By Yunus S Saliu
Dubawa, a transnational verification and fact-checking project initiated by the Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism (PTCIJ) Monday kicked-start a three-day fact-checking training program for Gambian journalists.
The underway fact-checking training taking place in Kairaba Beach Hotel with the theme: Stemming the Spread of Misinformation to Advance Good Governance and Democracy in The Gambia has brought together over a dozen of journalists and it ‘aims to counter the upsurge of misinformation and disinformation, commonly called ‘fake news’, by influential persons, groups and organisations across the West African region.’
Dubawa, an Hausa word that means ‘to check,’ is Nigeria’s foremost independent transparent fact-checking platform initiated by the Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism (PTCIJ) in 2018 and it operates in Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia and now in the first time in The Gambia. Dubuwa aims to institute a culture of truth and verification in public discourse and journalism through strategic partnerships between the media, government, civil society organizations technology plants and the public. In addition, Dubawa is a fact-checking and verification platform that PTCIJ has promoted for over three years.
In his opening remarks, Lamin Jahateh, Program Director of Gambia Press Union (GPU) saluted and thanked Dubawa for choosing The Gambia as one of the beneficial countries and venue to host the training for Gambian journalists.
He disclosed the importance of the training to journalists while saying “it is most crucial because The Gambia is approaching election period (December 4 presidential election.)”
The GPU Program Director noted that “election period is one of the fatal times for spreading of fake news – misinformation and sometimes malinformation, but through training like this (of Dubawa) we can make sure that we put a check and do some fact-checking of information coming-in and going-out from us, journalists, to the people.”
While noting that fact-checking is a collaborative work among journalists and people outside the media fraternity, he reiterated that the training is an opportunity for participating journalists as it will equip them with necessary information on how to fact-checking any doubting information.
Dapo Olorunyomi, Executive Director, PTCIJ thanked the Gambia Press Union for hospitality and warm reception accorded the Dubawa team in The Gambia.
He gave some reflective scenarios and situations within West African countries as regarding fake news. Therefore, there is “need to narrow the gap as West Africans. There is a history that binds us, we should be able to share common problems and solutions, which indeed today the kinds of problems that we face are those problems of trans-border, not problems of one country. And there solutions cannot be based on reality to one country,” he disclosed.
Dilating on the problem confronting media houses, he explained that at the political level, before crisis of democracy is not a problem of The Gambia alone or Liberia, Sierra Leone, Senegal but, becoming, more of a regional problem. If you trip it down a little bit, he said The Gambia is not different, the problem of our institution, the media, is also a problem that needs a collective reflection, a collective action of how we should solve these problems.”
So, “Fact-checking for us is not necessarily something a standalone practice. Of course, it is a fundamental part of what we understand to be as fact-checking journalism because it is a practice that is supposed to be standing by the facts.”
Oluwatosin Alagbe, Programme Director, PTCIJ gave a full background of Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism (PTCIJ) and as well dilated on its activities, while Madi Jobarteh, human rights activist, John Njie, Chairman Tango, and Alieu Saidina Ceesay of Actionaid International – The Gambia among others gave goodwill messages at the opening of the training.
About PTCIJ in Brief
Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism (PTCIJ) is a media and innovation organisation founded to promote an independent media landscape in West Africa through investigative journalism, fact-checking, open data and civic technology. It was founded in 2014.
PTCIJ is an off-shoot of the Premium Times online newspaper, a leading and well-known news provider in Nigeria today. Investigations and special reports published by Premium Times have exposed corruption in government and instigated policy reforms in Nigeria. Over the years, PTCIJ has set up different programmes and projects to achieve its vision of an independent media landscape. One of PTCIJ’s projects is UDEME, a social accountability project designed to hold the government accountable for how funds released for capital, constituency and ecological projects are spent. UDEME tracks these projects and writes investigative reports about the successes and/or failures of these projects.
PTCIJ Media Freedom project has the team working on various dimensions of the safety of journalists (digital, physical and psychosocial safety), media sustainability and its most recent and ongoing research on the freedom of information act or right to information mechanism in West African countries.