TheCable, Nigeria’s independent online newspaper, and 15 other media platforms have agreed to collaboratively fight misinformation, particularly fake news, in the country.
The media practitioners will fact-check misinformation on CrossCheck Nigeria, a platform launched on Wednesday.
The platform, which is a result of efforts between First Draft and the International Centre for Investigative Reporting, will ask Nigerians to send rumours to a Whatsapp account, reply back with correct information and encourage the people who originally sent it to share it with their groups.
Pedro Noel, an AFP reporter who is part of the Comprova project in Brazil, was part of the facilitators who helped train representatives from participating media houses.
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“I wasn’t expecting as much misinformation in Nigeria as it compares to Brazil. But we actually had more work here,” he said.
Speaking on the project, Jenni Sargent, First Draft’s managing director, said the website will use research-based methods to fight misinformation and disinformation emanating from the social web.
“Our CrossCheck projects are designed to help the public understand not only what to trust, but also why,” she said.
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“Followers of the CrossCheck Nigeria project will be shown the fact-checking and verification steps behind each report, and will also see the logos of all partner newsrooms that have taken part in each investigation.”
Apart from TheCable, other participant newsrooms are Premium Times, Daily Trust, The Punch, The Guardian, News Agency of Nigeria, Sahara Reporters, Agence France-Presse (AFP), The Nation, Tribune, ThisDay, Africa Check, The Sun, Channels Television, Freedom Radio, First Draft, Connected Development, The University of Lagos’ Department of Mass Communication, and The International Center for Investigative Reporting.
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