SEPARATING REAL FACTS FROM HOME-MADE TRUTHS: THE SAGA OF NIGERIA'S ENVOY TO KENYA

Once upon a time a picture not only used to be worth a thousand words, but its authenticity was seldom called into question. Along came the digital revolution and Photoshop inspired minds, and the credibility of pictures started to be contentious. But, if Nigeria's envoy to Kenya is to be believed, his wife needed no computer software to get images of her battered face.

Dr. Chijioke Wigwe has this amazing rebuttal that the injuries his wife claims were inflicted by him, during a domestic spat, were grossly exaggerated and that Mrs Tess Iyi Wigwe actually smeared blood across her face to make it look like she was brutally assaulted by her husband.

If the media gets caught up in such a fine mess, who is likely to be believed? And based on what evidence?

Facts are sacred in journalism, no doubt. But the catch is that, facts have a nasty habit of taking a different shade or shape, depending on who is being quoted in a story.

And that is why it is essential for the press to independently seek to establish the truth, by thoroughly interrogating all the versions being presented or misrepresented as truthful accounts.

And if this proves impossible to determine, then a news story is in the very least expected to be balanced, which means getting both sides of a dispute represented in a story and then allowing members of the audience to draw their own conclusion, as the relevant authorities conduct the more formal investigations.

But also, one must not lose sight of the fact that it is not always that the media has options in black and white. There are lots and lots of grey areas.