Why Ghanaian Newsrooms are Susceptible to Fake News

Media Houses in Ghana

Accra, May 5, 2018//-The latest and maiden study on fake news in Ghana has revealed that almost 90 percent of newsrooms in the West African country rely heavily on user-generated content from social media for news, making them susceptible to fake news.

According to the study,  87.1% of newsrooms responded that ” they do make use of social media or user-generated content in their newsrooms”. While  12.9% of newsrooms disagreed.

The affinity of newsrooms in the Ghanaian media landscape to social media or user-generated content increased with the number of years media houses existed, the study released by a leading (NGO)-Penplusbytes www.penplusbytes.org noted.

User-generated content, also known as user-created content, is any form of content created by users of a system or service and made available publicly on that system. It most often appears as supplements to online platforms, such as social media websites, and may include such content types as blog posts, wikis, videos, comments or ecommerce, according to Wikipedia.

The study also established that in Ghana “bait and click” is the commonest form of fake news; fabricated content and false headlines without connection to content.

Globally, fake news or hoaxes, usually in the form of misinformation, spin, outright lies and fabrications has been around for a long time.

But in recent times, fake news has seen rapid growth due to social media and other new digital tools which are enablers with attendant adverse impact on citizens’ lack of trust not only in the news media but also, key governance institutions. Naturally, the Ghanaian media landscape is not excluded from this global epidemic.

Penplusbytes set out to undertake the “Media Perspectives on Fake News in Ghana” study in order to understand the prevalence of the fake news problem whiles assessing the measures in place to combat this phenomenon.

The study was based on the use of a structured questionnaire administered to nearly 200 media organizations in Ghana made up of print, online, media convergence and broadcast media spread through the 10 regions of Ghana.

Additionally, results from the study titled- Media Perspectives on Fake News in Ghana (www.penplusbytes.org/fakenews) established that the management of social media or user-generated content is mostly done on adhoc bases (55.1%) or not done at all (15.4%) whereas, 29.5% of social media management by newsrooms is done on a regular basis.

“This demonstrates weak editorial systems and concerted efforts to put in procedures and structures to monitor the news media. As a result of this, newsrooms are vulnerable to the dissemination of fake news”.

Newsrooms view on prevalence of fake news

This study revealed that 73.5% of respondents considered fake news to be either frequent (35.3%) or more frequent (38.2%), whereas 26.5% of the respondents indicated that it is less frequent.

To understand the prevalence rate in the last six months, the results indicate that more than half of the newsrooms surveyed (59.3%) with 24.4% saying more frequent whereas 34.9% and expressed the view that fake news was prevalent.

An interesting result that corresponds with the earlier result that prevalence of fake news as experienced by the newsroom has reduced in recent times is the fact that over 81.4% of respondents stated that they had not issued any fake content in the last 6 months compared to 18.6% who had issued fake news.

Considering the impact of fake news on the credibility of newsrooms and the need to uphold best practices in journalism, it was worrying to find that only 17.50% of newsrooms in Ghana dedicated programmes or newspaper columns to combat the spread of fake news, the researchers of the study lamented.

Assessing key attributes of fake news  

The study developed seven types of fake news categories. Based on this classification, the study results show -Doctored Audio/Visual Material (9%), Made-up Content (7%), False Content (10%), Misleading Content (2%), False Headline without connection with content (50%), Fabricated Content (20%), Satire (0%), while 2% indicated a combination of all types as their response.

Fake news effects credibility

Journalists and newsrooms all over the world are respected and trusted based on their audiences belief that they are credible sources, therefore, any issues that affect their credibility can impact negatively on them.

The results of this study support the assertion with 87.8% of respondents indicating that fake news is a major source of discredit for them whereas 12.2% hold the view that it does not create credibility issues for them.

Measures to combat fake news  

Executive Director of penplusbytes, Kwami Ahiabenu II

According to the study results, majority, that is 73.1% of 173 newsrooms stated that they have a system in place to combat fake news whereas 26.9% indicated that there is no such system in place.

To add up, an overwhelming number of newsrooms surveyed (92%) were of the view that, putting in place regulations and laws are the best way of dealing with Fake News in Ghana.

This recommendation is problematic since literature points to the fact that laws and regulations are not magic bullet to deal with fake news and misinformation. Moreso such laws dealing with fake news could become tools to harrass journalists and impinge on freedom of speech.

According to the Executive Director of Penplusbytes and lead researcher, Kwami Ahiabenu II, “the issue of fake news and misinformation is here to stay; with the likelihood of it becoming a crisis in due course.

However, there is a dearth of knowledge about its manifestation in Ghana and options available to deal with it. In light of this situation, we are excited that we are able to contribute to the body of knowledge on this subject while offering practical recommendations to deal with this problem.”

African Eye Report

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