A head of 2023 general elections, The Network of peace journalists in Nigeria working under interfaith mediation center (IMC) and mercy Corp international has pointed out that over 1000 journalists that received the monthly peace journalism training for the fast 3 years are online and are going to play an important role towards the conduct of peaceful 2023 general elections .
The Team leader of the Network in Nigeria ibrahima yakubu in a statement made available to the press on Friday 7th October at the press center,
He says all the journalists in the north western Nigeria that has received the monthly training for the period of 3 years are online and are going to be internet connected .
Adding that they are going to used all the social media networks towards dessiminating credible information to the general public as the election approaches.
He says,in this era of the proliferation of technology, it becoming even easier to counter fake news on social media and internet through fact-finding and consulting other stake holder's such as INEC etc on issues related to the conduct of the election.
According to him, all the journalists that were trained in kaduna ,plateau, zamfara, benue, Kano, etc would play a significant role which is toward preventing electoral violence and misinformation ,and the vital role editors and reporters with presenters and announcers would equally which is towards curbing electoral violence before, during and after the general election.
The monthly peace journalism training organise by Mercy Corp and interfaith mediation center in Nigeria has transformed many journalists to peace ambassadors through their writing skills
He note that, The media plays a bigger role during elections because, firstly, the broadcast information on elections around the nation. Without the media, only truly dedicated voters would make an effort to pay attention to politics.
The media also plays many role allowing the public to get a better idea of the candidates and what they are made of.
Additionally, Media plays an important role in a democracy. It provides news and discusses events taking place in the country and the world. It is on the basis of this information that we learn how the government works. Media also criticises the unpopular policies and programmes that the government takes.
Furthermore, he calls on Nigerian union of journalists and press council of Nigeria,National broadcasting commission NBC, community peace observers, with states and federal government to joined hands toward fighting fake news on social media and internet
The media has a unique role to play towards educating and raising awareness to the general public on various ways to tackle fake news around electoral processes, malpractices, electoral violence and even fake election results.
He then thanks mercy Corp international and interfaith mediation center for training over 1000 Nigerian journalists on Peace journalism for the period of 3 years.
He ended by saying these organizations has transformed journalism in Nigeria while calling on other international organization to support journalists with Reporting kits before, during and after the general election
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