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Рy28 September 2016
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On Tuesday, September 27, the “Columna” lyceum in Chisinau hosted a media literacy lesson organized by the Independent Journalism Center (IJC) as part of the “Call us to your school!” campaign. A group of 24 high-school students met journalist Viorica Zajaria and talked about the forms of manipulation and propaganda used by media outlets to catch the public’s attention.
The journalist spoke to participants about biased language and labels sometimes used by journalists in their materials, about the right to reply, and how the media manipulate via video and photos.
According to Viorica Zaharia, information presentation techniques to a certain extent depend on the editorial policy of the media outlet. “There are news stories that tell half-truth and are delivered to us for a certain purpose. We must be careful, because when the truth is mixed with lies, manipulation happens,” the expert pointed out. Speaking of the information shared on social networks, where it is more difficult to distinguish lies from the truth, the journalist came up with the following piece of advice: “If information seems doubtful, you’d better verify it via other sources so as to be sure that it is not manipulation.”
Students found the lesson very different from their usual classes and believed that it will help them better understand the news stories they read in newspapers or the information they get on the radio or TV.
For Marina Derihvost, the media literacy lesson has been an opportunity to know more about how journalistic materials are written: “I found out how information is collected, what criteria are followed so as to write correct and professional news,” she said.
Another student, Tatiana Poleaca, underlined that she learned to verify information via several sources and that “the credibility of a news story can be confirmed by the six basic questions that it must answer.”
The activity organized by the IJC has also aroused the interest of the teachers. Carolina Bujor-Cobili, deputy director for education, mentioned that these lessons are especially needed to young people, helping them to orient in a diverse media environment. “It has been an interesting, interactive lesson with useful information for students. They gladly participated in discussions and learned to filter information correctly,” she told us in the end.
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The “Promoting Media Literacy and Professional Standards in the Media for an Informed Public” project is being implemented by the Independent Journalism Center (IJC) with the financial support of Soros-Foundation – Moldova/Media Program.
The journalist spoke to participants about biased language and labels sometimes used by journalists in their materials, about the right to reply, and how the media manipulate via video and photos.
According to Viorica Zaharia, information presentation techniques to a certain extent depend on the editorial policy of the media outlet. “There are news stories that tell half-truth and are delivered to us for a certain purpose. We must be careful, because when the truth is mixed with lies, manipulation happens,” the expert pointed out. Speaking of the information shared on social networks, where it is more difficult to distinguish lies from the truth, the journalist came up with the following piece of advice: “If information seems doubtful, you’d better verify it via other sources so as to be sure that it is not manipulation.”
Students found the lesson very different from their usual classes and believed that it will help them better understand the news stories they read in newspapers or the information they get on the radio or TV.
For Marina Derihvost, the media literacy lesson has been an opportunity to know more about how journalistic materials are written: “I found out how information is collected, what criteria are followed so as to write correct and professional news,” she said.
Another student, Tatiana Poleaca, underlined that she learned to verify information via several sources and that “the credibility of a news story can be confirmed by the six basic questions that it must answer.”
The activity organized by the IJC has also aroused the interest of the teachers. Carolina Bujor-Cobili, deputy director for education, mentioned that these lessons are especially needed to young people, helping them to orient in a diverse media environment. “It has been an interesting, interactive lesson with useful information for students. They gladly participated in discussions and learned to filter information correctly,” she told us in the end.
_________________
The “Promoting Media Literacy and Professional Standards in the Media for an Informed Public” project is being implemented by the Independent Journalism Center (IJC) with the financial support of Soros-Foundation – Moldova/Media Program.
The Independent Journalism Center (IJC) is the first media organization that provides aid to journalists and media outlets in Moldova, having the goal to contribute to strengthening free and viable press via projects that offer training in the area of journalism and public relations, media campaigns, advocacy, research and media education.
