Dare Akogun, 25 others make 2021 Dubawa West-Africa fact-checkers fellowship list 

By Ibrahim Sheriff (Gold)

West Africa’s verification and fact-checking platform, Dubawa, has inducted twenty-six fellows into its 2021 cohort of fact-checkers to combat misinformation in the sub-region.

The platform, under the aegis of the Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism commenced today virtually with Twenty-six successful applicants, drawn from over 200 applications in The Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, with Sobi FMs Dare Akogun among the fellows.

Dubawa programme manager, Adedeji Adekunle, said the fellows will undergo training that will equip them in combating the widespread regime of misinformation in the West African sub-region.

He said Participants at the course will learn about the accountability journalism ecosystem in the sub-region; by learning
fact-checking methodology, monitoring and analysis of social media content and accounts; investigating websites amongst others.

He said upon completion and evidence of competence after a ten-course module the participants will graduate into the six months in-country fellowship.

Mr Adekunle said the training faculty for the programme are drawn from a pool of the leading global experts in the field of fact-checking who come with individual and organizational talents which includes Peter Cunliffe-Jones, founder of Africa Check, and current course co-director/researcher at the University of Westminster in the United Kingdom; Youri van der Weide, researcher and trainer at the global investigative organisation, Bellingcat; and Craig Silverman, author, trainer, and the digital editor, at BuzzFeed.

Others are Prof. Kwame Karikari, former professor, School of Communications, University of Ghana, Legon and Chairman of the Board of the Daily Graphic newspaper in Accra; Dr Chido Onumah, coordinator of the African Centre for Information and Media Literacy, AFRICMIL; Kemi Busari, Editor of DUBAWA; Deji Adekunle, DUBAWA Programme Manager; Caroline Anipah, Ghana Programme Lead for DUBAWA; and Dapo Olorunyomi, Executive Director for the PTCIJ.

Named after Professor Kwame Karikari, redoubtable media freedom advocate and founder of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), the fellowship is inspired by the need to tackle the menace of mis- and dis-information within the sub-region and beyond