By Noah Ocheni, Abuja
The representative of United Nations Development Project, (UNDP), Mr Mathew Alao, on Friday in Abuja urged journalists to develop passion to the profession with accurate reportage that will alter and recreate the perception of the citizenry to the country.
Mr. Alao made this remarks in a keynote address at a two-day workshop organised by International Press Centre ( IPC) in conjunction with United Nations Development Project (UNDP), with the theme: ‘Capacity building on use of iverify and fact checking’ for some selected journalists from kogi state, held at the Hawthorn Hotel, Abuja.
Alao who noted that the Journalism profession is a call for sacrifice and responsibility, said the citizenry depends on media for reliable information in the society, saying “it has become imperative for Journalists to adhere to the ethics when dishing out stories”.
He pointed out that the issue of accuracy and fact checking is more of interest now in order to promote electoral integrity, particularly forthcoming governorship election in kogi state.
The UNDP representative further charged Journalists and all others in the field of news dissemination to provide relevant information for the audience to make best decisions about their lives in the society.
“Our business is to find answers to questions and question the answers about the society. We should, if we must excel in our chosen field to have attitude of holding back our biases, by asking questions until there are no more questions to ask”.
He advised journalists to use modern technology to fact check stories before publishing to avoid carriage of fake news, misinformation and disinformation that will cause fears, tension and crisis in the society.
In the same vein, the Director, conflict prevention management and resolution, Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution, ( IPCR),
Dr. Emmanuel Mamman stressed dangers of information disorders or fake news to peace building and conflict resolution in the society.
He pointed out that wild spread circulation of fake news has been used to stir up problems, fears, tension and conflicts across the globe.
Mamman advised journalists on proper management of information which can lead to a return of hostilities in areas where tension remain high. “It reduces trust in traditional sources of information”.
While delivering a lecture on fact checking of information to promote electoral integrity, the Editor, Africa Check, Mr. David Ajikobi, noted that the purpose of fact checking is to make the story transparent and eliminate debris of misinformation, disinformation and fake news which according to him, have the potential to affect peaceful elections in the state.
