The German Ambassador to Ghana, Frederick Lanshaw, has urged journalists and media educators in West Africa to strengthen efforts to combat disinformation and protect democratic institutions.
“Information manipulation has become a powerful geopolitical tool, with external actors using false narratives to influence political decisions, exploit social divisions and undermine public confidence in democratic institutions,” he said.
Mr Lanshaw was speaking at the opening of the STREAC Autumn School in Accra dubbed: “Strengthening resilience and competence in the field of disinformation in the sahel.”
The programme brought together journalism educators and media professionals from 10 countries across the Sahel and West Africa.
It was aimed at equiping journalism educators with practical skills to prepare journalists to identify and counter information manipulation, including threats arising from artificial intelligence (AI).
The initiative, funded by the German Federal Foreign Office, is being implemented in partnership with the Erich-Brost Institute for International Journalism at TU Dortmund University, Germany, and the University of Education, Winneba.
The training featured expert-led sessions, practical workshops, comparative research presentations and exchanges among participants to strengthen their understanding of disinformation and its effects on societies.
Threat
Mr Lanshaw said information manipulation was not limited to any particular country, and that it had affected Germany and other parts of Europe, as well as Ghana and countries in the sahel.
"The consequences can be profound, weakening institutions and destabilising society from within," he said.
The ambassador said democracies needed to respond through effective communication, open engagement with criticism and a firm commitment to facts and evidence.
He also cautioned that social media algorithms could distort public perception by selectively presenting information, even when individual pieces of content were factually correct.
Journalism education
The Director of Erich-Brost Institute for International Journalism, Professor Susanne Fengler, said journalism educators had a critical role in building media literacy and preparing journalists to respond to the growing spread of false information.
She said the findings and lessons from the programme would also be developed into an online learning module to make them accessible to more journalism educators and media practitioners beyond the participating countries.
Responsibility
For her part, the Pro-Vice-Chancellor of UEW, Prof. Esther Yeboah Danso, said universities had a responsibility to prepare future journalists to verify information, identify manipulated content and understand the ethical implications of emerging technologies.
She said the university's involvement in the initiative would help to strengthen journalism education, research and professional practice while allowing African institutions to contribute their experiences to global discussions on information integrity.
