Google Nigeria on Wednesday 8th of May, 2019 gathered Journalists, media influencers and social media users for training on the use of various Google tools designed to detect fake news, get accurate fact and getting right information online. The event which took place at Ozone Park, Lagos has in attendance over 150 Journalists from various media houses.
With the rise in fake news activities around the world which has become a global problem, Google has designed various tools to curb the menace and supporting a Digital Journalism.
Speaking during event, the Communications & Public Affairs Manager, West Africa, Google, Mr Taiwo Kola Ogunlade said the rate of spread of fake news is becoming to rampant and it causing lots of confusion around the world hence the initiative to train media practitioners and media users on the use of various tools provided by Google to curb the spread and this is in Google’s commitment to train one million African youth within a year, to help them create and find jobs via the web which started in 2016.
In his words “With the Digital Journalism Initiative, we want to contribute to the growth of Nigeria’s news and media ecosystem… we are having our training for media people to help them improve their trade and ensure they utilise these Google tools to push out verifiable stories.
“Today is not about certificate, not about ensuring that people have a lovely space, today is about ensuring that the stories that are coming out are those that are well informed.
“There is a lot of misinformation in the country and so Google needs to ensure that the stories pushed out by media houses can be verified.”
He urged media personnel to be cautious as government was thinking about legislation to ensure that misinformation and fake news were curbed.
He said due to the work schedule of media personnel and the tendency for them to push out stories fast, the internet was a veritable tool for them to use in verifying their stories for facts.
He said: “If you are a media person, you need to write stories and push it out with data and this goes through processes, which should be verified.
“So to achieve the right stories that will be meaningful to your public is the main purpose of the training of the media people.
“Knowing these tools will also serve as a form of revenue generation for the media houses as it will pull traffic on their websites due to people seeking accurate stories.
“Today is also about bringing the media people into our world to perfect their work because when they succeed, Google and even the public will succeed.”
Also speaking at the gathering, the Editor of Africa Check, David Ajikobi said we live in post trust era where there are lots of misinformation and disinformation that people deliberately engage in to make money just by clicks while misleading the people. In his words “fake news is completely fictional, deliberate and intended to generate profit”
He encouraged people to stop and verify news before they share and doubt anything they see on social media.
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