Religious leaders, media urged to shun fake news, misinformation



Religious leaders and media practitioners have been urged to use their platforms to promote unity and tolerance and eschew using them to make divisive utterances.
This was contained in a communique issued at the end of a media dialogue with religious leaders on ‘’Advancing Peace and Inter-religious Dialogue in the Age of Social Media’’ organised by The African Centre for Media and Information Literacy (AFRICMIL) in partnership with National Orientation Agency (NOA) in Abuja Monday, 
The communique was signed by AFRICMIL coordinator, Chido Onumah.


It decried that public speakers, particularly those within the religious organisations tend to incite hatred and divisiveness among people through their utterances which are reported by media houses.
The communique urged religious leaders to stop being used by politicians, adding that religion should be separated from politics.


It also called for sensitisation of those in the grassroots as they are more prone to misinformation and false messages from religious leaders and social media.
The communique also noted that people should learn to appreciate and respect each other’s beliefs.


Speaking at the meeting, assistant director, media, NOA, Paul Odenyi, said “elites are the major problem in the country as they have failed to bridge gaps to promote peace.”

He said media shape the opinion of people generally and called for reportage aimed at engendering peace and unity.

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