IN a bid to counter fake news and promote media literacy, FactCheckAfrica trained campus and freelance journalists.
The young journalists, drawn from the South-West and North-Central region committed to countering the flow of fake news in the country’s information ecosystem.
The workshop, which took place at the Mahogany Hotel and Suites in Ibadan, had in attendance over 80 campus and freelance journalists.
In her welcome address, the Executive Director of the Brain Builders Youth Development Initiative (BBYDI), Nurah Jimoh, highlighted the importance of equipping journalists with tools to combat fake news.
“We understand the formidable challenge faced in combating information pollution. We want to equip participants with the weapons needed. We are driving towards a future where fact triumphs over fiction,” Jimoh said.
Taking the participants through “Media Ethics and the Professional Standards in Journalism,” one of the facilitators of the training and media trainer, Damilola Fajinmi, maintained that every profession has rules, and there is still room for safe reporting and being responsible journalists in a rather perverted media world.
She enjoined the participants that as media enthusiasts/professionals, moral etiquette must be upheld in their work.
She also highlighted ethical issues in the Nigerian media including character assassination, junk journalism, and propaganda while noting that ethical journalism helps to protect journalists from harassment, intimidation, violence, legal and reputational risks.
Another facilitator and journalist with Splash FM Ibadan, Michael Olatunbosun, who spoke on “Demystifying the Freedom of Information Act (FOI),” urged the trainees to exercise their rights as regards the FOI Act, adding that they should be familiar with every law in the country.
“Anybody, whether as an individual, journalist or NGO, has the right to information. FOI was enacted by the Goodluck Jonathan-led administration on 28th May, 2011. In writing a story or doing research, you all have the right to be told whether an information or record exists,” he said.
A Senior Reporter with Nigerian Tribune, Ifedayo Ogunyemi, who facilitated the session on “Understanding the Basics and Importance of Factchecking in Journalism,” urged the participants not to compromise the truth but also treat every claim with skepticism until proven true.
He disclosed that though the term ‘fact-checking’ officially came about in Nigeria about a decade ago, it has been in existence unofficially for many years as a part of proofreading in journalism.
“In 1803, a modern fact-checker would have been referred to as a ‘proofreader’—a p person who reads a text in proof in order to find and mark errors for correction. In 1859, he would have been referred to as a copyeditor. It wasn’t until the 1920s that ‘fact-checking obtained its name,” he said.
The workshop also witnessed the launch of Myaifactchecker, an Artificial Intelligence civic-tech tool for quicker and easier verification of fake news,
Showcasing the tool, a BBYDI researcher, Lukman Adeoti, said: “Myaifactchecker will quickly help you fact-check any claim in your preferred and provide basic insights into your research.”
Oluwafemi Oluwaseye and Afeez Rabiu, both team members at FactCheckAfrica, exposed the participants to our Factchecking Style Book.
One of the participants and editor with ObserverMag, Biliaminu Manne, noted that, “The launch of the myAIfactchecker is indeed a massive development that I didn’t dream about. I was amazed about its features and how someone can operate it to find his way without much effort.”
He believed that “As a practicing journalist, the tool will serve as my number one fact-checking tool before advancing and moving forward to other tools and OSINT tools, to strictly detect if certainly what I got from myAIfactchecker is the fact.”
Also, a campus journalist from the University of Ibadan, Musbau Sulaimon, said he learnt the methodology involved in fact-checking and the various digital tools that can be used to determine the authenticity of public content.
“I only know the meaning of the word fact check but I haven’t practicalised it before. However, this workshop has equipped me with the knowledge needed to verify claims,” Sulaimon added.
Another campus journalist at Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, Ondo State, Fatimoh Iderah, thanked the organisers for bringing up a brain-boosters workshop to help the campus journalist to be more creative.
“I am so elated to attend this training because it is an eye-opening workshop. What I love most about this training was the fun game, the ability to create something faster to work for you as a reporter. All thanks to FactCheckAfrica for bringing this up,” Idera noted.
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