Daily Trust acknowledges spreading Samoa Agreement misinformation
Daily Trust has admitted to accusations that it allegedly spread misinformation about the Samoa Agreement signed by the Federal Government of Nigeria on 28 June 2024 at the Organisation of African, Caribbean, and Pacific States (OACPS) secretariat in Brussels, Belgium.
On July 4, 2024 Daily Trust posted an article titled “LGBT: Knocks as Nigeria signs $150 Billion Samoa deal,” which garnered backlash and criticisms from the Federal Government.
The Federal Government threatened to take legal actions against Daily Trust for alleged misinformation and fake news in the Samoa Agreement report.
Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris stated this on Saturday, July 6 at the National Press Centre, Abuja.
On Monday, Daily Trust posted an article titled, “Samoa Agreement: The Daily Trust Story Got It Wrong”
In this article the media outfit admitted to “sloppy reporting”, “misleading headline”, “non-factual claims” among others.
It however clarified the controversy the story caused wasn’t intentional and errors were on the side of duty, not of malicious intent.
The article reads partly: “On the specific issue of the Samoa Agreement, however, it is the media that got it wrong. After some research, my reading of the whole situation is that: a) the Daily Trust story of July 4, 2024 titled “LGBT: Knocks As Nigeria Signs $150 Billion Samoa Deal” is a piece of sloppy reporting; b) there is no provision mandating member states to adopt LGBT rights in the Samoa Agreement; and c) yes, the European Union (EU) actually tried, but ultimately failed, to have those provisions included in the agreement.
“The most important problem with the story in question is that it did not cite the contentious clauses in the agreement on which the entire reporting—and the ensuing controversy—is based. News is a factual claim,… Unfortunately, the story failed this fundamental test of reporting.”
Proofreading by Uchechi Ojo, Sub-editor at Neptune Prime.
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