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A new media literacy lesson for the Moldovan students, organized by the IJC, took place on November 13, 2014. The activity was attended by 34 students of the Theoretical High School ”Mihai Eminescu” from Anenii Noi, who were instructed by Radio Free Europe journalist, Diana Railean.
The students discussed in a non-formal atmosphere about the news, how to differentiate manipulative information from the correct one, which are the hidden interests of some media sources, and what are the risks we expose to while being manipulated by the press.
”Informational manipulation is a non-violent, but very dangerous procedure, with a long effect, just like the Chinese drop. Through manipulation, people with several political or economical interests, who many times stand behind the media institutions, transform the society and make people believe and do exactly what they intend to”, explained to the students D. Railean.
The journalist highlighted the fact that it is extremely necessary to try to realize to whom media sources where we take information from actually belong and to recognize the tendentious information. According to the Radio Free Europe reporter, in order to have a real image of what is written in the Moldovan press, we should inform ourselves from at least 4 different media sources.
Diana Railean has also referred to the characteristics of correct news. For example: diversity of the sources. ”If in a news there are more sources, but they present the position of only one of the involved parts, then this news shouldn’t be listened to”, said Diana Railean. She presented examples of informational manipulation, in TV and online media – cases of distorted and biased news, usage of false images or statistics without any source.
The students were actively involved in the discussion, mentioning that the topic, media literacy, is very relevant, especially now, in front of the parliamentary elections, when many of them will be able to vote for the first time.
”Today I have learned how quality news should be, what are its characteristics and how to understand which are the manipulative news”, mentioned Daniela Graur, Xth grade student.
“In this activity I learned that many TV channels, from Moldova and other countries as well are manipulating the society through their media content. It is a subject of interest for us, as we need to realize the informational danger we are being exposed to”, added Vlad Buga, XIIth grade student.
The event took place as part of the project “Promoting media literacy among Moldovan citizens”, implemented by the IJC between March 2014 and April 2015 with the financial support of the US Embassy in Moldova.
