{"id":8737,"date":"2021-07-19T07:52:37","date_gmt":"2021-07-19T06:52:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/?p=8737"},"modified":"2021-07-19T07:52:41","modified_gmt":"2021-07-19T06:52:41","slug":"the-factchecker-16","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/the-factchecker-16\/","title":{"rendered":"The FactChecker"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dubawa, West Africa\u2019s fact-checking body, draws high praises at Sierra Leone Launch<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

By Caroline Anipah and Alie Tarawale<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The government of Sierra Leone Tuesday in Freetown gave a full-throated support for expanded freedom of the media in the sub-region, stressing that journalism is the oxygen of democracy, and that freedom of expression has been the cue for all positive revolutions in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This view was advanced by the Minister of Information, Mohamed Swarray, while speaking at the official launch of Dubawa, West Africa\u2019s leading fact-checking organisation for stemming the spread of misinformation and disinformation and for the amplification of truth in public policy, public health and the media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The minister, speaking at the Country Lodge Hotel, venue of the launch, said the awareness of the central role of media freedom as a \u201ccondition for a thriving democracy is what led the current Sierra Leonean administration to push for the repeal, last year, of the 1965 Criminal defamation law in the country; to welcome the decision of the Sierra Leonean Association of Journalists [SLAJ] to lead on the peer regulation of the media; and for the government to pass a Right to Information law\u201d that opened up public information in the purview of government to citizen\u2019s access and scrutiny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Swarray then saluted the vision of the Premium Times Centre for Investigative journalism, PTCIJ, for opening its office in Sierra Leone saying \u201cthe government of Sierra Leone welcomes you, assuring you of an enduring partnership, and will relentlessly support you,\u201d adding that Dubawa\u2019s entry into the Sierra Leonean media space bode well for sanitizing the growing wave of fake news on the crest of a fourth industrial revolution that has democratized mobile telephony and access to digital platforms, and \u201cwith our growing youthful population.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Click here to continue reading<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fact Checks of the week<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n