TECHDIGEST – The Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa CCIE, has called on the management of global tech giant Meta to involve more fact-checkers with good knowledge of Nigeria’s local languages.

Inuwa made the call when he received WhatsApp’s Director, Public Policy for Europe, Middle East, and Africa, Helen Charles, alongside Meta’s Head of Public Policy for Anglophone West Africa Adaora Ikenze on behalf of the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Isa Ali Pantami in his office.

The DG noted that fact-checking could be an entirely new industry with lots of job opportunities.

According to him, “the fact-checking aspect of the Code of Practice is critical now because of the election, we need more fact-checkers, and also beyond the election, we are looking at how we can expand it to even make it an Industry which can create jobs within the country”.

READ ALSO: Nigeria Hosts Regional Digital Economy Conference

While assuring Nigerians that government would not meddle in the activities of fact-checkers, as they will be given a free hand to operate, content posted by Nigerians should be thoroughly verified by the fact-checkers to establish its genuineness or otherwise for appropriate action.

Inuwa appealed that the fact-checkers must be proficient in at least the three major languages in Nigeria for easy spotting of such harmful content either written or translated into one of the languages. The DG NITDA further said that Meta’s support is highly needed, especially in supporting the growth of the Fact-checking industry.

“Technology is changing the way we live, work, our democracy, and everything. Technology is just beyond business or other things, it also touches our life and changes everything”, he noted.

He further noted, “therefore, we need to work together and change everything, so we need to improve on accountability, increase competition, safeguard privacy, protect our democracy and transform governance in Nigeria”.

“Everyone agreed that we need regulation, but we don’t know the best regulation, and the best way to go about it is to co-create that regulation in a similar way the Code of Practice was issued”, he added.

The Code of Practice (COP) that the NITDA Boss emphasized came at the right time as the country heads for its general election.

“So far, NITDA has done so much in terms of providing enabling environment for safe Information Technology usage in Nigeria while training a lot of Nigerian youth on the adoption of technology and improved practices as Nigeria keeps on expanding its digital literacy coverage in line with the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) 2030 target of 95%”.

The Director General noted that NITDA will intensify its effort to ensure internet usage safety devoid of harmful content that could jeopardize the peace and harmonious coexistence among Nigerians before, during and after the elections.

Earlier in her presentation, Meta’s Director, Public Policy for Anglophone West Africa, Adaora Ikenze, noted that it was important for Nigerians to see accurate information on the services of Meta in Nigeria. Ikenze said henceforth, Meta through its fact-checking partners, FAP, Africa Check and Dubawa will remove any sensitive fake information that could lead to imminent violence or physical harm amongst people living in the country.

The fact-checking, she explained, would review and rate potentially false content on all the platforms, label it and place it lower on the feeds so that few numbers of people could see it.

Meta has since been engaging Fact Checkers in Nigeria and will continue to do so, especially with the Code of Practice in effect, which encourages platforms to engage the services of Fact Checkers, Ikenze said.

To further educate Nigerians on how to spot false news and the actions to take, Meta, she said, is partnering with local radio stations to create awareness against the creation and spread of false news through radio dramas in English and Pidgin.

Ikenze also intimated to the nation’s IT regulator that, Meta would also be executing a WhatsApp awareness campaign, #YouSaid in Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo, and Pidgin to enlighten users on how to verify the information before sharing and running online ads on Facebook.

She explained that Meta’s approach has also been informed by conversations with human rights groups, NGOs, local civil society organizations, regional experts, and local election authorities to help ensure the safety of people using Meta’s family of apps.

She also gave assurance that Meta is deeply concerned and remains committed to protecting the integrity of the Nigerian electoral process, as well as the entrenchment of a culture of zero tolerance for fake news proliferation.

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TECHDIGEST – The Chairman of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Enugu State Chapter, Mr Sam Udekwe, has commended the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) for always prioritising the growth and development of journalists especially in the area of amassing digital skills for smooth operation.

Udekwe, who spoke at the end of Digital Journalism and Fact-checking Workshop held in Enugu said NITDA under the Kashifu Inuwa-led management has made journalism the priority of its capacity building initiatives.

He commended Inuwa for periodically helping NUJ leaders to develop the capacity of journalists across the country.
He also commended the Chris Isiguzo-led national leadership of NUJ and the Yushau Shuaib-led Image Merchants Promotion Limited, Publishers of PRNigeria and Economic Confidential, for collaborating with NITDA to bring the workshop to Enugu.

READ ALSO: At NITDA’s Digital Journalism Workshop, NUJ Advocates ‘Bill of Rights’ for Media

Also speaking, chairman of the Enugu correspondent chapel, Mr Lawrence Njoku, commended the NUJ national leadership and IMPR for the initiative, pledging that the participants will make the best use of what they learnt in the course of the training.
Speaking on behalf of female participants, Ngozi Mbah of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) said she and other beneficiaries were leaving the venue enriched with the latest digital tools they were exposed to.
In her remarks, the spokesperson of NITDA, Hajiya Hadiza Umar, who represented the DG, said her agency would sustain the capacity building programme on latest digital tools and skills for mass communication.

She therefore urged the journalists to make the best use of the skills they learnt which were meant to ease their job and also share the knowledge with colleagues who could not attend the session.

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TECHDIGEST – The Fact-checking campaign by PRNigeria against fake news during and after EndSARS protests in Nigeria has bagged top African Public Relations (PR) Awards for Special Event and Sponsorship in 2022.

Image Merchants Promotion Limited (IMPR) the publisher of PRNigeria and Economic Confidential which executed the campaign in collaboration with the Centre for Crisis Communication (CCC), also bagged two Certificates of Excellence for its campaigns for the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA)

The annual African PR awards which recognize Superior Achievement in Branding, Reputation, and Engagement (SABRE) is organised by the Provoke Media (formerly Holmes Report) in collaboration with African Public Relations Association (APRA).

For winning the top PR Award on Special Event and Sponsorship, the IMPR campaign exposes how Fake News was widely used by proponents and opponents of the largest mass movement of youths protesting police harassment and brutality with hashtag #EndSARS in 2020. As an instrument of propaganda, the fake news escalated into violent attacks during the demonstration

A year after in 2021, Using traditional investigative journalism techniques and fact-checking tools, PRNigeria detected and exposed several fake news used during and after the EndSARS to mislead the public. It later published and unveiled a book “101 Fake News on EndSARS” authored by an award-winning fact-checker Dahiru Lawal on the danger of misinformation and disinformation. It further sustained the campaign by exposing several bit-by-bit fake news items that were engineered by groups, public figures, activists, media and undesirable elements to hoodwink the public.

The Editor-in-Chief of IMPR, Yushau A. Shuaib expressed delight over the latest awards. He said: “We are glad that our stakeholders and clients appreciate our brand of awareness campaigns that blend PR with journalism for impactful results through responsible reporting.”

Image Merchants, an indigenous Nigerian PR firm has consistently bagged APRA endorsed SABRE Awards as well as Golden World Awards of International Public Relations Association (APRA) for more than five years.

Ten Nigerian PR agencies featured among the 2022 African SABRE Award recipients. Apart from IMPR, they included BHM, Chain Reaction Nigeria, LSF/PR, Integrated Indigo, RED Media, So.Me Solution, Modion Communications, Blanche Aigle Communications and Chenist.

The Africa SABRE award ceremony will take place in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania on May 25th, as part of the 2022 African Public Relations Conference. The campaigns were evaluated by a jury of industry leaders.

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TECHDIGEST – In continuation of its drive to enhance the capacity of media practitioners in the country, no fewer than 50 journalists and Social Media Influencers in Jigawa State have benefitted from a ‘Digital Journalism and Fact-Checking Training’ sponsored by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).

The training which was organized by Image Marchant Promotions Limited (IMPR) – Publishers of PRNigeria and Economic Confidential Magazine; in conjunction with Penlight Centre for New Media Innovation with support from NITDA, held at the Manpower Development Institute (MDI), Dutse.

The training exposed participants and other online practitioners to various skills including media ethics, digital journalism and news verification, among others.

While declaring the workshop open, Hadiza Umar, the Head of Corporate Affairs and External Relations NITDA said that the capacity building workshop is one of the core mandates and objectives of the Agency and it was aimed at equipping Journalists with knowledge and skills of Digital Journalism practice in the Digital era.

In his paper presentation titled: “Journalism Ethics in an Era of Global Information Disorder”, former Managing Director of the Jigawa Broadcasting Corporation, Alh. Sabo Abdullahi Guri, charged media practitioners in Nigeria to uphold professionalism and high ethical standards in the discharge of their duties as the fourth estate of the realm.

He noted that the evolution of digital media and related technologies pose a significant threat to journalists and analogue media managers, hence the dire need to mainstream digital technologies in serving the public better as the watchdogs of society.

“The media is governed by standards which oversee its conduct and define its relationship with the larger society,” he said.

He charged the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) and the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) to checkmate such erosion of standards, especially by some privately run media organizations.

“People cannot continue to belittle our profession just because someone wants to make money,” he lamented.

The Editor-in-Chief of PRNigeria, Malam Yushau Shuaib, charged journalists and online practioners to take ownership and understand the consequences of their actions before going public.

He went further to educate participants on the techniques of digital journalism, social media practices and management of crises in communication.

The PR specialist used the medium to emphasize the need for journalists to acquire knowledge and skills on new-media technologies as tools for effective and efficient practice of digital journalism, charging them to desist from all forms of false information, fake News and hate speeches that could generate tensions among the people.

While taking participants on the topic: “Social Media Management, Etiquette for Journalists and Influencers”, Samuel Adeyemi, Publicity Secretary of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), Lagos Chapter, warned that journalists and social media influencers should be wary of people that use them to promote pecuniary ideology and agenda.

The Project Manager of Penlight Centre, Dahiru M Lawal, spoke on online media fact-checking, media monitoring and search engine optimization, where he introduced Journalists and social media influencers to basic knowledge of facts reporting, content monitoring on social media and techniques of using digital tools for effective verification of information.

Before presenting certificates to participants, the Media Adviser to Jigawa State Government, Mallam Habib Kila commended NITDA for its various technological interventions and capacity building programmes on Digital innovations across the states of the federation.

Other guests at the occasion included Mallam Habib M. Ringim, SSA New Media and Mallam Ahmed Danyaro, SSA Print Media.

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TECHDIGEST – Today, we live in a world where technologies are evolving faster than society’s capacity to adapt to them. As technology continues to gain increasing importance in our lives, digital literacy is becoming one of the key skills needed to function well in contemporary society.
Digital literacy is necessary to use and understand the way new technologies can help us actively live, work and contribute to society. It keeps people more connected and better informed to find technology options that are suitable to them.

In essence, digital literacy equips us with skills needed to live, learn and work in a world where communication and access to information are predominantly through digital technologies such as internet platforms, social media, and mobile devices. For instance, playing on your smartphone, using your email, and watching a video on YouTube.

Journalism is one of those notable professions in which digital/online journalism has started replacing traditional journalism. Several traditional media organisations have started going online to reach a huge audience.

This is because audiences are more comfortable with viewing stories than reading texts or listening to voices in narration about events. For this reason, many traditional media organisations (print, radio, and television) in Nigeria are shifting emphasis to online forms of information dissemination that focus on pushing more interactive images and videos.

Stakeholders in the profession of journalism are beginning to equip practitioners with various digital tools and online resources that can make them more efficient and productive.

Towards this end, journalists are determined to fully adopt the use of digital tools to generate, store, process, and verify information to tackle the menace of fake news and unethical practices.

This strong resolve was contained in the communique issued at the end of a three-day capacity building workshop held from December 29 to 31, 2021 at the PRNigeria Centre in Kano, with the theme, “Digital Reporting, Fact-Checking, and Social Media Management.”

Jointly organised by Image Merchants Promotion Limited and Penlight Centre for Investigative Reporting through the support of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), participants at the workshop came from both traditional and online media organisations.

Resource persons included members of academia and experts in the fields of technology, communications, digital forensics, and development journalism.

Topics discussed at the workshop included “Digital Journalism: Social Media and Tackling Fake News”; “Media Ethics and Responsible Reporting”; “Media Monitoring and Search Engine Optimisation”; and “Media Management”. Others were “Open Source Intelligence (OSINT)”; “Online Fact-checking: Basic Digital Tools for Journalism”; “Conflict Sensitive Reporting and Responsible Journalism”; and “Self-Censorship for National Security.”

The participants observed that digital technology is critical to the advancement of Nigeria’s economy and the promotion of the professional practice of journalism. As such it becomes mandatory for them to adopt digital tools to conduct fact-checking and investigative reporting.

They endorsed the importance of creating advocacy, awareness, and regulations to guide the practice of online and citizen journalism, as well as self-censorship to uphold patriotism and national security.

A high point of the recommendations included the call that intensive training programmes should be regularly organised to curb the abuse of social media and uphold ethical practices and global best practices.

The workshop canvassed that these strategic training programmes should focus on practical sessions to enable journalists to master the use of digital tools and that similar training should be extended to other states in the federation.

In another recommendation, the participants challenged practitioners to be patriotic, responsible, and ethical in setting agenda for driving national unity and stability by using digital tools, social media, and other web platforms to counter the fake news and all forms of vices affecting the country.

In furtherance of their determination to uphold the use of digital tools and observance of the ethical and responsible practice of online journalism, the participants expressed their commitment to ensuring that 20 per cent of their practice will focus on raising awareness on digital literacy and inclusion.

They pledged to exemplify the practical use of digital tools for fact-checking, investigative, and development journalism to encourage patriotic zeal and peaceful coexistence among the different sections of the country.

Mallam Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, the Director-General of NITDA attended the closing ceremony during which he received the “ICT Personality of the Year” award presented and instituted by the Network of Advocates of Digital Reporting (NADIR), in recognition of his enormous contribution to the growth of digital technology and the digital economy.

Having organised the digital journalism workshop earlier in Abuja and Ilorin, and now in Kano, there are indications that the partnership between NITDA and the private sector stakeholders will go a long way in promoting digital literacy and digital inclusion.

This was obvious from the participants’ preparedness and commitment to using digital tools to uphold professionalism in their work and sharing this new knowledge with their various audiences as the first step to arresting the threat of fake news and hate speech.

Inyene Ibanga is Managing Editor Techdigest and writes from Wuye District, Abuja; email: inyeneibanga@yahoo.com.

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TECHDIGEST – The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has reiterated its commitments to train journalists across the country on digital journalism and ways to enhance the profession by adapting digital skills.

The Director General of NITDA Kashifu Inuwa, represented by Abdulqadir Abiola, made this known, Wednesday, at the opening of a 3-day workshop on Digital Journalism and Fact-checking for some selected journalists in Kano, organized by Image Merchants Promotion Limited (IMPR), Publishers of PRNigeria and Economic Confidential with the support of NITDA.

He said the workshop is aimed at training and equipping journalists with required digital skills as far as journalism is concerned, adding that after the workshop journalists would be able to fact-check any information online for media use.

While presenting his paper on digital journalism, social media and fake news CEO Image Merchants Promotion (IMPR) Yushau Shuaib, pointed out the need for journalists to be well-skilled digitally and use social media platforms wisely to avoid sharing fake stories and promoting hate speech.

In his paper titled ‘Ethical Issues in Media Reporting’ Head of Information and Media Studies Department, Bayero University Kano, Dr. Nura Ibrahim, explained why journalists need to be ethical in their reportage and implications of being unethical journalist as well as ethical challenges and way forward.

The workshop would end on Friday with the commission of Digital Skills Center established by NITDA at the PRNigeria Centre, Kofar Famfo, Kano.

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TECHDIGEST –A large contingent from Image Merchants Promotion Ltd (IMPR) – publishers of PRNigeria, Economic Confidential and other titles – recently spent a whole week in Ilorin, the Kwara state capital, where they held a fruitful engagement with Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazak, and also organised a 3-day training workshop for journalists based in the state on “Digital Journalism, Media Ethics and Responsible Reporting.”

In this special report, Kabir Akintayo shares the thrills, frills and robust intellectual exchanges that took place in the course of the week-long adventure.

“Digital Journalism, Media Ethics and Responsible Reporting” was the theme of a 3-day workshop that took place in Ilorin, Kwara state, last week.

It was a programme put together by IMPR, in collaboration with Penlight Centre for Investigative Journalism. With the supports of the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy and National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) programme is meant to expand the capacity of journalists to stick to the rules of the profession in the face of the threats posed by the overbearing presence of social media, blogs and other unregulated spaces.

It was an intense training of over 40 journalists, publishers and stakeholders in the media industry, thus accommodating all manner of conversations, deliberations, interactions and observations on where the industry is now and where it is going.

The programme is coming at a time fake news has become the order of the day in our polity especially in the aftermath of the 2020 EndSARS saga that almost consumed the nation.

It, therefore, behoves stakeholders in the media industry and other believers in the Nigerian project to put heads together and find lasting solutions to the menace of fake news.

PRNigeria, a leading medium in the fight against fake news recently published “101 Fake News on EndSARS”, book written by one of its staff members, Dahiru Lawal, that further revealed the lies and vicious propaganda tactics deployed by some enemies of the nation who hid under the umbrella of the massive EndSARS rallies.

The platform has been training journalists on online fact-checking, tools used to discover fake news, media monitoring and responsible journalism.

The programme that kicked off in Abuja moved to Kwara state last week and it was a memorable week for everyone – the Government House, the journalists, the visiting IMPR team, NITDA and other stakeholders.

The Government House was the first point of call when the IMPR team hit the city.

The Publisher of PRNigeria and Economic Confidential, Mallam Yushau Shuaib, commended the governor for demystifying governance in the state, adding that his performance was the reason Kwara state was chosen for the second leg of the Workshop.

While speaking, Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazak commended NITDA for supporting the training programme in the state and commended PRNigeria for its incredible work in spotting and exposing fake news through fact checking.

“I must commend NITDA under the Ministry of Communication for supporting PRNigeria in hosting this programme in Kwara state. PRNigeria has remained consistent in its factual, fair, timely and sometimes exclusive news that make it one of the very credible outlets and the best in Nigeria,” the governor said.

“I actually thought PRNigeria was a government platform based on the very professional and patriotic manner you guys carry out your news writing and reporting. I never knew its privately owned,” the governor added.

He also extended hands of friendship and partnership to PRNigeria for a possible collaboration to train staff of the state civil service and other relevant stakeholders in the state on fact-checking and awareness creation for government activities.

After a successful meeting with the state Chief Executive, attention shifted to Kwara Hotels, the venue of the 3-day training workshop.

Day 1
The first day of the workshop was a massive success, as the resource persons did well to put the participants in the mood for the remaining two days. It was very a rewarding experience.

The first presenter was the famed grand guru of Public Relations in Nigeria, Yushau Shuaib, who spoke on “Digital Journalism, Social Media and Crises Communication.”

The presenter talked about digital Journalism, as in the advent of technology and the relatively easy media operations we have now, unlike the traditional methods that were cumbersome and slow.

Alhaji Shuaib shared his decades of experience with the participants and exposed them to how they can take advantage of social and online media to do their jobs better and avoid fake news and negative reporting that seem to be the disadvantage of the digital age.

The second presenter talked about “Key Issues in Media Management”. Dr Saudat Saleh Abdulbaqi is of the Department of Mass Communication, at the University of Ilorin.

She explained the agenda setting theory and how media actively makes it their priority to set agenda for others to follow. She called on media houses to be responsible and patriotic and use their agenda setting powers to direct the country to the right path, not the path of destruction.

She also shared some key tips on how media houses can maintain standards in their operations and remain relevant in the competitive market.

In his very interactive session, Abdulrahman Abdulraheem reminded the participants about the key ethics of journalism and how to ensure responsible reporting. Using the Nigerian Press Council (NPC) standards, he reminded the participants about the ethics of factual reporting, objectivity, fairness, balance, political neutrality, respect for privacy, protection of minors, editorial independence, protection of sources, avoidance of gratification among others.

While the participants had a robust debate about the practicabilty or workability of some of the above ethical provisions based on their experiences and the challenges they face on the field, the presenter also told them to strike a very good balance between sensational reporting and the need to protect public interest.

He told them to often think twice while covering some sensitive beats like communal clashes, security agencies, Government Houses, and avoid story angles that tend to spread hatred or division, incite people or aggravate an already bad crisis situation, even if those stories are true.

The above point caused a lengthy debate, with some participants insisting that all the reporter owes the society is fidelity to the truth and nothing but the truth, and that they can go ahead and write anything, from any angle irrespective of the consequences on the larger society. At the end of the presentation, the audience finally agreed that at all times, the country has to come first because there have to be peace and stability before the components of the society like the media can function.

There were also other interactions and questions and answers sessions, where journalists compared notes and shared practical on-the-job experiences.

Day 2
The first presenter for the day was Muktar Madobi of Emergency Digest. His topic was “Conflict-sensitive reporting and responsible journalism”.

Mr Muktar is versed in conflict reporting, sharing his experiences on how to measure what to report and what should not to be reported and how to reduce number of casualties in reports to avoid reprisals, in case of communal clashes.
He said conflict reporting is a very sensitive beat that needs to be checked thoroughly and carefully executed.

In his own presentation, Dahiru Lawal, a fact-checking expert and author of “101 Fake News on EndSARS,” took the participants through how they can make use of digital tools to cross-check facts, verify pictures and videos before going to press with any piece of information at their disposal. In a very practical session, he taught the audience how to use Reverse Image Search, Google Earth and other tools to detect fake news, fake pictures and fake videos.

His topic was “Online fact- checking, media monitoring and search engine optimization”.
Stating examples on examining pictures, he used google tools to check the origin of the picture, the geographical location and purpose of the picture.

He demonstrated using google on how to find the location of an incident to verify if actually the event took place at the same location or it’s fabricated.

He said that journalists should not be in a rush to break news, rather, they should check the source of the news, compare to other reliable sources before sharing.

The editor of TechDigest, Mr Inyene Ibanga, also went further into the details of the massive opportunities that abound in the digital space when he presented his paper on “Basic Digital Tools for Journalism.”

The publishers of Solace Base, a popular news websites, shared his personal experiences as a reporter, editor and publishers using the information technological tools to grow and protect his business.

Other resources persons from the academia, media and technology made good presentations of themselves at the digital journalism workshop.

Day 3
At the end of the workshop, participants were presented with certificates of participation and urged to put the training acquired into practice for the betterment of the profession and development of the nation.
A communique was also issued at the end of the 3rd day.
In the communique, the gathering made the following observations:
• Digital journalism, also known as online journalism, is a contemporary form of journalism where editorial content is distributed via the Internet, as opposed to publishing via print or broadcast.
• Digital media is a veritable platform to enhance national interest and security
• Social Media promotes social interaction among citizens and enhance social harmony
• The advent of digital media has transformed the way we receive and share contents and information
• Digital tools provide tools of flexibility to the workforce by enabling out-of-office productivity
• Facilitate creating online communities and groups
• With growing political interference in the media and the rise of user-generated content via social media, it is becoming harder to distinguish between fact and fiction.
• With affordability of mobile phones, charlatans pose as journalists in spreading fake news and hate speech
• Merchants of Fake News use social media more often to confuse, misinform, mislead and betray the target audience
• Sponsored Hate Speech blinds the mind, reinforces sentiments, influences bad judgement and incites mob attacks
• Investigative journalism and fact checking, go hand-in-hand to unravel fake news and elements behind hate speech
• Every media has its editorial and that editorial stands as its position on matters.
• Most media editorials are no longer of Agenda setting but “position positioning.”
• Due to economic challenges, most media houses over-commercialize newsworthy items, negating some of the basic principles of journalism
• Conflict is an inevitable part of life but when not managed properly it could escalate, so Journalists have an important role to play in the mitigation of escalation.

The Workshop therefore came up with the following recommendations:
• Because of the benefits of digital journalism, journalists are urged to embrace latest technologies for efficiency
• The Media should promote public awareness and shape public opinion
• Editorials should influence decision-makers, mobilize support and resources for just causes
• Social Media should be deployed to advocate openly with sincerity of purpose
• As the phenomenon of ‘fake news’ becomes more widespread, journalists must have adequate knowledge and the right fact-checking tools to tackle the menace
• Journalists are urged to respect copyright and disclose sources through credits, links and trackback
• Editors should provide general disclaimer on personal opinions and respect privacy and anonymity of credible sources
• To curb misuse of Social Media, there is need for appropriate legislation, massive enlightenment, public consciousness and deployment of technology (prompt report for sanctions)
• Editorials represent the stand of media organizations but we must be mild through our objectivity in the interest of the public.
• There are so many ways in telling the truth. There is subjectivity in objectivity, but the responsibility lies in analysing trends and predicting the consequences: majority interest or minority segment of the society.
• Managing feedback is essential.
• Journalist welfarism is fashioned out of the African tradition of giving gifts, however it should not be allowed to influence objectivity.
• Journalists must be responsible by being sensitive to and consider the effect of conflict reports before making them public.
• Conflict-sensitive Journalists must be safety and security conscious in the process of our news gathering.
• While urging NITDA to organize the training more often with latest developments, the participants also urged the agency to replicate the Digital Journalism and Fact-Check Workshop in other states of the Federation.

Kabir Akintayo is a Political Correspondent with Politics Digest

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TECHDIGEST – National Information Technology Development Agency,NITDA, has trained no fewer than 40 Kwara based journalists on digital reporting, fact-checking and social media management in the State.

The training organized by Image Marchant Promotions Limited (IMPR) – Publishers of PRNigeria and Economic Confidential, in conjunction with Penlight Centre, held at the Kwara Hotels Ilorin.

The 3-day workshop was organized with the support of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) with the endorsement of Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy.

The training which was attended by correspondents of major National dailies and members of Kwara state Online Media Practitioners (ASKOMP), exposed participants to media management, conflict reporting, latest online technological tools for fact-checking and enhancing search engine optimization.

Delivering an opening remarks, Editor-in-Chief of PR Nigeria, Mall. Yushau Shuaibu said the workshop was imperative to strengthen adherence to professional ethics and ensure journalists utilize the powers in their hands as the society watchdog with highest level of responsibility.

Yushau noted that “While the primary duty of a journalist is to inform the public to make informed decisions. We must however do so fairly, accurately and objectively. We must also be conscious of the implications of our contents on our local polity and thus, we should be driven by patriotism and national interests.”

Shuaib said that the organization decided to choose Kwara as one of the states for the Workshop for its economic stability and security.

The events featured presentations by seasoned mainstream and digital journalists such as Alh. Yushau Shuaibu, Dahiru Lawal, Abdulrahman Abdulraheem, Mukhtar Madobi among others. Erudite scholar, Dr. Mrs. Saudat Salah Abdulbaqi also led presentation on Media management.

There were also interactive and questions and answers sessions, where journalists compared notes and shared practical on-the-job experiences.

At the completion of the workshop, participants were presented with certificates of participation and urged to put the training acquired into practice, noting that the organizations will sustain professional ties with the participants and exchange views on how to ensure practice of responsible journalism.

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TECH DIGEST – It is obvious that getting news about events and incidents has absolutely been made so easy nowadays. Whatever happens, become public knowledge in a matter of minutes. There are a lot of news breakers around apart from the media-the Twitter and Facebook users and Bloggers, etc.

The news breakers are no longer necessarily the conventional media organizations we know such as radio, television or newspapers, though they could at times be, but, social media platforms have to a great extent taken the lead in breaking news, and even giving real-time updates or have some short footages which give the news in multimedia form.

Certainly, this is a good side of social media, that is, breaking the barrier of having to wait till a certain time to get information or news about happenings.

I can say almost 80% of smartphones have social media apps downloaded and installed on them, this then means that majority of smartphone users have social media accounts and access those accounts to socialize and get updates. No doubt we surely are living in a global village.

Getting news and information comes with some consequences; these consequences include consuming fake news and sharing the fake news to others as genuine information knowingly or unknowingly. There are always contaminated pieces of news in circulation online regardless of whether or not there is an event. It is as if makers and peddlers of the fake news do not sleep at all.

It is also as if they mind the business of fake news trading so much that they research to understand the psychology of readers so they can easily sell some false narratives to them without understanding.

This is so because you will sometimes come across reputable or knowledgeable people sharing fake news to people in their network, and if you are a curious mind or fact-checker you then will begin to wonder why they are sharing the piece with you even though they should ordinarily not have shared it without doing some fact-checking, or rather establishing the truth of claims they share.

The simple answer here is that they might have been emotionally conquered to want to break some news without ensuring its authenticity or they have a motive of doing that. Either way, the quick trick to combating fake news is conducting a fact check on pieces of news or information we receive before we share them with others.

Fact-checking involves asking questions such as: what did the lead and body of the story or claim say, is there variance or agreement, who is reporting the piece, the media organization? How credible is that medium, have other sources reported the same piece? What did they say? What genuine sources have the media used to arrive at what they say? Is it an individual reporting or giving the news? What source has he or she relied on to tell the story? Does the story involve some organizations, government, individuals, authorities? Have authorized personalities of these organizations, governments, individuals, authorities been contacted? Did these authorized personalities or parties involve updated their social media accounts (if they have) about the events they are being reported on? There are certainly a number of questions to ask and get answers to be able to establish the truth of a piece of news or information we come across. Fact-checking is indeed worth doing as the danger of fake news is greater than we ordinarily think.

At times thorough reading and simple examination on a piece of story or information can quickly help us determine how true or fake some claim or narrative is. Many fake news pieces will fail to give information as to who said what¸ where, when, before who, etc. When any piece of news fails to answer these basic journalistic storytelling criteria, the suspicion must be raised. And surely sharing the piece should not happen because you may end up sharing fake news.

Everyone can conduct fact-checking and if we all fact-check stories and information we receive, fake news and disinformation will have no place, and we will eventually rid our societies of the menace of fake news.

Already fake news has done great harm to efforts at curbing the spread of COVID19 with several false narratives around the virus, its vaccine and immunization. And because people don’t care to fact-check and find genuine information about not only Coronavirus but other issues, a large chunk of our population has been misled into believing lies as truths. This is a serious danger we must collectively confront and defeat. Fact-checking is a great tool to combating fake news. And it is easy to fact-check because sometimes the sources to contact and verify issues are in our network.

Becoming a fact-checker does not really require hard skills. However, what is most important is reasoning and having the critical mind to be able to raise and seek answers to basic questions around pieces of stories and information we come across particularly online.

You never know how impactful the verification you conduct will be. The danger of allowing fake news to go unchecked is that other people out there will have it as genuine information which is truly dangerous. Some fake news instances mobilize people into violence against each other, others pose health risks or promote political instability and celebrate tribal and religious intolerance.

We, therefore, have a role to play in ridding our societies of the dangers of fake news and disinformation which have nowadays become common. We can do that by fact-checking stories and information we come across especially online. Do a fact-check on any suspicious story you come across, inform and enlighten the public about it.

Abbas Badamasi is a staff of PR Nigeria and Editor @ TechDigest.Ng

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