Masato Kajimoto
Associate Professor of Practice
Twitter: @MasatoKJ
Instagram: @MasatoKJ
Email: kajimoto@hku.hk
Web: https://sites.google.com/view/masatokajimoto/
Masato Kajimoto, PhD, specializes in news literacy education, fact-checking, and misinformation ecosystem research in Asia.
In 2019 he founded a not-for-profit organization called ANNIE (Asian Network of News and Information Educators) to develop teaching and learning materials in news literacy specific to the media and political landscape and socio-cultural environment in the Asian region.
As part of the initiative, he is currently running the student-led fact-checking newsroom Annie Lab at HKU Journalism. The news website is a verified member of the Code of Principles by the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) at Poynter Institute.
Masato is also the chief producer of the online course on Coursera titled Making Sense of the News: News Literacy Lessons for Digital Citizens that was launched in 2017.
He served as the leading researcher and co-editor for the paper “Information Disorder in Asia and the Pacific: Overview of Misinformation Ecosystem in Australia, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Vietnam.”
His recent publication includes an entry on “News Literacy” in the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Communication and the five-country research for UNESCO titled “MIL education in Asia: Exploration of policies and practices in Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand.”
Before beginning a career in teaching and research, he worked as an online reporter and “Specials” editor (web producer) for CNN.
Born and raised in Nagoya, Japan, Masato earned his bachelor’s degree in English and American literature at Chuo University in Tokyo. He holds a master’s degree in Journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia in the U.S.
He obtained a PhD in Sociology from the University of Hong Kong.
Courses
- JMSC1001 Principles of Journalism and the News Media
- JMSC3001 Independent Study
- JMSC4001 Journalism Capstone Experience
- JMSC6122 Fact-checking Tools & Techniques for Journalists
- CCHU9074: Beyond fake news (Common Core)
Selected publications
- Kajimoto, M. (2021). “Faster facts: The rapid expansion of fact-checking in Asia,” in News in Asia, Judith Neilson Institute.
- Kajimoto, M. et al. (2021). “A public health research agenda for managing infodemics,” JMIR Infodemiology, http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/30979.
- Kajimoto, M. (2021).「政治性を避けて通れないアジアのファクトチェック」フォーサイト.
- Kajimoto, M. (2021).「消えゆく一国二制度と言論の自由」Voice 6月号 (PHP研究所).
- Kajimoto, M. (2021).「香港で「逃げ恥」新春SPが急遽放映中止に ― 揺れる『香港メディア』」フォーサイト.
- Kajimoto, M. et al. (2020) “MIL education in Asia: Exploration of policies and practices in Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand” UNESCO.
- Kajimoto, M., & Fleming, J. (2019) “News Literacy” In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Communication (Journalism Studies). Oxford University Press. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228613.013.848
- Kajimoto, M. (2018). “In East and Southeast Asia, misinformation is a visible and growing concern,” Poynter Institute, 14 March 2018.
- Kajimoto, M. (2018). Overview of Misinformation Ecosystem in Japan. In Kajimoto, M. & Stanley, S. (eds), Information Disorder in Asia and the Pacific.
- Kajimoto, M. (2017). “A snap election (and global worries over fake news) spur fact-checking collaborations in Japan,” Nieman Lab, 30 October 2017.
- Kajimoto, M. (2017). “A new fact-checking coalition is launching in Japan,” Poynter Institute, 21 June 2017.
- Kajimoto, M. (2016). Developing news literacy curricula in the age of social media in Hong Kong, Vietnam and Myanmar. Journalism Education, 5(1), 136-154.
- Kajimoto, M., & Fleming, J. (2016). The Freedom of Critical Thinking: Exploring Efforts to Teach American News Literacy Principles in Hong Kong, Vietnam, and Malaysia. In M. Yildiz & J. Keengwe (eds), Handbook of Research on Media Literacy in the Digital World, IGI Global, Hershey, PA.
- Kajimoto, M., Fleming, J. & Hornik, R. (2016). Creating a Global Community of News Literacy Practice, in M. Yildiz & B. De Abreu (eds), Global Media Literacy in a Digital Age: Teaching Beyond Borders, Peter Lang.
- Kajimoto, M., & Hornik, R. (2014). De-Americanizing News Literacy Using Local Media Examples to Teach Critical Thinking to Students in Different Socio-Cultural Environments. Asia Pacific Media Educator, 24(2), 175-18.