News

CEMESO Boosts Media’s Capacity To Combat Misinformation,Disinformation

By Web News 429

By Olaitan Oye-Adeitan

Prompt publication and reportage of accurate and ethically verifiable stories is crucial in stemming the tide of misinformation and disinformation flooding social media.

The Executive Director, of the Centre for Media and Society, CEMESO, Dr Akin Akingbulu made the assertion at a virtual meeting held for media professionals and relevant stakeholders on “Networking and Dialogues on Misinformation and Disinformation Issues”.

Dr Akingbulu explained that the meeting was part of the European Union’s intervention to build the capacity of the media and broadcast regulators to confront the bug of misinformation and disinformation towards a stronger and more robust democracy in Nigeria.

The CEMESO Director described false narratives as threats to national peace and progress.

He said misinformation and disinformation were also capable of exacerbating and delegitimising electoral processes., “It holds a significant threat to the fabric of the society sowing discord and inciting violence, jeopardizing peace and encouraging diminished public participation in electoral processes”.

According to him, CEMESO has trained over 200 journalists to empower the media and the public with credible information”.

He therefore called for deliberate efforts by the media to strengthen the resilience of democratic society by changing the ugly narrative.

The Programme Manager, CEMESO, Mr Timothy Bamidele listed the six thematic areas the EU intervention programme covered including improving the quality of electoral administration in Nigeria, Combating hate speech and misinformation, as well as providing support to political parties, electoral body, media, women youths and the marginalized groups.

Mr.Bamidele however observed that the media did not always provide fair coverage of elections.” This is to ensure that journalists are well trained to perform optimally”.

Mr Bamidele wants the National Broadcasting Commission, NBC, to ensure that it lived up to its mandate of regulating activities of the media.

In a remark, a representative of the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner in Ondo State, Dr Tope Akanmu, said the damaging effect of misinformation and information was not only felt in politics and electoral processes but in all aspects of human life.

He called for concerted efforts by the media to increase their production of timely and correct information.

Also, in a message to the meeting, President of the International Press Council, IPC, Mr. Lanre Arogundade was optimistic that the forum would have a positive impact on information dissemination.

Contributions from participants were pointers to the fact that the media must really wake up to its responsibility of presenting unbiased information by digging deeper into issues and being empowered with the right tools to fact-check stories before being published.

It would be recalled that the Centre For Media and Society, CEMESO had been holding a series of trainings for the media and other key players in line with the European Union’s agenda of building sustainable democracy in Nigeria among other pertinent goals.

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News

Press Freedom Day: Investigate Attacks on Journalists – IMS

By Web News 583

By Olaitan Oye-Adeitan

The Institute for Media and Society, IMS, has called for an investigation into all pending cases of attacks on journalists and other media professionals including those committed during the recent elections.

IMS Executive Director, Dr Akin Akingbulu made the call in his message on World Press Freedom Day.

He recognized the active role and resilience of media in Nigeria especially in the promotion of transparency, accountability, and good governance but expressed concern over the mounting challenges confronting journalists, with particular reference to the just concluded elections in Nigeria where some journalists were attacked, arrested, harassed and denied access to election activities.

Dr Akingbulu harped on the need to be more committed to their protection, provision of conducive working environment and promotion of democracy.

Dr Akin Akingbulu

 “Journalists and other media professionals have frequently exposed corruption, beamed the searchlight on human rights violation and reported on public interest events, issues and trends. In the cause of these constitutionally supported contributions, journalists have faced obstacles which jeopardised their ability to perform their duties without fear of favour”. Dr Akingbulu said.

  He also noted with dismay anti-media legislation, citing the example of laws establishing government broadcasting outfits which contained harsh censorship provisions which hamper editorial freedom.

“Equally Worrisome is the rash bills proposed for the passage into law in the National Assembly. Public Policy development is also an area of critical concern. For a long time, there has been no visible policy document for the media and expression sector”. Dr Akingbulu noted.

The IMS Director therefore wants government among other things to collaborate with media stakeholders to develop an up-to-date, international standard policy for the information sector.

 He underscored the need for reformed media legislation and broadcasting regulations in consonance with the direction of the media policy.

“Make the National Human Rights Protection Action Plan recently approved by the Federal government publicly available for citizens’ contribution and engagements. Remove all obnoxious laws such as those on sedition, criminal defamation etc. Implement the judgement of the ECOWAS court which mandated the amendments of section 24 of the cybercrime act.

While lauding the establishment of a National Media Complaints Commission, Dr Akingbulu implored the media to ensure its effective management and sustainability.

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Politics

IMS Sets Tone for Good Governance, Women Journalists Brace Up for Elections

By Web News 605

BY OLAITAN OYE-ADEITAN

It’s a defining moment in the history of Nigeria as citizens anticipate who their next leaders would be in the next four years.

But one thing appears paramount, a desired change in all spheres of economic life which requires active voices.

One of the initiatives put in place by the Institute for Media and Society, IMS in achieving this goal is to build the capacity of female Journalists, especially in digital multimedia storytelling skills to be able to participate effectively in the coverage of electoral processes.

Cross Section of Participants

Hence the workshop organised by IMS for female journalists in Nigeria as explained by the Executive Director, IMS, Dr Akin Akingbulu  “We have seen from our engagement and research that women journalists have not been participating as actively as they should in the coverage of the electoral process. One of the reasons behind it is that they also do not have sufficient skills, especially in the digital era that is essential in the coverage of the electoral process”, Dr Akingbulu said.

  • IMS Executive Director, Dr Akin Akingbulu

Dr Akingbulu pointed out that enhanced capacity would produce enhanced professionalism.

Project Manager, IMS, Mr Timothy Bamidele explained that the programme was to ensure inclusive, pluralistic and all stakeholders participatory democracy as the 2023 elections draw nearer.

  • IMS Project Manager, Mr Timothy Bamidele

“This is in fulfilment of the European Union’s vision in ensuring that good governance is entrenched in Nigerian.

One of the overall objectives is to deepen inclusion, especially for groups whose voices have not been amplified. Women, youths have been captured so that in all areas of professional development, women should be able to have the voice and contribute their own quota to national development”, Mr Bamidele added.

Participants were taken through impactful and engaging training sessions on digital multimedia storytelling by versatile facilitators, Ehi Ohiani and Cyril Usifo.

Technical Sessions With Ehi

  • Facilitator, Ehi Ohiani

Listening to this tall fair in complexion lady was really captivating.

She combines beauty with brains, dishing out digital methods of telling the public stories in a more interesting manner that would help them to make informed decisions, keep the government on their toes and engender positive change in Nigeria.

Mrs Ehi equally demonstrated ways of handling facilities such as the camera to have excellent images while stressing the need for journalists to uphold integrity in all they do.

Time With Cyril

  • Facilitator. Cyril Osifo

Technical Sessions with Cyril were quite illuminating and interesting.

With the practical demonstration, he opened the eyes of the female journalists to various social media and publishing tools that would assist them in their productions.

Cyril Usifo hammered on the need for women to extend their passion to creating content that would meet the core needs of the audience.

Mr Network

Mr Network was one character some participants could not wait to lay ambush for as it kept evading being caught during an aspect of the workshop.

Participants however attested to the fact that the training would spur them to make significant impacts in their profession.

Olaitan Oye-Adeitan

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Education

Stakeholders Seek Support for Persons With Disability

By Web News 609

Members from the Academia, Media and civil society organizations have called for the production of media guidelines that would cover the needs of people living with disabilities, especially in election coverage.

The people made this known during a validation exercise conducted by the Institute for Media and Society under the European Union’s support for Democratic governance in Nigeria.

The exercise was aimed at ensuring that persons with disability are adequately captured by the media. 

In a remarks, Dr Gbenga Fasiku of the department of philosophy, Obafemi Awolowo University Ile Ife said there was wide gap in the reportage of People living with disabilities in Nigeria, hence the need for media’s support to this segment of the society.

Similarly his counterpart from the University of Ilorin, Dr Saudat Abdul-Baqi noted that media engagement and advocacy would achieve a wider coverage of People with special needs in Nigeria if given adequate reportage.

Also, Dr Ganiyat Tijani-Adenle of the Lagos State University was of the view that the media was pivotal to the shaping of societal perception and attitude towards people living with disabilities.

On his part, the Founder, Albinism Foundation, Jake Epelle said the media should assist in raising advocacy for people living with disabilities to be voted into political positions.

In his submission, the Executive Director, Institute of Media and Society, Dr Akin Akingbulu described the media as a major stakeholder that needed to assist in creating space for persons with disabilities, through the projection of their issues in a positive perspective for equal participation in political and electoral processes.

Olufisoye Adenitan