About informational manipulation at a lesson of media literacy

A group of twenty school students from Chisinau, Ialoveni, Bender and Straseni participated in a lesson of media literacy organized by the Independent Journalism Center (IJC) on August 6.

Diana Railean, journalist for Radio Free Europe, encouraged students to be careful when seeking information, so as to avoid manipulation through media. “If you read an article and feel that the journalist is biased, look for other sources of information. Avoid half-written materials, which fail to present all sides of the problem, because you’ll be only half-informed,” Diana Railean said.

The media literacy lesson was positively received by participants, as it offered useful information that deserves reaching as many students as possible, since in the near future they will have to actively participate in the country’s social life, making responsible choices.

“Until now, I used to accept any material like it was presented on TV or in newspapers, but after the media literacy lesson I will seek information more carefully; I will read more media sources and will look for more opinions so as to form my own point of view about an event or fact,” said Dumitru Balaian, 10^th grade student.

“The media literacy lesson that I attended taught me that any material or piece of news should contain three independent sources. If I see that a material lacks one of the sources, I will seek information from other media so as to avoid being manipulated,” said Nicoleta Donescu, 11th grade student.

The lesson of media literacy was organized within the project "Promoting media literacy among Moldovan citizens”, implemented by IJC during March 2014 – April 2015, with the financial support of the United States Embassy to Moldova.