The Premium Times Center for Investigative Journalism (PTCIJ), through its fact-checking project, Dubawa, has selected 13 journalists to begin its 2020 fact-checking fellowship.
A statement released by the officer in charge of the project, Temilade Onilede, said the 13 journalists were selected out of 104 entries received.
The shortlist, the statement said, followed a call for application rolled out on June 2, 2020.
This fellowship brings together journalists from print, electronic and online media from Nigeria and Ghana respectively.
It is expected to begin in July and end December 2020.
The 2020 Dubawa’s fact-checking fellows are expected to tackle misinformation and hold political elites accountable for their words, action. And also, expand the reach of verified information to grassroots communities.
The selected journalists, after scaling the two stages of selection – filling an application form and attending a virtual interview – will be trained in a four-day intensive training.
Fellows will take courses on the misinformation ecosystem, accountability Journalism, fact-checking methodology, FOI implementation, Data presentation and analysis, and fact-checking/verification tools as an innovation to today’s journalism.
Meanwhile, The Nation’s reporter, Alao Abiodun was selected out of the pool of applicants to participate in this year’s programme. In 2019, Justina Asishana, The Nation’s Niger state correspondent got selected in the maiden edition of the fellowship programme.
The Dubawa Fact-Checking Fellowship is supported by the Heinrich Boll Stiftung Foundation (HBS) and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).