No fewer than 30 journalists from Kogi State, selected from print, electronic and online media were over the weekend, trained on fact-checking in the practice of their trade.
The training which was organised by the International Press Centre (IPC) in conjunction with the United Nation Development Programme (UNDP) is aimed at equipping Kogi Journalists with fact-checking skills to ensure accurate and authentic reportage of the November 11 governorship election in the state.
The two-day workshop with the theme: Capacity building on use of verifying and fact checking was held at the Hawthorn Hotel , Garki 2 Abuja.
Mr Mathew Alao, a representative of UNDP in a keynote address, urged journalists to develop passion and commitment to the profession and work hard to be the best practitioner with accurate reportage that will alter and recreate the perception of the citizenry to the country.
Alao noted that the journalism profession is a call for sacrifice and responsibility, saying it has become imperative for journalists to adhere to the ethics in the course of discharging their constitutional duties.
He added that the issue of accuracy and fact checking is more of interest now in order to promote electoral integrity , particularly in the forthcoming governorship election in the off cycle 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, their communities and about their government that would make them better citizens.
According to him”, 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, have attitude of holding back our biases , by asking questions until there are no more questions to ask.
” Our society may not have been doing too well. It is because we are not making our stories and reports to connect to the people. When our reports make the people our central concern, most of the societal problems would be solved. Our society is undergoing stress, hence , everyone is trying to cope. But my message for journalists is to avoid collecting money that will make them miserable in their privacy, ” he warned.
While delivering a lecture on fact checking of information to promote electoral integrity, David Ajikobi, Editor , Africa Check, noted that the purpose of fact checking is to make the story transparent and eliminate debris of misinformation, disinformation and fake news which have the potential to affect peaceful elections.
He urged journalists to distinguish personal bias, and opinions from facts, which will instil confidence in our audience in a report.
While calling on journalists covering elections to be mindful of the antics of politicians who would stop at nothing in using everything within their disposal to woo voters, he said every statement should be subjected to fact check to ensure that the story is error proof.
