Editors must help fight fake news – Peter Burdin

The BBC’s former Africa Bureau chief, Peter Burdin, has advised editors to help fight fake news and encourage reporters to have ample time to create genuine stories.

He said this at a journalism symposium to mark the 190th anniversary of the University of Central Lancashire (UCLAN), under the theme “How can journalism make it right in the era of fake news?” Thursday at the Movenpick hotel in Accra.

The former BBC journalist disclosed that many journalists would want to be the first in publishing stories, in the course of which they publish fake stories to the public. He said that accuracy should match with a genuine story because it is what matters.

Peter Burdin further said journalists should have the confidence to be able to determine when a story is fake before publishing them.

The symposium was attended by media schools and invited panellists who helped in lecturing about fake stories.

Some of these panellists include George Ogola, a senior lecturer in Journalism at the University of Central Lancashire(UCLAN); Emmanuel Dogbevi, managing editor of the Ghana Business News, Francis Kokutse-Journalist among others.

George Ogola also emphasized the source of stories needs to be cross-checked thoroughly before publishing them just as Peter Burdin.