THE International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR) in conjunction with the International Centre for Journalists (ICFJ) fellowship will on Friday hold an online conference on fake news.
Sunday Dare, the Minister of Youth and Sports Development, would deliver the keynote address of the conference themed, “Gaining Trust for the Media in the Fake News Era.”
The panelists scheduled to speak at the conference include Dayo Aiyetan, Founder/Executive Director, of The ICIR, Ms Ejiro Umukoro, Award-winning broadcaster and media executive; and ‘Fisayo Soyombo, frontline investigative journalist.
Hannah Ajakaiye, the ICFJ Knight fellow for Nigeria would moderate the session.
Intending participants are expected to register for the webinar, which will hold between 11 am and 1 pm via this link.
Speaking on the conference, Dayo Aiyetan, the Executive Director, The ICIR, stated that it has become important to hold such conference for massive sensitisation about the harm that fake news does, adding that fake news continues to threaten the integrity and credibility of the media, among other institutions.
He also emphasized on the need to broaden the conversations and efforts at combating fake news, particularly by arming the citizens, who are often used as vehicle to spread misinformation.
“There is also the need to broaden the conversations and efforts at combating fake news to involve the ordinary Nigerian, who is used as the vehicle to spread misinformation,” Aiyetan said.
“This discussion is our contribution to the conversations among the people that need to start in order to get everybody involved in fighting misinformation.”
Speaking also, Hannah Ajakaiye said the conference is targeted at proffering options for the media industry in Nigeria to compete favourably in an era where research has shown that African audiences have low trust in the local media.
“The inaugural ICFJ Knight Nigeria Fellowship Fact Checking/Verification Webinar in collaboration with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), would proffer options for the media industry in Nigeria to compete favourably in an era where research has shown that African audiences have low levels of trust in the local media and are exposed to a high degree of misinformation and – often knowingly – contributes to its spread,” Ajakaiye said.
She added that the panelists would also address two other sub-topics, “Information Overload and the Digital Ecosystem; how the Media can Regain Trust in a Post-Truth Era” and “Fake News and the Influence Industry; Responsibilities of Social Media Influencers.”
'Niyi worked with The ICIR as an Investigative Reporter and Fact-checker from 2020 till September 2022. You can shoot him an email via niyioyedeji1@gmail.com. You can as well follow him on Twitter via @niyi_oyedeji.