Pages: (47-81 )
Abstract
The concept of truth used to be absolute and stood as one of the pillars of journalism; and for any society to enjoy a sustainable democracy, one key thing remained vital; information. However, from stories, such as the EndSARS, militancy, school feeding programme and misappropriation of funds, the media in Nigeria have been accused of being used as agents of misinformation through the dissemination of contents as half-truths, falsehood, outright lies that misrepresent the full truths of events around public affairs. What we have proliferating social media platforms, such as Twitter, WhatsApp and Facebook are netizens who are telling the stories differently and the speed with which these pieces of information are interpreted and thus, transmitted end up sometimes as fake news, misinformation or disinformation. It is against this backdrop that this paper seeks to examine the presence and effect of post-truth on social media. Looking at three salient areas of the society, the research is anchored on the theories of Deontological Ethics decked against consequentialism. The methodology employs a desk review from cases online, research findings and news reports. Findings show that journalists need to be conscious of recognising that they are custodians of information, even a datafied society, and that a deliberate image cleansing needs to be carried out by occupants of the mainstream media, so they can stand out as professionals who uphold truth and objectivity in their reports. In conclusion, the paper recommends that news agencies must be intentional about training and retraining reporters to uphold ethics that would foster media-people relations and desist from misinformation within, which can be easily circulated across a variety of social media platforms.
Keywords: Post-Truth, Social Media, Truth, Deontological Ethics, Journalism,