The deputy director of Gambia Radio and Television Services, Abdoulie Gassama, has urged Gambian journalists to equip themselves with the necessary skills and tools in order to fight against fake news peddlers.

Mr. Gassama, also a journalism lecturer at the University of the Gambia, was speaking to twenty journalists from the print and electronic media currently undergoing five day training on investigative journalism at Senegambia hotel.

“We’ve seen people attacking people on social media unnecessarily and that due to fake news. Some people are very good at that but it is you the fourth estate who should work very hard and get all the skills required and prove them wrong,” Gassama tasked Gambian journalists.

He added: “We have seen people who have never seen the four corners of the classroom, you don’t need to be literate in English, just pick your own native language, get your Smartphone put any crap in that Smartphone and off you go.”

Mr. Gassama also told the trainee-journalists that “investigative journalism is not witch-hunting” adding to be an investigative journalist, “one need to have the journalistic background to ensure doing the right thing.”

“I want to make something very clear with the advent of the social media we all know. We have seen people who have very little or no experience in our work and they’ve decided to take over from us that’s the reality,” he said.

He said the solution to that issue is journalists to work very hard and have the necessary skills “and bring out the best out of ourselves that will silence those who think they can do our job.”

He urged journalists not be afraid of social media, describing journalism “a very important profession.”

Reporting by Adama Makasuba