A group of Journalists in Nigeria have pledged to deepen conversations on de-escalation of crisis, reduction of violence and curbing misinformation by stopping the circulation of fake news.
They also vowed to always fact check stories before publication, as the 2023 general election draws closer.
The Journalists made the pledge at the “Common Grounds Journalists Forum”, an off shoot of a 3-day workshop on sustaining electoral engagement for democracy, facilitated by the Search for Common Grounds, an NGO.
Hajia Fatima Abubakar the Head of National Projects at the “Search for Common Grounds”, said the national level workshop came after the project had been implemented in 3 other states—Ondo, Edo and Osun states.
She said the project was conceived to “strengthen the capacity of media stakeholders on conflict sensitive reporting, fact checking as well as mitigating speech including how the media can be used as positive change agents in democratic and electoral processes.”
Fact Checking
The new group headed by Voice of Nigeria’s Rafatu Salami has tasked itself with the responsibility of conducting simple fact checking procedures with journalists, to ensure that more journalists acquire fact-checking skills to reduce the circulation of fake news.
“Just as we teach journalists the skills of conducting interviews, we shall also give simple tips on how to fact-check such that journalists can, using their smart phones, quickly fact-check politicians and other information they come across so that they do not unwittingly share unsubstantiated claims. In this regard, we shall be working in all newsrooms where our members are and we shall work with journalist union and associations,” she said.
Imploring journalists to cultivate the habit of fact-checking stories before publishing, Mr. Abiodun Banjoko of the Centre for Democracy & Development said publishing unverified stories could erode confidence ofreaders/viewers/listeners.
He asked journalists to be “non-partisan & Fair; be committed to standards and transparency of sources; funding and organization; transparency of methodology; as well as open and honest corrections policy.”
Training Component
Speaking on the impact the programme had, Stephanie Adams-Douglas of the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development said “the training’s components demonstrate how important it is for journalists to comprehend the political and electoral process in order to write accurate electioneering reports. With the help of the ‘media and conflict tree, fact-checking and identity practical’, I feel better equipped.”
Lateefah Ibrahim
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