Media consumption lesson for young people from Orhei

„Get information from various sources, analyze critically, and learn to think with your own heads to avoid being manipulated” – these were some of the recommendations offered by Petru Macovei (Director, Association of Independent Press) within a new media literacy lesson. The activity, attended by 15 pupils from Orhei, was organized by the Independent Journalism Centre (IJC) on 30 July.

At the beginning of the lesson, Petru Macovei explained to the pupils what media is, which are the responsibilities of journalists mediating between authorities and citizens. „Journalists have an obligation to present information in a fair manner. A journalistic material must contain all points of view. Different points of view do not mean different persons, but different opinions”, Macovei stated.

Subsequently, the expert explained to the participants the phrases: freedom-constraint, information-disinformation, truth-lie, with reference to the ethical norms that a journalist should observe when submitting information to the citizen.

Also, during the activity, the pupils were able to understand what information and manipulation is and how it can be avoided, through examples and TV reports, analyzed by Petru Macovei.

The pupils indicated that the media literacy lesson encouraged them to meditate and be more attentive to the information received. „We must have a critical attitude, to check and filter out information in order not to fall into a trap and not to be misinformed and manipulated”, Gheorghe Barbos, a pupil of IX-a grade, said.
 
This activity 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.