Journalists in Benue State have been urged to prioritise fact-checking and verify information before publishing to uphold journalistic ethics, maintain public trust, and prevent the spread of harmful misinformation.
This call was made during a two-day media training organised by the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD West Africa) in Makurdi, themed “Strengthening Information Literacy and Social Cohesion”.
The programme staff, Mr Raji Abdulazeez Olatunji, stated that the training aimed to strengthen information literacy in four states: Benue, Kaduna, Plateau, and Katsina.
He noted that 90 journalists from Benue State were prioritised for the training due to their critical role in disseminating information to the public, especially in an era of widespread disinformation.
Olatunji emphasised that the program was necessitated by the persistent crisis in Northern Nigeria, where false information is often used to exacerbate issues.
He stressed that strengthening journalists’ fact-checking and verification skills is essential, given their role as major information disseminators.
Olatunji highlighted that accurate reporting fosters credibility with audiences, especially in an era of widespread skepticism towards media outlets.
He noted that consistently fact-checking demonstrates a commitment to truth, strengthening journalists’ reputation and encouraging public discourse based on facts.
The Voice reports that the participants were introduced to essential verification tools, including: Google Reverse Image search, TinEye, inVID, YouTube Dataview, WHOIS Lookup and various fact-checking platforms such as Dubawa and more.
