At Isuwa’s e-book launch, Bishop Onuoha duties media on fact-checking forward 2027 elections

The Nigerian media should strengthen fact-checking, safeguard editorial independence and fight misinformation to guard the credibility of the 2027 normal elections, audio system on the launch of a e-book by the Group News Editor of LEADERSHIP Newspapers, Dr. Sunday Isuwa, have stated.

The e-book, Digital Shift in Nigeria’s Newspaper Industry, launched Thursday on the Nigeria Army Resource Center, Abuja, attracted media practitioners and distinguished Nigerians.

Archbishop Onuoha, who delivered a paper on the function of the media within the 2027 elections, and a authorized practitioner, Gloria Balason, acknowledged the necessity for journalists to maneuver past reporting political actions to offering verified data, and holding political actors accountable.

The duo spoke towards the backdrop of rising considerations over misinformation attributable to synthetic intelligence (AI)-generated content material, vote shopping for, voter apathy and the rising affect of social media on Nigeria’s electoral course of.

Onuoha described the altering data surroundings as a serious problem for journalists, including that platforms corresponding to Facebook, YouTube, X and TikTok have accelerated data dissemination whereas making verification more and more tough.

He recognized misinformation, disinformation and misinformation as main threats to electoral credibility, including that they contain the unintentional unfold of false data, deliberate deception and the weaponisation of real data to trigger hurt.

In her presentation, Balason stated technological investments in Nigeria’s electoral course of had not adequately addressed persistent issues affecting election credibility.

She cited low voter participation, vote shopping for, intimidation, discrepancies in election figures and alleged breaches of electoral legal guidelines by political events as challenges requiring pressing consideration.

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