Former staff of Citi FM/Citi TV, Jonas Nyabor has emerged winner of Africa Check’s 2022 Professional Fact-Checker Award.
He received the award during the Africa Fact-Checking Summit, which was held in Nairobi, Kenya on 9-10 November 2022.
The multimedia journalist and new media trainer won the prestigious award for his investigation into an online campaign against COVID-19 vaccination in Ghana.
Unmasking the faces behind COVID-19 disinformation and anti-vaccination campaign in Ghana
His article analyzed thousands of tweets involved in coordinated inauthentic behaviour around #JusticeforAlbert; a campaign that demanded ‘justice’ for Albert, a young man who reportedly died after taking a COVID-19 vaccine.
The report revealed that some of the accounts central to the hashtag’s amplification were bots and fake accounts.
“A visualisation of the network of tweets around the hashtag showed that those involved in the coordinated inauthentic behaviour mentioned President Akufo-Addo, often criticising him and the government for the vaccination plan,” the report indicated.
Receiving the award, Jonas expressed appreciation to Citi FM/TV and Dubawa Ghana for the support and also acknowledged the organizers, Africa Check, for “setting the pace and providing the needed resource to develop fact-checking across the continent.”
“I appreciate Dubawa for the mentorship and guidance provided to me on this journey of promoting truth in public discourse… Citi FM/Citi TV has been very supportive of my work, helping to amplify the winning report and granting me the opportunity to write and publish fact-checking reports on the platform.”
Jonas Nyabor becomes the second Ghanaian journalist to be honoured by Africa Check at the awards.
Independent Ghanaian filmmaker, Edem Srem won the award in 2014 for a documentary on illegal mining in Ghana.
Mr. Nyabor, through his work as a fact-checker, has debunked dozens of claims on important subjects such as the economy, politics, and health.
Other winners on the night were AFP Fact Check’s James Okong’o who emerged as runner-up in the professional fact-checker category.
Nigerian journalist, Kunle Adebajo of HumAngle Media won the ‘Fact-Check of the Year by a Working Journalist,’ award. Premium Times’ Kabir Yusuf was the runner-up in that category.
A group of three students of the University of Mauritius; Vidyasharita Bumma, Kokeelavani Mauree and Sachita Gobeen won the ‘Fact-Check of the Year by a Student Journalist’ category.
Elizabeth Henri-Héloïse, also of the University of Mauritius, emerged as runner-up.