Idris Kamal Ibrahim, a journalist with WikkiTimes, an online investigative and data journalism outlet, has been selected for the 2024 Kwame Karikari Fact-Checking Fellowship.
Idris joined about 40 journalists drawn from five West African countries – Nigeria, Ghana, The Gambia, Liberia and Sierra Leone – to combat misinformation to strengthen the democratic institution for accountability, transparency and good governance in the sub-region.
However, of the 40 journalists selected for the 2024 cohort, about 10 journalists were selected for the indigenous language arm, where they will be producing fact-checking in local indigenous languages.
The six-month Fellowship which was named after the famous Ghanaian Professor of Journalism and Mass Communication and press freedom advocate, Kwame Karikari was designed to improve the capacity of journalists and newsrooms in the Anglophone axis of West Africa to inculcate the art and culture of fact-checking and build knowledge around the phenomenon.
Similarly, the Kwame Karikari Fellowship is supported by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).
Speaking at the virtual induction and training designed for the fellows on Monday, Mr Dapo Olorunyomi, the Chief Executive Officer of the Centre For Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) said the fellowship was designed to support journalists and newsrooms to gain a deeper understanding of the disinformation ecosystem, saying, “journalism is central to the project of democracy.”
He said journalists have critical roles to play in a democratic setting through their watchdog role which holds power to account in defence of the interest of the society.
WkkiTimes reports that the training will last for four days from 26th to 29th February 2024.
