Broadcast Journalists, Fact Checkers and Student Journalists have been trained on countering mis and disinformation, specifically those targeted against women and girls.
The one-day training which was organized by Sarah Ayeku, a Producer at TVC Communications and fellow of the Female Reporters Leadership Programme of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ), was supported by TVC and WSCIJ.
The training featured practical sessions on fact-checking tools, social media review of disinformation targeted against women and screening of a published fact-check video which utilized different open-source tools.
While speaking on ‘Gender and Disinformation: How Fact-Checking Can Combat Misinformation Targeting Women’, Ms. Blessing Oladunjoye, Publisher of BONews Service and a FRLP fellow, explained that disinformation targeted against women often involves harassment, threats, and personal attacks, causing significant stress, anxiety, and mental health issues.
Oladunjoye also noted that disinformation often “reinforces harmful stereotypes and biases against women, leading to gender inequality and societal prejudices,” and that “it can tarnish a woman’s personal and professional reputation, leading to loss of credibility and career opportunities.”
She thereafter recommended that “as journalists, we need to prevent the spread of misinformation targeted against women and educate the public on how to critically evaluate information.”
The Lead Trainer and Nigeria Editor of Africa Check, David Ajikobi, who trained the participants on how to fact-check claims, emphasized the importance of maintaining high credibility and reputation in journalism.
Ajikobi said, “You might be a good journalist, but with one mistake, you lose your credibility.”
Ajikobi further provided tips for a successful fact-checking process and encouraged journalists to spread the word about fact-checking and make good use of the tools.
He took the participants through OSINT Essentials, a platform that collates different tools that can be used for fact checks, regarding the format of the claim.
Corroborating Ajikobi, Mr Kayode Oladehinde, Executive Editor at TVC, urged participants to prioritize building their reputation and integrity.
Sarah Ayeku, the organiser of the digital training implored participants to embrace Artificial intelligence and OSINT tools for fact-checking.
She further emphasized the importance of fact-checking. “If everybody in this room is a fact checker, fake reports from content creators will be drastically reduced”
The training had in attendance Post Graduate students of the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, broadcast journalists from the Nigeria Broadcast Academy, factcheckers, TVC staff and interns, among others.
