By Nelson Ruto
Reagan Kiyimba is a budding journalist with big dreams who, out of the hallways of Makerere University, won the continental accolade 'Fact-check of the year by a student journalist', awarded by Africa Check.
This feat comes at a time when the spread of 'fake news', a much dreaded phenomenon, is endemic. Africa Check, a fact-checking news agency based in South Africa, are taking it upon themselves, through fact-checking (Verifying authenticity of various articles of news) to counter this plague. Untruthful information preys on sentiment and ignorance, to create amongst its consumers false realities that can be a serious impediment to resolution of societal issues.
Several entities, whether obliviously (believing that they are being of assistance) or deliberately (often times through dubious means), push into social spaces misleading content on which individuals unwittingly base their daily decisions and form opinions. These outright lies, manipulated content or skewed truths propagate anger, hate, fear and anxiety amongst the populace which, in its extremes, could materialise into violence and harm visited upon individuals or communities.
In order to avert this dreadful outcome and nip the situation in the bud, Africa Check seeks to, "identify important public statements, interrogate the best available evidence and publish fact-checking reports to guide public debate". Reagan has, for a year now, contributed to this cause, with a team of young journalists under the umbrella of 'The Debunk Show', shepherded by the Media Challenge Initiative.
Reagan's investigation of Uganda's herbal cure for COVID-19, edged out Senegalese runner up's inquiry into a cocoa exportation halt by Ghanaian farmers to Europe, for the win. In so doing, he registered another precedent: the first ever Ugandan to bag a continental award from the prestigious Africa Check, in all the awards’ eight years of delivery.
The winning entry, judged basing on: Significance, testing, presentation and impact was sourced from a pool of 216 submissions, sent by 28 nations. The judges expressed pleasure in the "depth and breadth" of topics explored in this year's entries and noted an increasing difficulty in selecting winners annually owing to a steadfast improvement in quality of work. Reagan shall receive a $2,000 cash prize that he intends on sharing with his team as a token of thanks for having rendered great assistance. Second on his 'to-do list' is, investing in their show which he emphasises, he must grow with.
In consideration of the hereafter, he states, "As a media student who wants to grow in fact-checking, this continental award lays fertile ground and inspiration...Being recognised by a big fact checking organisation in Africa gives me more hope in my career". He is motivated to do more fact-checks not just by this alone, but also the reception from his news sources who often show enthusiasm to share their knowledge on key topics and have persistently commended his team for their efforts.
However, the period to follow is markedly challenging, seeing that "now, all eyes are watching....wondering what's unique about you [him]?" he mentioned, in light of congratulatory messages from all over the continent, accompanied by requests for advice.
To aspirants and pioneers such as himself, he offers a word of encouragement and advice, to venture into factchecking and undergo all necessary training, to learn as much as possible, continually. Collaboration should be the standard, he adds, rather than competition since "factchecking is a service... It's a human right to access factual information...I want to see that facts travel faster than fake news"
More about Africa Check
The awards to honour the continent's top fact checkers were held in a virtual ceremony on Tuesday 12 October, as part of this year’s African Investigative Journalism Conference. Also awarded, in the category of professional journalist, were entries from South Africa and Nigeria, in that order.
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