The Centre for Media and Society (CEMESO) and IFEX, formerly International Freedom of Expression Exchange, have trained journalists on tackling dis and mis -information with the aim of advancing human rights and democracy in Nigeria.
The two-day Train-the Trainer session which held in Ibadan had 10 journalists across broadcast, print and online platforms as beneficiaries, was tagged “Enhancing Accuracy and Reliability of Information in the Context of Mis/Disinformation.”
In his opening remark, Dr. Akin Akingbulu, the Executive Director of CEMESO explained that the training was essential because of the need to build the capacity of journalists and to uphold the foundation of democracy, by ensuring that the citizens have access to the right information at all times.
Dr. Akingbulu added that the integrity of information in the public domain is crucial for upholding the foundations of democratic societies and stressed the importance of exercising resilience in combating misinformation and safeguarding the integrity of information, particularly in the digital era.
He said “in a digital age where information spreads rapidly and easily, false narratives can sway public opinion, distort political discourse, and manipulate electoral processes. These phenomena not only threaten the credibility of democratic systems but also endanger the fundamental rights of citizens to make informed decisions.”
Dr. Akingbulu also added that the threats we encounter may seek to undermine democracy and it is important to uphold media independence and freedom of expression online.
Mr. Timothy Bamidele, the Programme Manager, charged participants to make the best use of the training and be prepared to train other journalists within their network.
One of the facilitators, Mr. Williams Osewezina, a Digital Literacy enthusiast highlighted the importance of leveraging technology to fact check deep fakes, and misinformation.
He also charged journalists to learn the act of unique storytelling so that their contents can be unique whenever they are produced.
Mr David Ajikobi, Nigerian Editor, Africa Check, who said misinformation could cause negative impact on society and democracy charged the participants to always verify information before sharing them.
Participants were introduced to different open source tools that can aid their fact checking.