Xenophobia: Linda Ikeji's journalism licence should be withdrawn- Fans

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Linda ikeji

Linda ikeji

By Jennifer Okundia

The role of the media in feeding society with accurate information at all times, is such a huge responsibility that should be taken seriously. The pressure of breaking a news and getting traffic, especially with online news platforms, sometimes causes more harm than good.

Misinforming the public at any point, can make a lot go wrong and even instigate violence and aggravate hate
which can lead to unguided actions.

Award winning Media personality Linda Ikeji has stirred reactions on twitter from angry Nigerians who read a story on her blog only to find out the news was fake.

The blog had published an MTN building being razed by fire in Lagos on Tuesday,in the wake of reactions to the South African xenophobic attack on Nigerians.

Social media users however discovered that the picture showing the structure belonging to the mobile network, was reported by Nairaland in 2015 as a building that caught fire in Ilorin, Kwara state. This act made fans call for the withdrawal of Linda’s journalism licence or better still, her media platform be shutdown.

This did not go down well at all, as Linda had given fans a hard pill to swallow. Some Nigerians said she should be arrested while others stated that it was after the blog published the story that angry youths started destroying any outlet belonging to South Africans, thereby she used her platform to influence violence due to wrong information.

See some reactions.

Journalists should learn to always do a quick background check or fact checking on any story that will be reported, for verification and authentication purposes, to avoid any form of public misinformation.

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