By Ola Pat
Do not believe everything you read in the media, this popular maxim is truer now than ever before. It used to be: do not believe everything you read in the newspapers but now it has grown into a juggernaut of gossip. And it is more truisms in this online era, where national issues are first broadcast on the social media, Facebook, Whatsapp, twitter, google+, Instagram, BBM etc. I was jostled out of my slumber by a simple event. That single event makes me realized that we were already in George Orwell, 1984. Before you seek the consult of your calendar, in other to bombard my ignorance, allow me to expatiate.
What was prominent, conspicuous becomes unseen. What search engine found in hundreds in 0.002 seconds cannot be located in 5 minutes of words manipulation and interchanged.
I was researching an assignment for my magazine; I have collated some facts on the internet from different websites. Then in less than a month later, when I need to just reaffirm and confirm the facts so I can string them all together for publication. The facts have changed. What was prominent, conspicuous becomes unseen. What search engine found in hundreds in 0.002 seconds cannot be located in 5 minutes of words manipulation and interchanged. I was in a dilemma; my editor then was waiting for that particular story with inpatient because it’s hot and delightful. The government agency involved in the case also meddled up the whole issue. I called the agency for clarification and I was given the new facts and I was referred to their website.
I was perplexed; I could have read the whole thing upside down. I try to replace the story for my editor with another sizzling story but he will have none of that. He wants that sweet story, he craved it. After reading the note I took at my initial research, I cannot rationalize how I got my facts wrong. I decided to do another research on the same subject with an eye on the lookout for any iota or pointer to previous missing facts. And to my consternation, the original facts were reduced to nothingness, systematically sidelined. Yet those facts were the foundation of the case.
Where you get your information is critical to your intellectual wellbeing and your personality outlook. The well-established beer parlour gossip has found its way to the internet and the social media crowding out the original gatekeepers.
My take on the whole issue was that the moment the case was charged to court by the prosecutor relegating those particular facts to the background, every blogger, and every online news websites re-edited their initial report to fits in with the new reality. And that exactly is what happened in George Orwell’s book, 1984. In the book, the Ministry of Truth is responsible for news, entertainment and education. It was from this ministry that yesterday's news and events are doctored and rectified to fit in with today's facts and happenings. Yesterday's history is forcefully aligned with today's happenings without recourse to the difference in their facts. The ministry actually recalls all newspaper and books and re-edits them to reflect the new fact, and then return them to the owners. As a website administrator, I do re-edit grammatical errors or omissions from published piece. If I can do that then it is within my power and discretion to re-edit facts and figures, although I do not. But if I can do it, then news sites, bloggers and other people owning a platform on the internet can alter and change information at will to suit their wimps and caprices. This is why all of us need to choose our news and information source with great care.
That is why it is now the responsibility of every individual to learn how to filter and how to access the motive of information providers. I have come across lots of misinformation on social media: Facebook and Whatsapp are worst. It is the new beer parlour.
Where you get your information is critical to your intellectual wellbeing and your personality outlook. The well-established beer parlour gossip has found its way to the internet and the social media crowding out the original gatekeepers. As a cub reporter the first truth you learn is that you are a gatekeeper, thus every piece of information you will be passing out to the public must be subjected to verification of authenticity and objectivity. In this ramification, 80 percent of information online failed woefully because priority was placed on breaking the news and sensationalism. This failure cut across every online medium: blogs, social media and news websites.
Information whether in form of news or other forms of reportage is to either develop the mind negatively or positively? It can change the perception of an event or a person; we are not strange to this. What happens is that we fail to put this into consideration when we consume information. Information is a source of mind control and character alteration. That is where ulterior motive comes to play. Information is power that can be used for all and any purpose. That is why it is now the responsibility of every individual to learn how to filter and how to access the motive of information providers. I have come across lots of misinformation on social media: Facebook and Whatsapp are worst. It is the new beer parlour.
So, when next you are sharing information on Facebook and Whatsapp do ensure it passes the test of authenticity and objectivity. I tried as much as possible to be my neighbours’ keeper by ensuring that information I pass along their ways are beneficial to their intellectual well-being and empower their personality. I don’t send them threaten Whatsapp messages (if you don’t send to 15 people…) nor pass them force religious or "ethnical" information on Facebook. Remember, the information you share reveal your intellectual capacity and understanding of the world. In this department Nollywood is guilt though they change perspective, theirs is a microscopic look of the world from their enclave. At this stage, it will suffice to quote Asa’s rhetorical question from her song, Fir on the mountain. “Who is responsible for what we teach our children. Is it the internet or stars on television?” When we ourselves do not understand that all information consume will be internalized consciously or unconsciously.
Well, I did give my editor that sweet story that he craved but the lesson set me to scrawl a new law of engagement with this growing media. It is the responsibility of everybody that has access to the internet to educate and equip themselves in order to be able to detect the purpose and reason behind every piece of writing and news. For every writer have an ulterior motive.
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