Winneba: Media Practitioners and Journalists have been admonished to remember that advocating for freedom of speech and of the press comes with the responsibility of upholding high ethical standards in their reportage. Prof Albert Agbesi Womyo, the Dean of the School of Communication and Media Studies (SCMS) at the University of Education, Winneba (UEW), made the call at a day's training workshop for selected media practitioners and journalists in the Central Region.
According to Ghana News Agency, the workshop was themed 'Tackling Information Disorders, AI-Driven Fake News and Ethical Journalism Through Media and Information Literacy Skills.' Prof Womyo emphasized the importance of training media practitioners to uphold truth, responsibility, and creativity in the era of social media and AI.
The workshop was organized by SCMS' Communication Education Research and Professional Development in collaboration with Penplusbytes, a non-profit organization that leverages technology, media, and innovation to promote transparency, accountability, good governance, and active civic participation across Africa. The event brought together media practitioners and journalists from the region who interacted and shared ideas on improving their profession.
Prof Womyo highlighted the issues of misinformation, disinformation, and fake news, stressing the need for media professionals to address these challenges to maintain a sanitized information highway. He urged practitioners to be mindful of the impact their messages have on individuals, communities, and journalism practice, advocating for professional and ethical conduct in their work.
Professor Gifty Appiah-Adjei, Head of the Department of SCMS at UEW, educated participants on understanding information disorder and ethical journalism using media and information literacy. She explained the challenges posed by information overload brought about by the internet and technology, resulting in information disorder.
Prof Appiah-Adjei noted that the ease with which content can be created and shared has led to a proliferation of information, often by those without journalism training. She expressed concern over the role of AI technology in generating content and images quickly, urging media practitioners to verify and cross-check information before dissemination to avoid spreading false information.
She explained that information overload includes true, fake, disinformation, misinformation, and malign information, leading to pollution of the information ecosystem. Society, therefore, struggles to verify the truthfulness of online information.
Prof Appiah-Adjei emphasized the need for caution in dealing with information, as AI facilitates the creation of deep fakes, making it difficult to distinguish real from fake and posing a threat to ethical journalism. She advised media practitioners and journalists to thoroughly verify information gathered from the internet or any other sources before public dissemination.
Mr. Emmanuel Koranteng Asomani, Programme Manager, and Ms. Rebecca Avusu, Project Coordinator of Penplusbytes, also instructed participants on countering information disorder using practical tools and data. They encouraged adherence to ethics and professional rules to protect the country's democratic growth.