EU, editors unite against disinformation

EU backs editors' resolve to set up fact-checking desks in newsrooms

The spread of misinformation, fake news and disinformation has become a major concern in Nigeria, with fake news and propaganda threatening to undermine the credibility of the mass media and the stability of the country.

It is a common knowledge that Editors play a critical role - in ensuring the accuracy and reliability of the information published in their respective media organizations.

However, many editors lack the necessary skills and training to effectively identify and debunk misinformation.

Following a recent workshop for editors, facilitated by the EU in Lagos, editors of print, online and electronic media in Nigeria have now committed to setting up fact-check desks in various newsrooms as a measure to tackle fake news. At the workshop for editors on enhancing fact-checking skills in the newsroom, the EU Ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Mr Gautier Mignot, made a strong case for media literacy as an antidote against misinformation and outright disinformation, and challenged the editor to take the lead. About 40 editors were in attendance.

In Nigeria, as elsewhere in the world, the spread of fake news has become a major concern, with misinformation and disinformation undermining the credibility of the mass media and threatening democracy and the stability. The social media and other digital platforms have made it easier for fake news to spread quickly, often with devastating consequences.

While editors play a critical role in ensuring the integrity and reliability of the information published by their respective media platforms, many of them lack the necessary skills and training to effectively identify and deal with fake news.

The one-day workshop targeting members of the Nigerian Guild of Editors aimed at enhancing the capacity of editors to identify and debunk misinformation, fake news and disinformation, and promote accurate/trustworthy reporting, thus, ensuring the credibility of the media. The initiative also sought to instil in participants the discipline of verifying contents before publication in order to safeguard the Nigerian media landscape.

Underlining the importance of media literacy among editors, Ambassador Mignot noted that misleading information, whether misinformation or disinformation, would always distort reality and tip the scale in favour of the wrong course. “Anything that compromises the integrity of information reduces people’s capacity to take informed and right decisions in matters that affect them,” he said.  For media professionals, particularly editors, he explained, “the implications are far reaching because misleading information erodes not only the credibility of the message, but also that of the messenger and the institution.”   

While technology has made communication easier and faster, he further observed, its uncanny ability “to recreate realities has also enhanced the ease and rapidity of producing and spreading deceptive content - both online and offline - which are more and more difficult to distinguish from original contents.”

Media literacy, therefore, becomes, in the words of the Ambassador, an existential imperative for media actors.

The President of the Guild of Editors, Mr Eze Anaba, shared this view, and highlighted the dangers of fake news and misinformation to Nigeria’s public opinion matrix.

“The deliberate spread of false information, whether through disinformation, misinformation, or fabricated news, not only undermines public trust but also threatens social cohesion, democratic governance, and national security,” he stated.

EU Del