The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, has said the media landscape was rife with fake news, deepfake, misinformation, and disinformation, among others.
The minister stated this Friday in Abuja, at the closing ceremony of the PRNigeria 2025 Young Communication Fellowship, organised by Image Merchant Promotion Limited (IMP).
Idris, who was represented by the Managing Director, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Ali M. Ali, added that the challenge of fake news was compounded by innovations in artificial intelligence and immersive journalism.
He, therefore, advised the young graduating fellows to be discerning and circumspect in the discharge of their duties and responsibilities.
The minister also admonished them to demonstrate candor, strength of character, professionalism, and uphold the ethics of the job.
“To you, our graduating fellows, I celebrate you as you begin this walk into an industry that is exciting as it is punishing. You will get to find out in the course of this journey. Make no mistake, reportage in Nigeria and everywhere else is fiercely competitive.
“As young fellows, you are venturing into a field rife with fake news. deepfake, misinformation, and disinformation. You must be discerning and circumspect, uphold integrity, resilience in your professional journey,” he said.
Speaking on the significance of the fellowship, the minister said the initiative offered a vital platform to mentor, train and empower young graduates, while building a reservoir of new talent for Nigeria’s media.
“As I view this array of young professionals who are being introduced into our industry, today, I dare say I share the sense of self-fulfillment of the organisers of this very important initiative.
“This capacity-building initiative for young graduates offers not only an opportunity to mentor, train, and empower young graduates, it also provides a rich reservoir to future talents who will nourish our industry.
“I, therefore, commend the founders of this programme for providing this veritable platform to boost manpower development in our industry,” he said.
In a keynote address, the National President of NUJ, Alhassan Yahaya Abdul, appealed to the fellows to prioritise issues of national security and interest in their reportage.
Abdul said there was a need for the young communicators to come up with a new narrative of taking the country to its greater height, while also pledging to partner with IMP.
Earlier, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of IMP, Yushua Shuaib, highlighted the diverse media and PR brands under IMP, including Economic Confidential, PRNigeria, Emergency Digest, Politics Digest, Arewa Agenda and others.
He said the fellowship was introduced to bridge the gap between the theory and practice of journalism and communication.
“We realise that, most of the time, our graduates only have the theory, but lack the practical component of what they learn; that is why we brought the idea of this PRNigerian Young Communication Fellowship which started 2024,” he said.
