Information Verification: A need for Building Trust in Journalism

 


Fake news continues to be a never ending problem which has affected the trust between the population and  journalists. With respect to that, fellows of the ongoing African Fact Checking fellowship based in Bamenda have recently had a talk with Students of Communication and Development studies at the University of Bamenda on information verification and fact Checking to enable them do their work in the future diligently.

 

These students who gathered for an academic internship orientation, had a chance to be schooled on the importance of information verification and fact-checking and digital rights as well as responsibilities to prepare them for the outside world upon graduation. It was thanks to Defyhatenow in Yaounde in partnership with UBa. 


   

Defyhatenow Team in Action.

The advent of the internet which has made information of any kind accessible, given  that people are free to share information received has made the dissemination of fake news very easy. As such, One of the trainers, Vianney Forewah encouraged students to always #ThinkB4UClick as information remains a public good which when disseminated, helps the public to make informed decisions. Amongst some of the students who appreciated the efforts of Defyhatenow  was Tantan Patience.

"I'm very grateful for the team that passed by to enlighten us on the effects of hate speech and  unverified information in our society. Empowered with knowledge and tools on fact-checking and information, I promise to use it for it's purpose starting today."


Tatan Patience 


To conclude the session were some students and  the Head of the Communication department who appreciated the efforts of the fellows of the Ongoing African fellowship and  Defyhatenow for such an  initiative while  recommending that same discussion be carried out  in other faculties and especially to the masters students of his department.


            

Photo Credit: Vianney Forewah


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