The Nigerian Press Council has organized a two day workshop for journalists in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital. The workshop which was organized for journalists drawn from various media offices across the six states of the South west geopolitical zone of the country, was held from , March 28th- 29th , 2019, at the International Conference Centre of the University of Ibadan, Oyo State , and facilitated by Fanfare Resource Limited.
According to the organizers, the Workshop was aimed at sensitizing journalists on sanctity of their mandate and to enhance the professional standard of the Nigerian press. The event was declared opened by the Chairman, Nigeria Union of Journalist (NUJ) Oyo State Council, Mr. Adewunmi Faniran, who, in his remarks, said “The effect of fake news cannot be over emphasized in our nation from its inability to impact governance”, emphasizing that fake news can influence corporate reputation as well as heating up the polity.
The workshop was delivered with aid of sub themes like Embracing fake news versus Editorial Integrity, Combating ethical and investigative journalism;” Impact of fake news on 2019 general elections and, fake news and its consequences on National Unity.
While addressing the issues, Mr. Sola Imoru, Media Adviser to the Osun State governor on speech writing, quoted the Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed that “fake news is not just a threat to the peace and security of a nation but a threat to the existence of the media itself.”
He said that there is no one who can reasonably remove integrity from business of journalism.
Meanwhile, other speakers at the workshop also spoke in line with the theme and insisted that journalist must sit up and sit tight to tackle the menace that has beclouded the nation.
All the speakers at the occasion proffered that the solution remained keeping News as sacred as it should be, while they urged that news dissemination should be guided by the principles of fairness, objectivity, balance, accuracy, truthfulness, impartiality and public accountability.
Omolara Esan (Mrs.),
Deputy Director of Information
Ibadan Centre.
