In commemoration of this year’s World News Day, journalists and others involved in sharing information on various platforms have been urged to ensure factual reporting to earn the trust of their audience.
The call was made on September 28 during X Space organised by Media Career Development Network (MCDN) to mark the Day on the topic “Journalism: Why Truth Matters” moderated by Kehinde Heritage of Mass Communication Department, University of Lagos.
The World News Day celebration is a global initiative of the World Editors Forum and the Canadian Journalism Foundation CJF with the theme for the year 2024 celebration -“Choose Truth”
The Executive Director of MCDN, Mr Lekan Otufodunrin was the keynote speaker with student journalists on internship as panelists.
Otufodunrin, in his keynote address, said journalists should always ensure the accuracy of their reports in accordance with the code of ethics of the profession.
“Truth should be the cornerstone of everything we do, be it online, broadcast or in the print media. Fact-based Journalism ensures we don’t mislead the people, and when in doubt, you leave out,” he stated,
According to him, the role of journalists in informing, educating, and entertaining the public should be fact-based information verified to avoid misleading their audience.
While noting that many media organisations are no longer as reliable sources of verifiable information as they used to be, Otufodunrin advises media audiences to know the kind of media platforms follow.
“When you realize that a story is too good to be true, you need to check, cross-check and double-check from more reliable platforms,” he said.
Veteran journalist and media scholar, Dr Richard Ikiebe lamented that most of the platforms guilty of sharing false information are run by untrained journalists who don’t appreciate the need to avoid publishing falsehoods.
“It doesn’t take much time to verify, but laziness won’t let some take a few minutes apart to ascertain the truth in contents from unguided influencers,” Ikiebe an adjunct lecturer at the Pan Atlantic University stated.
Mr Adesola Ikulajolu of BBC warned journalists about the danger of using information without verification and also called for self-verification.
“Truth is sacred in Journalism but self confirmation is important. Confirm for yourself by questioning whatever information. Even if such is being shared by a friend, that doesn’t guarantee if the information will be truthful,” he said.
He said professional Journalists should endure the pain of going to any length to source credible information.
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“The reason why Journalists risk their lives to get to the root of a matter is all summed up in the biblical allusion that says- buy the truth and sell it not, meaning that truth comes with a cost.
“You need to forget about the cloud chasers by looking for the truth and telling it the way it is. Fact-checking is an arm of Journalism that will unravel and equip you with tools to detect misinformation.
“Truth Matters and if you want Journalism to thrive in Nigeria, then we must strive to get truthful sources and receivers” he stated.
Vice President and Editor of Olabisi Onabanjo University Mirror, Olamide Ayoade said the truth is the accuracy of a situation, without adding your opinion or allowing your biases.
“It’s essential for the press to be truthful to enable the public to make informed decisions, promote democracy and combat misinformation,” he said.
Jadesola Abolaji of Covenant University also advised Journalists to discharge their roles as professionals differently from bloggers, content creators and social media influencers.
“Journalism is a profession that follows the ethical principle of fairness, objectivity and accuracy, and this distinguishing feature sets journalist apart in their practice”
President of the Association of Campus Journalists, Lagos State University of Science and Technology, Habeeb Ibrahim highlighted the need for truth in Journalism.
“Every Journalist must ascertain the truth in every report, separate reality from fiction by using the ethical principle of objectivity, accuracy, balance and fairness,” he said
According to him, truth is the cornerstone of journalism and without truth in Journalism, Journalism will be a tool for chaos in society”.
Abosede Balogun of Abraham Adesanya Polytechnic, (AAPOLY) also said truth matters in journalism since journalists are trained to ascertained the truth of every information for publication or broadcast.
The Project Manager for Media Career Development Network, Mr Dayo Emmanuel shared his experience on how he was contacted and asked to publish a one-sided report and he declined.
” I knew right from the headline that the report was not balanced. I told them to do the needful, by balancing the story, but they declined and never reached out to me,” he recalled.
He advised Journalists to abide by the ethics of the profession, noting that there is no profession without ethics.
“Banking and medical ethics forbids you to reveal the account details or health records of a client or customer. Likewise, it’s essential to be guided by the code of ethics for journalists which is against publishing falsehood,” he said.
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