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PLATFORM TO CHECK FAKE NEWS LAUNCHED IN NIGERIA

The launch of the project, took place on Wednesday in Lagos, during a two-day rigorous training of several journalists from about 15 media organisations in the country who would be working collaboratively in running the project through the general elections and beyond.

Penpushing reports that, the Managing Director of FirstDraftNews, Jenni Sargent,while unveiling Crosscheck Nigeria explained that the project would be deploying technologies in the verification of information in the social media.

The Managing Director highlighted the procedures involved in the verification of potentially false and misleading posts, adding that besides trying to verify such claims, the public using the platform would be able to see clearly the process followed in reaching conclusions on why the news item was false.

She further added that all the media organisations involved would be working together to actualise the goal of checking the menace of fake news and misinformation which has become a serious challenge to journalism and the society.

The Executive Director of International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), Dayo Aiyetan,  in his remarks said the website would allow Nigerians to freely log onto it, post pictures, videos and any other information they want CrossCheck Nigeria to verify to curb the circulation of fake news in the country.

His words, “It’s important to get ways to make journalism viable in today’s world. We are here today to find ways to combat misinformation that can affect our elections,”.

Penpushing also reports that, the launch  featured a panel of Media Executives: Martins Oloja of the Guardian,; John Momoh of Channels Television; Ikechukwu Amaechi of the Niche, and Abigail Ogwenzzy, Head of Department of Mass Communication Department, University of Lagos, and  discussed the challenges of dealing with fake news and how to stem the tide.

 

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