‘Fact-checking critical to good journalism’
The Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism (PTCIJ) said it was committed to producing an army of fact-checkers for the Nigerian press to improve the quality of media reportage and contribute to the entrenchment of good media. This emerged during the just concluded one-week intensive Fact-checking and Investigative Journalism training for journalists in the Criminal […]
The Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism (PTCIJ) said it was committed to producing an army of fact-checkers for the Nigerian press to improve the quality of media reportage and contribute to the entrenchment of good media.
This emerged during the just concluded one-week intensive Fact-checking and Investigative Journalism training for journalists in the Criminal Justice and Anti-Corruption sector organized in Lagos by PTCIJ.
The training which was funded by the European Union (EU) through the British Council and journalists were exposed to the rudiments and techniques of fact-checking and investigative journalism.
One of the facilitators, Mr. Gbemiga Ogunleye said the PTCIJ was concerned about deepening the practice of accountability journalism and fact-check among Nigerian journalists.
Ogunleye, a former newspaper Editor and Provost of the Nigerian Institute of Journalism (NIJ) in Lagos, said journalists should strive to correct the misinformation and avalanche of fake news stories in the public domain and not contribute to spreading misinformation.
The Editor-in-Chief, Premium Times, Mr. Musikilu Mojeed explained that accountability journalism is what is expected from every journalist regretting that journalists have veered from this core responsibility.
He said it is only through investigative journalism that journalists could bring about changes in the society and charged practitioners to arm themselves with the salient provisions of the code of ethics for journalists to guide their reportage.
A Programme Manager for PTCIJ, Mboho Eno said fact-checking every report before publication would guide the citizens in taking decisions.