From Dare Akogun, Benin-City
The Correspondents Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Edo state council on Tuesday trained members on use of technologies to counter misinformation and fake news ahead of the forthcoming 2023 General Elections.
Declaring the training open, the Edo NUJ Chairman Mr Fetus Alenkhe,
commended the leadership of the chapel for it’s ingenuity in organizing the workshop at this critical point in the nation where fake news and misinformation is very rampant.
He described the training as timely and apt as it would arm members on how to debunk information disorder that always characterize election period in the country.
Alenkhe, however, called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to train journalists ahead of the general poll, particularly as it regards verification and transmission of results.
Earlier, in her address, Chairperson of the Correspondents Mrs Nefishetu Yakubu, said the leadership intent was to build the capacity of members to be able deploy to counter misinformation that were pervasive on the social media platforms.
“There is no doubt that opportunities are now abound in technological innovations, hence these can be used to verify and counter fake news, during electoral process.
“Studies have shown that in recent time, technologies have helped to unravel the truth behind some controversial issues in the Nigeria’s political space.
“Just a few weeks ago, news about the purported two months extension of the Continuous Voters Registration (CVR) by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) made rounds the major newspapers, including platforms that have built their reputation and credibility over the years.
“The report was, however, later found to be untrue. Unfortunately, no matter how close it is and how “credible” the platform that reported it is, as far as it’s untrue, its tagged as fake news,” she said.
Mrs Yakubu noted that election periods were usually engulfed with fake and unconfirmed news reports, which had the tendency of jeopardising the processes.
She cited scenarios where individuals and groups used their social media platforms to peddle fake news around electoral processes, malpractices, electoral violence and even fake election results, thereby undermining the process.
According to her, every member will be expected to begin to take additional steps to verify the veracity of information at his disposal, using various fact-checking tools.
The facilitator, Mr Dare Akogun, who is a 2021 Fellow of Dubawa Kwame Karikari Fack-Checking fellowship tutored the participants on open sourcing and various ways viral information can be verified to either confirmed or debunked.
He said fact checking is the process of verifying information with the intent of determining its correctness, noting that the tool has become relevant because of the rising level of misinformation being peddled through the social media.
Akogun stressed the need for journalists to separate facts from lies, verify assertions and check accuracy before going to press so as to avoid the lack of credibility of their works and their respective media organisations.
“People trust your imagination as a journalist and they depend on you for accurate information. So, whatever you put out, there should be fact with evidence. Since the 80s, when technology started evolving from analogue to digital, the world of information sharing has consistently evolved.
“With digitisation, comes plurality of media sources. In this age of fake news, everyone who comes in contact with information now have the capacity of consuming and, at the same time, producing the news through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tik tok,” Akogun said.
The highlights of the event was the presentation of certificate to the participants.
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