By Nelson Manneh
The Media Academy for Journalism and Communication (MAJaC), with support from UNESCO and the UN Peacebuilding Fund, has launched a three-day international fact-checking training for journalists from The Gambia and Guinea-Bissau.
The training, which began on Monday in Banjul, aims to strengthen media accountability and counter misinformation ahead of crucial elections in both countries. Thirty journalists are participating in the programme, led by an international fact-checking expert.
James Badjie, Director of Training at MAJaC, said the initiative is part of a broader nine-month project titled “Empowering Journalists and Community Radios Through Effective Fact-Checking Training”.
“This project is a bold step towards equipping journalists and community media outlets with the tools needed to tackle the growing tide of misinformation threatening our democracies,” he said.
Mr Badjie noted that the training focuses on advanced fact-checking techniques, digital verification tools, and strategies to counter foreign interference and AI-driven disinformation. He added that the project also includes a reporting grant to support journalists in producing fact-checking stories, with translations into local languages to broaden their reach.
Modou S. Joof, Secretary General of the Gambia Press Union (GPU), described the training as timely and important in the fight against information disorder amid ongoing democratic challenges.
Mr Joof recalled that the GPU, in collaboration with UNESCO Dakar, trained 25 journalists on fact-checking in 2021 ahead of The Gambia’s presidential election. This initiative led to the establishment of Fact-Check Gambia, the country’s first independent fact-checking platform.
“We also developed a code of conduct for journalists and established the Media Council of The Gambia as an independent self-regulatory mechanism,” Mr Joof said.
He stressed that fact-checking is now a vital tool for promoting democracy and safeguarding the integrity of information, especially as misinformation and disinformation have become increasingly normalized by political and social actors.
The fact-checking training continues until Wednesday.
