By Ayodele Abere
The Executive Director, International Press Centre, Lagos, Nigeria, Mr. Lanre Arogundade has called on professional bodies in the media to protect Journalists that are under attack on the basis of the stories they write.
The Media expert made the call in a separate interview with newsmen in Akure, the State capital of Ondo State, during a two-day Capacity Building on Combating Information Disorder in Democratic Governance Reporting Using Fact-checking and FOI tools
The workshop is one of the activities being implemented by IPC, as lead partner, and the Centre for Media and Society (CEMESO) under Component 4 (Support to media) of the European Union Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria (EUSDGN II) project.
The overall objective is to strengthen the media for fair, accurate, ethical and inclusive reporting of the electoral processes and elections and particularly seeks to combat information disorder/fake news in democratic governance reporting using fact-checking and FOI tools.
The workshop attracted forty (40) journalists selected from the South West region who are either, new/mid-level journalists, community journalists, freelance journalists, with the aim of introducing fact-checking and FOI tools/techniques that mitigate misinformation and disinformation as it relates to democratic governance reporting.
Arogundade stated that the workshop is equally an opportunity to let government understand that the media can make society better by providing information proactively especially during this period of insecurity.
While speaking further on the objective of the workshop, The IPC Executive Director said, it would also make the participants better journalists saying that there are tools that journalist can use to verify information and make it faultless while filing reports.
He opined that journalists need an enabling environment to practice good Journalism noting that if Journalism is better, that the society at large will also be better.
Also, the Editor-in-Chief, Guardian newspaper and a resource person at the workshop, Mr. Martins Oloja who took the section of Credible Elections and Good Governance: The stories to report using FOI Act and other investigative methodologies, explained that there are issues in democracy that are affecting development in Nigeria, saying it’s the responsibility of the people in the media to monitor governance and hold the leaders to account for performance.
Oloja who stated that a particular political party would want presidential aspirant to obtain hundred million naira form said when you look at the data of revenue mobilization allocation and fiscal commission on reward for political office holders, that the president will take about fifty six million naira for four years.
He emphasized on the need to hold some of the political office holders accountable by asking questions on certain data and continuous advocacy for reform in the system. Adding that it is the combined effects of the performances of 36 States of the federation that will lead to development and not just the federal government only.
