BY: Eniola Amadu
Nigeria is entering another season of political mobilization as citizens and political actors gear up for the 2027 general elections. Since the inception of campaigns, Nigerians have publicly come out to declare their unwavering support for the candidates of their choice across social media platforms.
However, in the midst of the political enthusiasm and optimism expressed by supporters lies a growing pattern of information disorder: the manipulation of newspaper front pages to fabricate or distort headlines and reports, which can mislead the public and influence perceptions of political candidates.
This has been met with the rise of unreal news companies like “The Daily Tribune” which was debunked with the Nigerian Tribune publishing a report on how readers can identify its authentic publication.
In the same pattern, manipulated images of newspaper front pages have resurfaced on social media again.
What is a manipulated newspaper front page?
A manipulated newspaper front page is an altered image of a known credible news media company to pass across untrue information for selfish benefits or political gains and propaganda given the season of election that the country is at the moment.
The manipulation may involve changing the headline, photograph, date, news reports amongst other elements to make it more credible and believable.
A recent example?
Claim:
A user on X, identified as @Onsogbu, has shared images on his page attaching claims to the Presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress. The purported image carries the name of “The Daily Times” and “Leadership” newspapers.
Verdict:
False. The purported images as shown are fabricated.
Full Text:
A user on X has shared purported images of newspaper front page on his page claiming that the Presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress Peter Obi plans to visit “Guru Maharaj temple on 26th September”.
The identified user named @Onsogbu in another image as revealed below, under the name “The Daily Times”, Peter Obi claims that he cannot “fix power in four years” further alleging that he will “import generators and distribute to every household.”
Image of the purported claim
Verification:
FactCheckAfrica checked on the official page of the Leadership and The Daily Times newspaper and discovered that the newspaper front pages do not align.
Further checks comparing the circulating images with the newspapers’ authentic editions revealed discrepancies, confirming that the purported front pages had been manipulated
Image of the verified newspaper front pages of the selected dates from the manipulated newspaper front pages
To confirm the alleged claims contained in the purported image, FactCheckAfrica checked the verified X media page of Peter Obi and found he made no statement on visiting Guru Maharaj as claimed. Also, there was no credible news report available to confirm Peter Obi revealed such a plan.
Additionally, as against the claim contained in the Daily Times of Peter Obi at NDC town hall meeting in Kaduna, FactCheckAfrica confirms there was indeed a town hall meeting around the date indicated on the purported front page. However, there is no available news report to confirm Obi said he could not fix power in four years or that he would import generators for every household.
Also, his social media handles contain no evidence to confirm the claim came from him.
Further check using truth scan to analyze the images reveals a high percentage of the image being AI generated.
Screenshot of the result from truthscan as obtained by FactCheckAfrica
How to spot a manipulated newspaper front page?
The report as contained above reveals how a manipulated newspaper front page can be spotted. However, a proper step is as follows:
- Check the newspaper’s official platform: When an image of a newspaper front page pops up, and seems unbelievable. The first approach to confirm the authenticity of it is to visit the news webpage and social media accounts of the media company contained in the circulated image. Additionally, it is important to check out and compare the typography, font, and logo used. If it does not align, it is a cue to probe further the authenticity of the circulating image.
- Check the date and edition: When the verified news website has been identified, the next move is to check the date and edition of the publication to confirm if the circulating newspaper front page image corresponds with the newspaper’s actual edition.
- Compare the headline: If the headline on the circulating image cannot be found on the newspaper’s official edition, that is also a major warning sign that the image might be fabricated.
- Search for the story: Every story contained on a newspaper front page will be available on the newspaper website. Therefore, if a keyword search is conducted picking headlines from the purported image on the website of the news media used, and not found, it is also a sign to check.
- Verify the attributed statement: If a news statement is attributed to an important personality, the netizen should check out the verified accounts associated with the personality to confirm if the statement was actually made.
- AI detection tools for verification: AI tools can be used to further verify the image’s authenticity. Tools like Truthscan, hive detect, can be used for such verification.
Conclusion:
The image in circulation is a fabricated and false newspaper front page of the leadership and daily times newspaper used to pass across unverified information. Ultimately, readers should verify the publication through multiple sources before believing or sharing it.
