The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) in collaboration with the American Embassy of Ghana and fact-checking Ghana today began a two day workshop for journalists at the Tomriek Hotel Accra – East Legon on the need to fact-check information.
Speaking at the event, A Lecturer from the University of Media, Arts and Communication UniMAC- GIJ, and also a facilitator at the program, Mr Stephen Tindi, in his presentation said that language is very powerful and it therefore leads to understanding.
According to him, “Democracy as we see now is standing on pillars. Some politicians strive for false information to promote their political agenda”.
He further indicated the vast spread of pollution on the online environment in terms of information is as a result of digitalization and the intrusion of ICT equipment such as mobile phones which worsens the rate at which false information could be shared.
Some mechanisms that are used for creating these false information are social media accounts, memes and trending hashtags. “Most people share these contents because of financial gains, political reasons and political statuses”.
Mr Stephen Tindi, urged that the lessons learnt should move beyond the newsroom but preach worldwide so those who aren’t media and information literate could gain an idea about it.
A trainee, Miss Sumaiya Salifu Saeed shared her thoughts on how most people do not cross check facts before they share the contents which tends out to be misleading or disinforming.
“I had my mum taking information about drinking hot water every morning when she woke up. She later caught an ailment which resulted from the water she had been drinking. Also, around Covid-19 my grandmother who knew nothing about it was calling to tell me to not take the injections because it has been said of this and that”.
He is therefore urging individuals to adopt the attitude of checking fact to make sure it is credible before they share.
By: Nathaniel Nii Amoo Otoo
