The International Press Centre (IPC) has trained both male and female journalists from Kogi, Bayelsa, and Imo ahead of the governorship elections.
The training involved the broadcast, print, and online media in the three states that have been reporting on the electoral processes and would be on election duty on November 11.
The training for Kogi journalists was held at Hawthorn Suites & Hotels, Abuja, FCT, on October 27 and 28, while journalists from Bayelsa and Imo states, respectively, had their training on October 30 and 31 and November 2 and 3 at the Echelon Heights Hotel, Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
The workshops are part of the activities under the iVerify Fact-Checking project, whose objective is to strengthen national capacities to prevent and mitigate the threats of disinformation, misinformation, and hate speech to the integrity of electoral information and democracy.
At the end of the training, the group exercises, and the plenary discussions, participants in the three workshops resolved to accept the obligation of setting a public interest agenda for the governorship elections in the three states.
They also resolved to make it a professional and ethical duty to enhance the integrity of electoral information by not only avoiding but also countering disinformation, misinformation, and hate speech, and also embracing and regularly making use of the fact-checking methods and digital tools to which they were exposed.
Further, they resolved to imbibe the art of questioning as a valuable skill necessary for being detectives of disinformation and misinformation, ensuring factual accuracy of electoral reports, particularly by setting aside personal biases and avoiding presenting opinions as facts, and upholding accountability journalism at elections by making key electoral stakeholders such as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the political parties, the candidates, and the law enforcement and security agencies accountable to the public.
The participants also agreed to ensure the factual accuracy of electoral reports, particularly by setting aside personal biases and avoiding presenting opinions as facts, to take all professional steps to deescalate conflict and assist with conflict management since violent conflicts are threats to elections and democracy, to also utilise and sensitise citizens on IPC’s iVerify platform, which is a useful technology-driven system to combat electoral information disorder, and to share the knowledge and skills gained from the workshop with other colleagues so that collectively they can provide reliable electoral information for the citizens.
YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM TheWitness
Jet crash: I’m in good spirits — Minister of Power, Adelabu
Minister of Power, Mr Adebayo Adelabu, on Saturday allayed fears about his safety following Friday’s incident near…
Senator Natasha pays condolence visit to family of late Ohinoyi
While addressing sympathisers at the Palace of the late Ohinoyi, in Okene, Sen. Akpoti-Uduaghan noted the former was…
Appeal Court sacks Senate Minority Whip, Nwokocha
Nwokocha, Tribune Online learned, represents Abia Central in the red chamber of the National Assembly on the platform of…
Why I was not part of Big Brother All Stars —Tobi Bakre
Former Big Brother Naija star, Tobi Bakre has said he didn’t regret not being part of the Big Brother Naija All Stars edition, noting that his…
What critics of Rufai Oseni don’t know about journalism
A viral, contentious dialogic confrontation between Arise TV’s Rufai Oseni and one Jesutega Onokpasa, identified as a lawyer and “APC chieftain,” on…
FULL LIST: Osimhen, Gift Orban bag nominations at 2023 CAF Awards
Super Eagles and Napoli forward, Victor Osimhen, has been nominated for the 2023 Confederation of African Football (CAF) Men Player of...
