“Journalists Must Reclaim Public Trust In Age Of Disinformation”, Egbu Tells NUJ Correspondents

A call has gone out to Nigerian journalists to reclaim public trust by returning to the core principles of truth, verification and independence, as disinformation and political propaganda continue to threaten democracy.

The call was made by a veteran journalist, former Chief Press Secretary to Former Governor of Abia State, Chief Ralph Egbu while presenting a paper titled _“The Journalist As Democracy’s Watchdog: Reclaiming Public Trust In The Age Of Disinformation And Political Propaganda”, at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Correspondents Federation Press Week event held on November 4, 2026, at the Bishop Nwedo Conference Centre, Mater Dei, Umuahia, Abia State.

In the paper, Egbu said democracy cannot survive in darkness, noting that journalism has for centuries served as the Fourth Estate — the watchdog that barks when power becomes dangerous.

“When parliament sleeps, when the judiciary is compromised, when the executive becomes too powerful, it is the journalist who asks the question; now ‘Who will watch the watchmen?'”, Egbu stated.

He lamented that the watchdog is now wounded, operating in the most difficult environment in history, where disinformation spreads faster than truth and political propaganda wears the clothes of news.

Explaining the role of the journalist, Chief Egbu said a watchdog does not make laws or govern, but alerts, exposes and protects. It listed four functions of the journalist in a democracy: holding power accountable, giving citizens information to make decisions, providing a platform for the voiceless, and setting the public agenda.

On threats to journalism, Egbu identified disinformation as the first major threat, saying social media has democratized both speech and lies.

“A false story about election rigging, a fake video about a politician, or a fabricated health claim can reach ten million people in one hour. The journalist who spends three weeks verifying a story now competes with a blogger who spends three minutes inventing one,” it said.

The second threat, according to him, is political propaganda, which now comes through paid influencers, “brown envelope” journalism, state capture of media houses, and strategic flooding of the information space.

“The goal of modern propaganda is not always to make you believe a lie. Sometimes its goal is to make you so confused that you believe nothing. When you believe nothing, you cannot act. And when you cannot act, those in power win,” Egbu noted.

He added that both forces have led to a collapse of public trust, with less than 40% of people trusting the media globally, and many citizens in African countries perceiving journalists as corrupt as politicians.

To reclaim trust, the Labour Party Chieftain proposed five steps: radical commitment to truth and verification, transparency about how journalism works, visible independence from political patronage, moving from gatekeeping to community building, and collaboration over competition.

“Reclaiming trust will not happen through slogans about press freedom. It will happen through daily acts of honesty, courage, and professionalism,” he concluded.

“Disinformation wants to make people believe that truth does not exist. Good journalism proves every day that it does.”