The vice chancellor of University of Abuja (now Yakubu Gowon University), Prof Hakeem Babatunde Fawehinmi, has sought collaboration with Media Trust Group to combat fake news and reinforce professional standards in journalism.
Speaking during a courtesy visit to the media organisation’s headquarters in Abuja on Thursday, Fawehinmi said the university was interested in reviving and expanding an earlier partnership with the group, which publishes Daily Trust, Weekend Trust, Aminiya, Trust TV, Trust Radio and other digital platforms.
‘We want to reestablish that relationship and we have a thriving faculty of communication and media studies that had broadcast department.
‘As a university, we are into teaching research and community service. We believe our teaching could help to boost your staff development exercise and our research could also help with empirical data for several aspect of your operations.
‘Since my commencement of duty as the 8th substantive vice chancellor, most of our adverts have been in the Daily Trust newspaper because we trust the integrity of your paper and have confidence in your wide coverage especially in the northern part. We want us to be partners in the fight against fake news.
‘Media houses nowadays pick up disruptive stories sometimes that are not true about institutions or individuals as a way of bringing them or destroying their image and we know your outfit has grown beyond that and it is because of your reputation that you have risen to the heights you are now.’