Choose accuracy over speed - GJA cautions journalists on fake news

President of the Ghana Journalists Association, Roland Affail Monney has asked journalists to prioritize accuracy over speed to prevent the incidence of publishing fake news for the public’s consumption.

He gave this caution on the maiden edition of e. TV Ghana’s ‘Fact Sheet’ show with Samuel Eshun.

Sharing his views on the topic ‘Fact-checking: The Political Rhetoric, he said: “One causal factor of the spread of fake news is competition. In the rush to be the first in the news and create traffic on your portal, you tend to rush in the news but there is an ethical injunction. When you put speed and accuracy on the same scale, accuracy should come before speed”.

He positioned that even though fake news mostly characterizes news on social media, traditional media can be affected as most of the news angles for traditional media are derived from social media.

Affail Monney advised journalists to “check and crosscheck” their stories before they publish. He furthered that while we cannot achieve perfection, it is important that media persons stick to the principles.

Penplusbytes.com states, “Based on the survey of 154 newsrooms nationwide, a major finding of the study points to the fact that the Ghanaian media landscape does not have systems, budget and trained personnel dedicated to combating the menace of fake news.

Another revealing finding is that fake news is mostly manifested as fabricated content and false headline without connection to the content.

Overall, the results of the study show that fake news is a growing problem in Ghana”.