The Writers and Debators Club of the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ) has won the maiden Inter-Campus Fact Debate held on Friday, the 19th of November 2021.
The debate which took place at the North Dzorwulu Campus of GIJ saw the Writers and Debators Club of GIJ face off with their colleagues from Pentecost University (PU), University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA) and Accra Technical University (ATU).
In the first round of the contest, each school was tasked to identify whether a given write-up was accurate or fake news based on the story features. ATU and UPSA led with 6 points apiece at the end of that round, whilst PU and GIJ trailed with 4 points each. During the second round, judges tested contestants’ speed of fact-checking by giving each school three (3) minutes to determine whether a news article was genuine or fake.
By the end of the final round, GIJ won the contest with 11 points. PU was the 1st runner up with 9 points, UPSA was next with 8 points, whilst ATU finished with 7 points.
A member of the winning team from GIJ, David Cudjoe, appreciated the organizers for providing a platform for students to master the art of fact-checking. “I want to thank the organizers for organizing such a competition and giving us the platform to learn how to fact-check information. I had little knowledge on how to fact-check information, but now I have learnt a lot, and I will practice it to ensure that the era of sharing fake news is a thing of the past”, he said.
Speaking in an interview after the event, the Engagement Coordinator of Fact Lens GH, organizers of the contest, Nana Akua Amponsah, indicated that Fact Lense Gh Introduced the Debate to create an environment that educates, entertains, and allows students to discuss issues on fact-checking in a structured contest. She stated further that, the Debate was a part of their Media and Information Literacy for Millennials (M4M) whose aim is to help citizens, especially young people, know how to access, analyze and use information”.
The wining team received shopping vouchers, a trophy, Goethe Institute backpacks among other paraphernalia
