By Seyi Odewale
Barely 24 hours to the Ondo State governorship election, media and civil society experts have urged journalists assigned to cover the election to be wary of misinformation and disinformation and present their reports objectively. The election is slated for the weekend.
According to them, the media plays a crucial role in combating misinformation and disinformation before, during and after elections, as they can make or mar any election, particularly as Ondo State prepares for Saturday’s governorship election.
They gave the charge at a webinar media training for journalists covering elections themed: “Misinformation and Elections: Journalists, Public Educators, and Opinion Shapers,” organised by a civil society group, Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) in partnership with the European Union Support For Democratic Governance in Nigeria (EU SDGN) II.
Those who spoke at the virtual training included CAPPA’s Executive Director, Akinbode Oluwafemi; Media Mentors Journalism Centre Chief Executive, Ms. Joke Kujenya, who doubled as the trainer; the Executive Director of the International Press Centre (IPC), Lanre Arogundade, and the Programme Manager at Centre for Media and Society (CEMESO), Timothy Bamidele.
In his opening remarks, Oluwafemi noted the media’s critical role in reporting facts, particularly in the era of fake news, adding that “reporting should promote peace and not violence”.
“The populace is going to turn to the media for direction, for news, for opinion, and again for perception, and it behooves on us as media practitioners to report the facts as the facts,” Oluwafemi said, adding that they should take necessary measures to ensure their safety.
Explaining the importance of the webinar training,
Explaining the importance of the webinar training,
He added: “We’re essentially doing this to promote nonviolent elections in Nigeria. We think we can continue to engage and educate our people to ensure that we vote only with our thumbs and not with guns or cutlasses. So, the media plays a very critical role in this level of engagement.”
In her presentation, Ms. Kujenya made the distinctions between misinformation and disinformation, harping on journalists’ responsibilities in election coverage, the importance of fact-checking organizations, and the strategies for monitoring social media.
Concerning the duties of journalists in reporting, Kujenya emphasized the importance of verifying information, educating the public about media literacy, critically analysing information, and fostering informed engagement as key responsibilities.
She said: “Journalists should understand local issues, as well as verify claims before reporting,” she said, urging journalists to collaborate with fact-checking organizations to ensure authentic reporting and avoid spreading fake news.”
“Journalists are also encouraged to monitor elections on platforms such as Facebook and WhatsApp and to be vigilant about emerging narratives propagated by trolls,” she added.
In his presentation, Arogundade noted that “18 political parties in Ondo State had signed a peace accord to promote a peaceful and non-violent election”, and that the state had deployed 41,000 security personnel for public safety on the election day. He, however, emphasized that journalists should take their security seriously, adding that they need to be conflict-sensitive, urging them to utilize I-Verify to fact-check their stories.
