FactCheckAfrica Trains Over 80 Campus and Freelance Journalists in Ibadan

By Dauda Musbau

In a bid to counter fake news and promote media literacy, FactCheckAfrica trained campus and freelance journalists. The workshop which took place at the Mahogany Hotel and Suites in Ibadan had in attendance over 80 campus journalists across the Southwest and North Central region.

In her welcome address, Nurah Jimoh, the Executive Director of the Brain Builders Youth Development Initiative (BBYDI) highlighted the importance of equipping campus journalists with tools to combat fake news.

“We understand the formidable challenge faced in combating information pollution. We want to equip participants with the weapons needed. We are driving towards a future where fact triumphs over fiction,” Nurah emphasized.

The workshop also witnessed the launching of Myaifactchecker, an Artificial Intelligence civic-tech tool for quicker and easier verification of fake news, this session was anchored by Lukman Adeoti, a BBYDI researcher.

“Myaifactchecker will quickly help you fact-check any claim in your preferred and provide basic insights into your research,” Lukman said.

Lauding Myaifactchecker Fact-checking Tool…

Biliaminu Manne, an editor with ObserverMag noted, “The launch of the myAIfactchecker is indeed a massive development that I didn’t dream about. I was amazed about its features and how someone can operate it to find his way without much effort.”

He believed that “As a practicing journalist, the tool will serve as my number one FactChecking tool before advancing and moving forward to other tools and OSINT tools, to strictly detect if certainly what I got from myAIfactchecker is the fact of what I’m verifying.”

Also, a campus journalist from the University of Ibadan, Musbau Sulaimon said he learnt the methodology involved in fact-checking and the various digital tools that can be used to determine the authenticity of public content.

“I only know the meaning of the word fact-check but I haven’t practicalised it before. However this workshop has equipped me with the knowledge needed to verify claims,” Sulaimon added.

While speaking with this reporter, Fatimoh Iderah, a campus journalist at Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, Ondo State. She thanked the organizer for bringing up a brain-boosters workshop to help the campus journalist to be more creative.

“I am so elated to attend this training because it is an eye-opening workshop.”

“What I love most about this training was the fun game, the ability to create something faster to work for you as a reporter. All thanks to FactCheckAfrica for bringing this up,” Fatimoh concluded.

At the end of the events, FactCheckAfrica awarded the trainees with certificates of participation.