Alternative Facts and Inconvenient Truths
I still remember the days in which the Nigerian television Authority prided itself has being the largest television network in Africa based on an assumed viewership of thirty million Nigerians. Those were the days when Nigerians with access to television sets rush home to watch the 9pm network news, which was, then the only source of credible news. That was before Steve jobs and his contemporaries introduced the smart phones. These days’ people have no need to listen to any kind of news. It is deposited unto their smart phones through all forms of online media and alternative media. These days news travel at the speed of light and a one-hour-old event could easily be regarded as stale news. The world no longer depends on paid journalists for news as everyone one with access to a smart phone and Wi-Fi can create and broadcast news to a global audience. Welcome to the new world where the news is at your fingertip.
Without an iota of doubt, I believe that Donald Trump stood no chance of winning the 2016 US election without the aid of the alternative media as he was written off by the mainstream media. That he has continued on the path he knows best even after taking office as President is not a surprise. He is a firm believer in the power of the alternative media and is adept at spewing alternative facts.
In Nigeria, social media gained prominence in the run to the 2015 general elections. It served as a means of mobilizing the youths and disseminating what can now be described as ‘alternative facts.’ It worked magic. Of course it has assumed wider dimension post 2015, such that we can no longer separate facts from alternative facts. All one needs to do to create news now is to conjure a story, attribute it to a distant unverifiable source and broadcast it on WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter or any other social network. Within minutes the same message would become viral and travel the world in several modified versions such that the originator may no longer recognize its humble origin.
The falsehood perpetrated using alternative news channels has raised falsehood to a new height, so much that lies are no longer regarded as lies but as alternative facts. Therein lies a big danger… danger that falsehood could become an acceptable alternative to truth. One can only imagine the impact of such depravity on the social equilibrium of our society. For instance the recent upsurge in nationalist agitations in Europe and the rest of the’ prosperous world’ owes a lot to viral messages and stories disseminated through the social media. Even with all its institutions and sophistication, the use of the social media has done more to undermine cohesion of the United State of America before and after the 2016 Presidential election, the same way it has exacerbated ethno religious divide in Nigeria after the 2015 elections. We now live in a nation where people no longer question viral stories provided such stories agree with ethnic or religious biases. We believe every story spewed on social media and spread them like it would burn our telephone devices if we pause to ponder over their veracity. We fabricate and celebrate falsehood even when we know it shakes the foundation of our nation. For how long can the weak foundations of our nationhood withstand this latest incendiary device?
I am worried about Nigeria. Worried enough to wish back the days in which what is now regarded as alternative facts were regarded as subversive activities. I shudder to think that a day could come when I will require some forms of documentation to visit my ‘Ogos’ at Isuofia or my old friends in Peretorugbene. Sadly those days wont be far if we continue with the divisiveness being propagated through alternative facts on social media. We have to find ways to rein in what is happening in our nation so that Nigeria can survive the present social media onslaught. If the loss of certain privileges is what is needed, so be it.