Gloria Ogine
Two reporters from TheMiddleBelt Reporters, Linus Egwu and Gloria Ogine were part of the just concluded two days training dubbed, “Credible Elections and Democratic Governance Media Using Fact-checking and FOIA to Combat Information Disorder” held on the 6th and 7th, March 2024 in Kaduna State
The capacity-building workshop facilitated by the International Press Centre Lagos exposed participants to how false information spreads, the importance of fact-checking, and the use of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in seeking relevant information from Ministries, Departments, and Agencies.
Linus Egwu, our associate editor who was among the participants explained that the opportunity exposed him to new ways of checking every piece of information spread through the media space, he explained that the training was an opportunity that further exposed him to the importance of FOIA.
He pledged that the training would further improve his work as a journalist while he expressed his commitment to stepping down the training at TheMiddleBelt Reporters newsroom for a better knowledge of all reporters.
In his welcome address, Lanre Arogundade, the Executive Director of IPC emphasized that the use of fact-checking and FoiA are integral in the strengthening of Nigerian democracy, hence the need for the workshop.
He said, “On behalf of the International Press Centre, in Lagos, Nigeria, I extend a warm welcome to this two-day capacity-building event focused on combating information disorder in democratic governance reporting using fact-checking tools and Freedom of Information tools.”
“This workshop is a component of the collaborative efforts between IPC and the Centre for Media and Society CEMESO under component 4 of the European Union Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria (EU-SDGNII) project.” He continued.
Lanre appreciated the participants and urged them to put to use the knowledge obtained from the training.
While expressing gratitude, some of which the Participants posted on social media, Fortune Zulaiha Danjuma, a reporter with Kano Focus explained that she found the training course interesting and important to her work, she explained that the training has opened her mind to double-checking every information.
Fortune Abang, a reporter with the News Agency of Nigeria, explained that the use of fact-checking is very important in the era of easy accessibility of information, he further noted the training will improve his work, and curbing information disorder will be part of his work going forward.
