Misinformation, or ‘lori iro’, spread like wildfire in the Nigerian media space following the ruling of the 2023 Kaduna Governorship Election Petition Tribunal.
‘Lori iro’ is a Yoruba slang that means ‘on lies or too many lies’, and, unfortunately, several news platforms reported that the tribunal declared the March 18 election as ‘inconclusive’.
Actually, the court affirmed the election of Governor Uba Sani of the All Progressives Congress (APC), dismissing the petition of the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Isah Ashiru.
As expected, the Nigerian social media space was awash with conflicting reports on the outcome of the judgment, with many questioning the credibility of news platforms they hitherto trusted.
In today’s digital age, where information flows ceaselessly through countless channels, the news media has a pivotal responsibility to report accurately. But confusion was what we got yesterday.
Ethical journalism is based on accuracy, independence, impartiality, humanity and accountability, and one of the principles of journalism is to tell the truth. If a news medium fails in this, it has failed in accuracy.
Being in a hurry to break inaccurate reports is not responsible journalism.
Media organisations that ensured ethical practice during the period of election judgment confusion deserve commendation. As for the platforms that appear to be acting as agents of misinformation, please do the needful: retract the reports and apologise to your audience.
Photo source: Uba Sani
