Media Literacy: Avoid being vulnerable to fake news – Idris to PROs

The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, has urged public officers to equip themselves with media and information literacy to avoid being vulnerable to misleading content or easily swayed by falsehoods and biased narratives.

Idris disclosed this at the second Spokespersons Summit organised by the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation in Abuja on Tuesday.

The Minister emphasized that in today’s media-saturated world – where everyone, from PR professionals to CEOs, functions as a spokesperson, the ability to decipher, analyse, and evaluate information is no longer optional but essential.
According to him, “Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, I want to seize the opportunity of this summit of fellow professionals to draw our attention to the need to brace up and embrace what is called Information and Media Literacy.

“A composite concept first adopted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in 2008, and combines competencies of information literacy and media literacy.

“Today, in a world where everyone is a spokesperson – whether a PR practitioner or a chief executive in the public and private spaces, the imperative for media literacy becomes ever more paramount, as it equips individuals with the tools to decipher, analyse and evaluate messages conveyed through various media channels, enabling the latitude to make informed decisions and engage with media content responsibly.
“Lately, due in effect to the lack of media literacy – the inability to analyse and contextualize media content in order to verify authenticity – public officers, and indeed the general public, have become prone to the cankerworm of fake news, misinformation and disinformation,” he said.

As contained in a statement, Idris stated that through media literacy practices, spokespersons can continually enhance their ability to evaluate news articles, identify potential biases, assess the reliability of sources.

Also adopt fact-checking and information verification mechanisms, to enable them to effectively distinguish between accurate reporting and misleading content.
The Minister disclosed that in its effort to provide the platform to impart media and information literacy to spokespersons and public officials, his ministry has reached an advanced stage towards the take-off of UNESCO Media Information Literacy (MIL) Institute – the first of its kind in the world – which will be sited in the precincts of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) in Abuja.

“In fact, I have just returned from Paris, France where I held a meeting with senior UNESCO officials, in which the impending take-off of the Institute featured prominently,” he stated.

Idris equally stated that his ministry, last year, succeeded in the caderisation of Public Relations in the Federal Civil Service in order to deepen professional practice and improve the quality of engagement in the delivery of public communication.

“What this means is that Public Relations has now been designated as a standalone cadre in the Federal Civil Service, with effect from December 2023, and that, what used to be known as the Information Officer Cadre has now been re-designated to ‘Information and Public Relations Officer Cadre’, and ‘Executive Officer (Information and Public Relations)’.
“Let me add that the NIPR was a key advocate in achieving this enhanced recognition that Public Relations now enjoys within the Federal Civil Service,” he said.

The Minister used the occasion to re-emphasizing the commitment of the Tinubu Administration to free speech and responsible creative expression. “On our part we will continue to work to broaden our nation’s vibrant media ecosystem, and grow the economic and investment opportunities within it,” he said.

He also commended the President of NIPR, Dr. Ike Neliaku for introducing an outstanding feature to this year’s Spokespersons Summit, which is the Information Ministerial Clinic, where former Ministers of Information, who served as the Chief Spokespersons of various past governments, would share their experiences in managing the most challenging situations they were confronted while in office.

Former Ministers of Information, Prof. Jerry Gana, Chief John Nwodo, Mr. frank Nweke (jnr), Labaran Maku and Lai Mohammed participated in the opening ceremony of the Information Ministerial Clinic.