Fake News: ICIR Trains Journalists On Countering Misinformation, Media Literacy In Abuja
In the bid to consistently counter the epidemic menace of rampaging fake news in the today’s digital world, The International Centre for Investigative Reporting (The ICIR) on Tuesday commenced a three-day training for selected journalists from 30 media organisations.
The training which is themed “Countering Misinformation and Promoting Media Literacy in Nigeria Project” was supported by the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany.
The participants of the training was drawn from print, online and broadcast media from 30 organisations across the six geo-political zones of the country.
Through the project, the ICIR aims to advance combatting the dissemination and impact of misinformation in Nigeria by promoting media literacy and responsible information sharing among citizens.
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In his welcome address, the German Embassy’s First Secretary of Political Affairs Nigeria, Mathias Dold, highlighted the importance of Countering Misinformation and Promoting Media Literacy in Nigeria as a key component of democracy,”
“The EU Election Observation Mission concluded in its final report documented a large amount of misleading content allegedly produced by political camps and various individuals, regularly targeted actors across the political system.
On his part,the Executive Director of the ICIR, Dayo Aiyetan who was represented by the FactCheckhub editor, Opeyemi Kehinde, espoused the enormous importance of the media in combating misinformation.
According to him, the fight against misinformation in Nigeria can not be won without the media, a reason why the organisation is training journalists for the task..
“Building the capacity of media professionals to counter misinformation and disinformation narratives via their various platforms is key to attaining the goal of The ICIR to encourage the public to imbibe the culture of fact-checking”.
The participants are expected to organise a step-down training for the members of their organisations after the training to inculcate the culture of fact-checking amongst the participating media organisations.
