With the conclusion of the USA elections has come a new media phenomenon that has been termed fake news!

The media has borne the brunt of the ire from the public who now believe they were deceived into believing that Hillary Clinton had comfortable leads all through the campaigns over her rival Donald Trump to become president of the United States.

Trump’s constant reference to the “dishonest media” did little to deter those who followed the polls on mainstream and digital media.

The truth is, fake news has been gaining momentum across the world for quite some time, with the rise and rise of citizen journalism. Here in Uganda, the Kenneth Akena shooting, Kasese unrest and child kidnappings come to mind. Not forgetting the death hoax of celebrities such as comedian Anne Kansiime.

These incidents have caused thousands to share information without verification. With social media, everyone now believes they have a right to ‘report’ the news – a mandate previously held by licensed, regulated and legitimate media houses in a country.

This has led to citizen journalists who are untrained in the profession and who report their observations irresponsibly. Media houses have a duty to report authentic, credible and verified news which is now getting lost in the clutter and noise out there. As media houses, we now have to rise above this noise and break through to the audience in more creative ways.

For our part at NBS TV, we have set up Twitter and Facebook profiles with the hashtag #nbsupdates to give our viewers breaking news and real-time updates.

Developing trusted sources and talent who share their personal brands with the credibility of their respective media houses is important to manage fake news which the public can trust has gone through a gate-keeping mechanism.

Brands are getting damaged from irresponsible reporting and sharing of social media posts and online reports about their products and services without even contacting the companies for their side of the story.

This is contributing to the erosion of brand value and trust across the board. It is important to protect your brand from your competitors and/or customers by elevating the company’s good works and deeds by expounding and showcasing what you are doing in the community.

Competitors are using fake news to destroy their competition. Brand ambassadors are no longer enough to protect one’s brand. We now need an army of brand defenders too!

With over 11.9 million internet users in Uganda, it is safe to say Ugandans today are consuming news from sources they can no longer verify.

Media houses must have policies of continuous provision of factual news that can be authenticated. The public requires places they can go to for accurate news, be they mainstream print, electronic or digital media.

Sharing of news on the internet should be accompanied with the source of the news/media house to which followers can go for verification. Over 2.2 million Facebook users in Uganda means fake news that almost always originates from social media is a problem today that is going to get worse in future.

This is the dilemma that is facing the government and its institutions as it is becoming increasingly difficult to police social media without completely shutting it down. A case in point is during the recent presidential and parliamentary elections held earlier this year where the government was forced to shut down the internet to curb on the irresponsible reporting of election results as they were coming in.

Cyber laws that can work can be implemented and are effective, need to be enacted and the National Information Technology Authority Uganda is at the forefront of this effort together with the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC).

We, at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), are also championing this cause. Fighting against the irresponsible use of the internet which is leading to fake news in all areas is a top agenda item for these institutions and the cooperation of all stakeholders is required to successfully put an end to fake news or, at the very least, manage and control it.

The author is the chairman of the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB).