The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has called on the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) to embark on public enlightenment about citizen journalism as a way of making them know the harm of sharing fake and unverified news on the social media.
Director General of NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa made the call on Monday at a symposium organized by the Jigawa State Council of the NUJ.
Citizen journalism J is conducted by people who are not professional journalists but who disseminate information using websites, blogs, and social media. Citizen journalism has expanded its worldwide influence despite continuing concerns over whether citizen journalists are as reliable as trained professionals.
Advertisement
In a series of tweets on its verified handle at @NITDANigeria, Inuwa in a paper titled “Impact of ICT in Changing the Trends of Journalism in Developing Countries,” noted that the proliferation of the internet, smartphones and other digital technologies has brought significant changes to journalism and the media landscape since the turn of the 21st century.
He said: “I urge the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) to take responsibility of enlightening people about citizen journalism, so that everybody will know the harm of sharing fake and unverified news on their social media
“It is without doubt that in both developed and developing world, the proliferation of the internet, smartphones, and other digital technologies has brought significant changes to journalism and the media landscape since the turn of the 21st century.”