Cameroon: "Everybody Wants to Be Credited With Breaking the News"

interview

Journalism in Cameroon is receiving one of its greatest bashings in recent years. Understandably, the image of the profession and its practitioners have been dealt a heavy blow. Mention fake news and hate speech and the average person will be quite familiar with at least one of them. Because they have either been victim or have heard the word mentioned so often of late. Unfortunately, the phenomena have virtually become part and parcel of our daily lives. What accounts for this state of affairs? And what can be done about it? Dr Bernard Sakah of the Pan-African University, Yaounde, recently facilitated a workshop in Yaounde for journalists on "Media, Peace and Elections." He also defended a PhD recently on social media use. In the following interview, Dr Sakah discusses the damaging impact of fake news and hate speech and suggests ways and means of mitigating them.

How serious is the problem of fake news and hate speech in the Cameroon media?

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