Media Education

In April 2014, the IJC launched its first project in media education. The main activities were media literacy lessons for students from various educational institutions in the country. The project had promising results which led to continued and diversified activities in this direction based on the belief that all citizens need media culture and media education. Since 2014, the IJC has organized 76 media literacy lessons and has trained 2,137 students and teachers.

In 2015, the IJC launched an extensive campaign to promote media education in schools, and two years later the initiative has yielded its first results with the optional course Media Education taught in over 20 schools in 13 districts of the country. It became possible after the IJC trained 52 teachers in the curriculum of Media Education for 3^rd and 4^th grades using the textbook with the same title produced by the Ministry of Education by order no. 671 of August 01, 2017. The course aims to develop students’ skills of analysis and critical thinking in relation to messages delivered by the media, their ability to distinguish between true and manipulative information, and their ability to make decisions and to act based on knowledge.

In 2016, the IJC launched the Mediacritica portal, a novel online resource designed to fight propaganda and manipulation in the media and to develop the critical thinking of media consumers in Moldova. The portal is regularly updated with materials on a variety of topics, and it has become an important resource for combating manipulation through the media and for promoting critical thinking.

Other activities organized by the IJC in terms of media education are the “Filter Information” media literacy camps (2015, 2017) and the “Fifth Power” media hackathon (2016).

Media education is an important strategic objective of the IJC; the organization will continue implementing various initiatives aimed at educating media consumers to be both aware and responsible.