General elections were held throughout Zimbabwe on 23 and 24 August 2023 to elect the President, legislators and councilors. During such a time when photos were being doctored making small crowds big media became a breeding ground of choice for disinformation and Misinformation in Zimbabwe before the elections. Orbit Citizen Journalist understood the importance of fact checking their sources and stories before they were published. They went through a vigorous training on fact checking sources and information received in order to put together a story.
During the election month of August Citizen Journalists under the Orbit Project funded by CEAA identified and produced thirty (30) topical issues around elections covering the four project areas of Masvingo, Mutare, Harare and Bulawayo. As such, much of the content was largely inclined towards electoral developments and related issues. Due to misinformation and disinformation a vast majority of people on social media and digital platforms were looking for platforms where they could get factual and verified information. These stories from the districts brought in a lot of traction online reaching over 50 000 readers and audiences which tripled from the usual visitors the Orbit Website receives. Digital audience on the Orbit and Social Media platforms such as X and Facebook increased during the election period due to people wanting to access credible and factual information. More than 50 000 online readers where able to access stories on the website and digital platforms. This also resulted in information exchange and an increase in visitors. This also increased Orbit’s credibility.