ARCHIVI.NG is a digital archive dedicated to preserving and providing access to Nigerian newspapers.
The platform serves as an invaluable resource for journalists, researchers, historians, and the general public looking to explore past news reports, political events, and social developments in Nigeria.
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It hosts a vast collection of digitized newspapers from various publications which allows users to search for and retrieve news articles dating back to decades.
“Nigerian history is inaccessible online, and the greatest repository of that history is old newspapers,” Fu’ad Lawal, the founder of Archivi.ng told Guardian. “The newspapers from our history are rotting away in libraries and private archives, and our mission is to stop the erasure and recapture all the history before we lose them for ever.”
Archivi.ng ensures that important historical records remain accessible and can be referenced for fact-checking, academic research, and investigative journalism.
In addition, it plays a crucial role in combating misinformation by preserving original publications that can be referenced to verify past claims. With the increasing spread of disinformation, especially on social media, having a reliable archive of Nigerian newspapers helps ensure that historical narratives are not distorted.
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For instance, in our previous fact-check which assessed the veracity of a claim that the current Nigerian president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, built an independent power plant during his tenure as the governor of Lagos State, the platform enabled our researchers to access stories published regarding the matter as far back as 2001.
Here’s how to navigate Archivi.ng to access past Nigerian newspapers:
1. Visit Archivi.ng
Open your browser and type: https://archivi.ng. You will land on the website’s homepage which provides a search bar and category options.
2. Use the search bar
Type keywords related to your research topic in the search bar. For example, suppose you wish to know stories published regarding President Bola Tinubu as far back as 1999. In that case, you can type “Tinubu” in the search bar, and it will lead you to stories published regarding him in Nigerian newspapers within the period. Meanwhile, you can vary the keywords or add additional information to narrow down the results.
3. Select the dates
In the search icon, there’s a portion containing a calendar. This feature enables you to choose the year and the month of the publications you want to view.
4. Press Enter on your keypad or click the search icon.
After you have selected the date, click on the search button. It will show various stories published in various newspapers regarding the topic within your chosen timeframe.
5. Browse through the search results
Once the search results appear, scroll through the list to find newspapers or articles relevant to your research. Each result typically includes the publication name, date, and a snippet of the content.
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Carefully review the headlines and summaries to identify the most useful sources. If needed, refine your search by adjusting keywords or modifying the date range to get more precise results.
Nurudeen Akewushola is a fact-checker with FactCheckHub. He has authored several fact checks which have contributed to the fight against information disorder. You can reach him via nyahaya@icirnigeria.org and @NurudeenAkewus1 via Twitter.
