Students of the AUN Communication and Multimedia Design (CMD) department recently participated in a capacity-building workshop on "Countering Misinformation and Promoting Media Literacy in Nigeria."
The training, which featured fact-checking practices and methodology, understanding disinformation and influence operations, social media monitoring and analysis, and video verification, was held at the Professor Idorenyin Akpan Multimedia Design Lab in the e-library from October 1 to 2, 2023.
Chair of the AUN CMD program, Professor Joseph Sule Rishante, explained that the workshop was sponsored by the German embassy in Nigeria and facilitated by the International Centre for Investigating Reporting (ICIR), Abuja.
The objective, Professor Rishante said, is to educate, sensitize, and build capacity for Nigerian tertiary institutions' students to counter misinformation.
"It is of great importance to have such a workshop for our CMD students at this time when public office holders, and especially politicians, commit various corrupt practices through misinformation. He stressed the need to properly equip students who would soon be media professionals in various fields of journalism to filter truth from propaganda. Hence, I was delighted when we received the proposals from ICIR for this workshop," he stated.
Assistant professor of Communication and Multimedia Design, Dr. Charles Ngusha Nyyongu, commended the ICIR for embarking on a nationwide campaign to promote fact-checking and appreciated that AUN is one of the selected institutions.
"I commend the efforts of the International Centre for Investigative Reporting for finding the students of the American University of Nigeria, particularly the CMD students, worthy to receive training on how to counter misconception in the digital age," which is a vital tool for journalism practice in Nigeria and the world over. We also look forward to more to enable the student-journalists to cope with the daily challenges confronting their routine because it stands for what AUN represents - Integrity, service, and excellence," he stated.
Reported by John Abah