Capitalise on ICT tools for accurate fact-checking, Journalists advised

Mr Abdul-Majeed Yakubu, the Northern Regional Chairman of the Ghana Journalist Association (GJA) has advised journalists to take advantage of Information Communication Technology (ICT) tools such as smartphones for accurate fact-checking on data and figures received from sources.

“Evidence-based reporting will help give credibility to our works as journalists, hence we should begin to take data and research seriously because they are necessary for executing our duties”, he said.

Mr Yakubu gave the advice when he was addressing journalists at a training workshop for media practitioners on population issues in Tamale. designed to equip them with skills and knowledge to produce facts and evidence-based reports.

The three-day programme was organised by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) with funding support from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

The about 40 participants were drawn from media houses, focal persons of UNFPA across the Bono and Bono East, Upper East, West, North East and Northern Regions.

Mr Yakubu stated, despite the many challenges, some media practitioners had managed to fly high by producing quality and excellent reports.

He therefore, indicated for the fraternity to tap the full benefits of media proliferation, there was an urgent need for practitioners to take the needed steps to better the condition of service for Journalists.

Mr. Yakubu thus suggested conscious efforts must be made to assist in resourcing journalists with modern and needed working materials, equipment and capacity-building programmes to reposition them in their work.

Giving a presentation on Concepts and Definitions of Population Statistics, Mr Emmanuel George Ossei, the Head of the Regional Offices Directorate at the GSS said the study and concepts of statistics were crucial for data analysis and interpretation, decision-making, research design, policy evaluation, resource allocation and understanding social phenomena.

He therefore encouraged the participants to understand the terminologies and definitions of population concepts to enable them to report accurately and efficiently on data and population issues.