From Joseph Amedu, Lokojà
Media practitioners in Kogi on Thursday called for professionalism in the practice of citizenship journalism to curtail the spread of hate and fake news by the Social Media especially during political campaigns.
The Practitioners who made the call at a two-day Common Ground Journalism Training under Electoral Empowerment for Civil Society Programme (EECSP) organised by Search for Common Ground, an NGO and National Democratic Institute (NDI) in Lokoja.
Our Correspondent reports that the programme is being supported by Department for International Development (UKAID) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
The Practitioners said the media especially in Kogi, of late was awash with hate speeches and fake news with the aim of influencing the November 16, Governorship Election in the state.
The call, they said, was not aimed at gagging the social or mainstream media but to enhance professionalism and enable some level of decency in the practice and change the current narratives through application of rules.
They said that the Freedom of Speech or Expression did not give anybody the right to peddle or purvey hate speeches to malign or assassinate other peoples’ character and therefore, called for strict regulation of on-line media Practitioners.
Joy Baiye, Media and Outreach Coordinator, SEARCH, in her presentation on Hate Speech, Trends and Development urged Journalists to guard against being used by politicians to promote hate speech and fake news.
She said that extant laws on defamation, slander and libel, did not take cognisance of the New Media but could mitigate the spate of hate speech and fake news by the New Media Practitioners if adhered to or enforced.
Mrs Lola Mamedu, Coordinator, Early Warning Coordinator of SEARCH, speaking on Identifying threats and Drivers of Election Violence and guaranteeing the smooth conduct of elections held that hate speeches and fake news could undo outcome of elections and should be addressed seriously.
Mrs Gift Omoniwa, State Project Coordinator of SEARCH said objectives of the organisation, which currently has offices in 18 African countries, include among others, improved impartial observation.
It also include accurate reporting on, and recording of election vote totals by domestic electoral observer during and after the election cycle, increased participation by marginalised groups in Nigerian political processes with focus on violence mitigation for 2019 polls.
Omoniwa held that the activities of SEARCH included Community-based conflict, early warning, prevention, and mitigation; Conflict-sensitive journalism training and other collaborations with the Media.
