"I didn't know how to check the information or even what it was for," says Lamissa, a 25-year-old blogger from Bamako.

Lamissa makes his living doing what he loves most. Writing, without taboos, about the subjects he is passionate about: politics, governance and peace. However, for him, the distinction is clear. "I am not a journalist and I would not be credible if I pretended to be. But even the blogger works with journalistic information to address certain issues."

In fact, Benbere, the online platform Lamissa works for, includes a section closely related to journalism. "We have an info-intox page, where even international media pick up our articles." At first, this section doesn't particularly grab Lamissa's attention.

However, when he joined the Tabale Kunkan project, funded by the Canadian government, Lamissa had the opportunity to deepen his knowledge in this area through training in fact-checking. He realized how this expertise could only help him improve his work.

"My editor once rejected an article of mine because I had written 'we heard that'. He told me it wasn't credible, that it was rumor. If I had been trained at the time, it would not have been necessary to even reject my article. I would have acted more cautiously and researched the information."

He also learned the basics of conflict sensitivity. "It called me to greater responsibility. I realized that the consequences are even worse during conflicts; words can inflame, false information can lead to violence and cause panic."

Lamissa gets caught up in the challenge, putting his heart and soul into tracking down fake news. He quickly becomes the most prolific fact checker on the project's info-intox page. "When I saw that people were sharing my articles, I realized that I could be of service to them."

Tabale Kunkan also allows the young blogger to weave his web, making new connections with other bloggers from around the country. "I didn't know there were so many of us. Now we don't work in a vacuum. We help each other find the right information on the topics we cover. We learn by reading each other, about regions that are unknown to us, it enriches our work."

Today, Lamissa looks forward to seeing this community of information guardians grow. And that is to advance the debate on the country's burning issues based on reliable information. "The more journalists and bloggers participate in fact-checking, the better for our communities."