THE International Centre for Investigative Reporting (The ICIR) has commenced training for select journalists on Countering Misinformation and Promoting Media Literacy in Nigeria Project.
The three-day training began in Abuja on Tuesday, October 10, with participants drawn from print, online and broadcast media.
Beneficiaries are from different newsrooms across the country.
The Countering Misinformation and Promoting Media Literacy in Nigeria Project aims to combat the dissemination and impact of misinformation in Nigeria by promoting media literacy and responsible information sharing among citizens.
The German Embassy in Nigeria supports the project.
In his opening remark, The ICIR‘s Executive Director Dayo Aiyetan, represented by the FactCheckhub Editor, Opeyemi Kehinde, said the fight against misinformation in Nigeria could not be won without the media.
“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.
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.
He said, “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.
“In addition, influential members of leading parties regularly spread unverified or even false information targeting the opponents, while critical reporting was at times also referred to as ‘fake news’ by some political actors. This worsened an already opaque information environment.”
Olayinka works with The ICIR as the Social Media Manager, Reporter and Fact-checker. You can shoot him an email via shehuolayinka@gmail.com. You can as well follow him on Twitter via @BelloYinka72