|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Nimba, Liberia August 21, 2023
The Fact-checking, Verification and Media Literacy arm of the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID), DUBAWA, has kicked off a fact-checking and digital verification training for Liberian journalists ahead of the country’s election in October.
The training, supported by Google News Initiative, aims to build the digital, verification, and fact-checking capacity of newsrooms in Liberia.
The first part of the training programme began in Nimba County from August 21 to 22, 2023. The second, which will be held from August 24 to 25, 2023, will take place in Buchanan, Grand Bassa County.
The training is part of DUBAWA’s efforts to reinstate trust in the media and address the increasing menace of information disorder, particularly as Liberia heads to the polls this year.
Opening the workshop at Nimba County, the Executive Director of CJID, Dr Tobi Oluwatola, stated that the media is important in holding duty bearers accountable to the ordinary people.
He emphasised that the purpose of democracy is that everyone has an equal say in how shared resources are utilised, stressing that this can only be achieved if the media is trained and empowered to hold people to account for their actions.
For his part, the Publisher of the News Public Trust and facilitator at the workshop, Frank Sainworla, said fact-checking enables journalists to go beyond statements made to ascertain the truth of what has been said.
Mr Sainworla called on the journalists to be efficient and hold duty bearers accountable for their actions, especially as Liberia is in its electioneering period.
The journalists, drawn from radio, TV and online platforms, have been and will be trained on topics including digital verification and available Google tools and resources that can aid the work of journalists.
The training in Liberia is the last capacity-building training for journalists in the English-speaking West African countries, which started in Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone and The Gambia.
Signed
Caroline Anipah
Deputy Director
Fact-checking, Verification and Media Literacy Practice
DUBAWA/CJID
