in Journalism and Media Studies from Rhodes University, as well as a BA Honours and an MA in Journalism from Stellenbosch University. He is currently a PhD candidate at Stellenbosch University, through CINIA, where his research examines the intersection of SLAPPs and coordinated disinformation campaigns targeting South African journalists.
Podcast Host
Tebadi Mmotla is a journalist, producer, and podcast host with over seven years of experience. She holds degrees in Politics and International Relations, Journalism, and Media from the University of the Witwatersrand. Her work focuses on the intersections of gender equality, health, and human rights, and she has produced and hosted several impactful podcasts over the past five years. In 2022, she was selected for the prestigious Sound Documentary programme at the Ecole nationale supérieure Louis-Lumière, supported by the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs. In 2025, she branched into training and was most recently the coordinator for the Goethe-Institut and the French Institute of South Africa’s “Sound Waves” podcast training lab, an in-person training programme aimed at early to mid-career audiovisual creators from South Africa, Lesotho and Malawi. She is currently the host of For Facts’ Sake, by the Centre for Information Integrity in Africa.
Podcast Producer
Charles Leonard is a multi-award-winning podcaster, arts editor, journalist and educator – across print, podcasting, radio and television. Over the past 39 years, he has worked at the Mail & Guardian, The Conversation Africa, New Frame, Business Day, Drum, SABC Television and Radio News, e-News, SAfm Current Affairs Radio, Channel Four News (United Kingdom), Sunday Times and Vrye Weekblad, both as a journalist and newsroom executive. Charles teaches radio journalism at Wits’ School of Journalism for their post-graduate students. He produces the monthly podcast, For Facts’ Sake, for the Centre for Information Integrity in Africa.
Administrator
Abigail Cardinal is a finance and operations professional with over 10 years of experience across financial reporting, and process improvement. She has held key roles at Ackermans Support Centre, and Woolworths Head Office, where she managed budgets, audits, vendor onboarding, and compliance processes.
Abigail holds a BA in Public and Development Management from the University of Stellenbosch, a Higher Certificate in Economic and Management Sciences from UNISA, and is currently completing the CIMA Certificate in Business Accounting through IBTC. With strong analytical and leadership skills, Abigail is proficient in SAP, Oracle Financials, Qlik Sense, and is passionate about driving financial efficiency and operational excellence.
Steering Committee
Our Partners
Our work is made possible thanks to the generous support of our partners
