Citi FM/Citi TV’s Jonas Nyabor was last Friday honoured with an award in Abuja, Nigeria in recognition of his fact-checking report produced as part of the 2020 Dubawa Fact-checking fellowship.
He was amongst six fellows from Nigeria, Ghana and Sierra Leone who were recognized at an awards dinner to climax the 6 month-long fellowship.
The fact-checking fellowship which ran from August 2020 to January 2021 was aimed at tackling misinformation and disinformation primarily within the Ghanaian society and contributing research on the information ecosystem in the country.
Having emerged as the first runner-up in the Best fact-check award category, jointly with Nigeria’s Daily Trust reporter, Francis Iloani, he recieved a plaque, certificate and cash prize.
Citi FM/TV’s Jonas Nyabor’s award-winning article was, ‘False! The Akufo-Addo government has not sent Ghana into HIPC while that of Francis Iloani’s was, “Israel’s currency has Arabic inscription…Nigeria is not a secular state…” – Other claims by MURIC fact-checked”.
In the last six months ending January 2021, Ghana’s Jonas Nyabor produced 33 fact-checks and media literacy articles published on citinewsroom.com.
Other awardees
Kunle Adebajo, of Humangle with his report titled “Analysis: An Assessment of the Claims On ‘Christian Genocide’ In Nigeria” tied with Vivian Chime’s entry, “God is Allah in Arabic bible…a christian introduced Arabic to Naira notes…” – Are these claims by MURIC true?” to become the fourth best fact-check.
Sierra Leonean fellow, Alie Tarawally, won the best fact check award for his story ‘COVID-19 vaccine does not lead to penis enlargement.’
The best research article award was presented to Raji Rasaki for his analysis on the ‘Impact of Fact-Checking Training on the Nigerian Journalists to mitigate the spread of misinformation and disinformation.”
Francis Iloani was also adjudged the Best Fellow.
Organizers
PREMIUM TIMES publisher, Dapo Olorunyomi said the fellowship was inspired by the need to tackle the menace of misinformation and disinformation in Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone and beyond.
He added that it is the mandate of the programme to make fact-checking a commonplace in the media space.
On her part, Programme manager at the Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism (PTCIJ), Tosin Alagbe, expressed appreciation to all fellows for their contributions and urged them to continue to be ambassadors for fact-checking.
“We are here to celebrate our second cohort of fellows whom we are incredibly proud of for their role in instituting the culture of fact-checking in their various newsrooms and producing media literacy and research work to enrich the existing body of knowledge about misinformation and disinformation in the region,” she said.
Caroline Anipah, the programme officer, Dubawa Ghana, described the 2020 fellowship, which was the maiden edition in Ghana, as timely, exciting and productive.
“The 2020 Dubawa fellowship which happens to be the maiden edition in Ghana, has been very exciting, productive and largely successful. In Ghana, it came at a time when the country was preparing for a historical and highly competitive election – one between a sitting and former president – and expected to be characterised by misinformation and disinformation. With the effort and contribution of our fellows, Dubawa was able to meet the ‘fake news’ which circulated head-on.”
Dubawa Fellowship
The fact-checking fellowship which ran from August 2020 to January 2021 was aimed at tackling ‘fake news’ primarily within the Ghanaian society while contributing research on the misinformation ecosystem in the country.
It featured about 26 fellows from the three countries.
Other Ghanaian journalists on the fellowship were GhanaWeb’s Mawuli Ahorlumegah, Business & Financial Times’ Yahaya Mashud and Philip Acquaye of BlueCrest University College.
The 2020 Dubawa fellowship was sponsored by Henrich Boell Stifung Foundation and National Endowment for Democracy.