Facts and Lies about Africa: A Matter of Life and Death
Wed, Oct 19, 18:00-20:00
309 Regent St, Boardroom (First Floor)
W1B 2HW London
Organised by Westminster Institute for Advanced Studies (WIAS), Africa 
Check, Africa Media Centre, Communication and Media Research Institute

Information:
https://www.westminster.ac.uk/events/facts-and-lies-about-africa-a-matter-of-life-and-death

Event registration:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/facts-and-lies-about-africa-a-matter-of-life-and-death-tickets-27605997281

All across the length and breadth of Africa, from South Africa to 
Senegal, people make decisions, big and small, every day. To do this, 
they have to rely on the best information that is publicly available. 
But often the information about Africa in the mainstream media, public 
discussions and social media is partial, misleading or just plain wrong.

Misleading claims about minority populations, replayed in the 
traditional and social media, have led to everything from xenophobic 
attacks in South Africa in 2015 to the Rwandan genocide of 1994. False 
media reports into health problems, such as polio, and supposed cures 
for diseases from HIV/AIDS to Ebola, have caused unnecessary sickness 
and death across the continent.

Africa Check https://africacheck.org, the continent’s first independent 
fact-checking website, was set up in 2012. It is based at the Journalism 
Department of the University of the Witwatersrand, in Johannesburg, 
South Africa. Today, Africa Check runs four offices – in South Africa, 
Senegal, Kenya and Nigeria – and fact-checks key claims leading public 
figures make. Africa Check publishes its findings on its site and in 
partnership with the wider media.

The organisation is a leading member of International Fact-Checking 
Network, a grouping of independent fact-checking organisations from 
around the world.

Peter Cunliffe-Jones, founder of Africa Check, will present a paper 
focusing on his organisation and the impact its work has had so far. Dr 
Winston Mano, Director of the Africa Media Centre, will analyse reasons 
why Africa is misrepresented, its impact on the continent and methods 
with which researchers can help overcome the problem. The event and 
discussion will be chaired by Professor Christian Fuchs, who is Director 
of both the Westminster Institute for Advanced Studies and the 
Communication and Media Research Institute.

This evening marks the beginning of a series of events carried out by 
the new partnership between WIAS, Africa Check and Africa Media Centre. 
Apart from events, the partnership will involve joint research and other 
activities.

Further reading and information:

https://www.westminster.ac.uk/news/2016/new-partnership-between-africa-check-the-westminster-institute-for-advanced-studies-and-the-africa-media-centre

https://africacheck.org/

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