The Worldwide Middle for Journalists’ (ICFJ) Disarming Disinformation initiative is a three-year program, supported by the Scripps Howard Fund, that goals to sluggish the unfold of disinformation by way of a number of applications comparable to investigative journalism, capability constructing and media literacy schooling. ICFJ partnered with MediaWise from the Poynter Institute to develop and ship media literacy programming.
The media literacy training of trainers program accepted world contributors for 2 completely different cohorts. The contributors are group leaders who will educate others on the significance of media literacy and find out how to apply these expertise in actual life. The article beneath is one in every of 5 affect tales chosen from the primary cohort in celebration of media literacy week.
In 2018, Dr. Tamilselvi Natarajan got here throughout a video depicting a baby kidnapping, which unfold extensively on WhatsApp in India. It triggered numerous youngster abduction rumors throughout the nation and led to horrific violence, together with lynchings and mob assaults.
In actuality, nonetheless, the video wasn’t of an precise kidnapping, nor was it filmed in India; it was a public service announcement, created in Pakistan, that demonstrated a baby abduction to lift consciousness about youngster security.
“This incident deeply impacted me,” mentioned Natarajan, who on the time was an assistant media professor within the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. “I felt a robust sense of duty to deal with this subject, and I made it some extent to debate it often in my lessons with college students.”
A media educator for almost 15 years already, the episode marked the start of Natarajan’s journey to increase her data about find out how to determine and debunk misinformation.
She utilized for specialised coaching in fact-checking by way of a information and data literacy program run by DataLeads. Then COVID-19 hit. Through the peak of the pandemic, she got here throughout a chunk of suspicious info, which led her to place her coaching to apply.
“One viral put up claimed to offer the contact numbers of greater than 100 docs who could possibly be reached for emergency help,” she recalled. She reached out to every of them, solely to seek out that not one of the numbers had been right — they had been both fallacious numbers or not in service in any respect. “I made a decision to battle this by debunking misinformation together with like-minded individuals.”
In 2021, along with Induja Ragunathan, editor of Tamil YourStory, Natarajan launched MeiFactory, initially as a Fb web page devoted to debunking well being mis- and disinformation. MeiFactory advanced to turn out to be a full-blown fact-checking web site, and stays energetic right now by way of contributions from Natarajan and volunteers. A yr later, Natarajan moved to Oman to pursue a chance as a media professor at Bayan College.
It wasn’t lengthy earlier than she got here throughout ICFJ’s media literacy coaching of trainers, run in collaboration with MediaWise. The initiative was designed to deepen contributors’ understanding of mis- and disinformation networks, equip them with expertise to succeed in new audiences, and construct their data of novel applied sciences comparable to synthetic intelligence that may additional blur the road between actuality and manipulated content material — all so they may then practice others. “This system launched me to a spread of superior fact-checking instruments which have really empowered me in my efforts,” she mentioned.
As a professor, Natarajan discovered it simple to succeed in the audience of scholars and the college workers for the media literacy workshops she proceeded to run. Contacting them was simple; convincing them that disinformation existed in Oman was the laborious half. “Initially, the contributors weren’t very within the workshops,” she mentioned. “As soon as I launched real-life examples, notably these related to their nation, their attitudes shifted.”
Natarajan highlighted false information studies alleging that locusts swarmed a mosque in Mecca, and disinformation about local weather change and the prevalence of economic scams and their affect on the victims.
These examples grabbed the scholars’ consideration and helped them open up about doubtful info they got here throughout on-line themselves. “A participant talked about encountering information on social media that falsely claimed ({that a}) mutated pressure of the coronavirus brought about infertility in girls,” Natarajan mentioned. “In actuality, this info was debunked as false.”
Natarajan has navigated a language barrier throughout her trainings, which she conducts in English for primarily Arabic-speaking cohort contributors. “I had a co-trainer with me to translate a number of ideas into Arabic,” she mentioned. “I additionally created a brief video in Arabic to boost the coaching’s affect.”
She made her coaching interactive, having college students talk about the challenges they’ve confronted convincing others — particularly their mother and father — that sure information is wrong. After the workshops, the contributors recommended providing the coaching completely in Arabic to oldsters and older members of the family to assist them perceive the affect disinformation can have on their lives. “This collective dedication to combating faux information underscores the significance of fostering an knowledgeable and critically engaged group,” she mentioned.
To maintain the momentum that resulted from her coaching, Natarajan, with help from Bayan Faculty, arrange a media literacy membership within the college, the place college students now host discussions, manage fact-checking workshops, run digital media literacy campaigns and design outreach applications to type partnerships with media literacy organizations.
“By means of this initiative, we’re making a long-term affect by partaking extra college students and college within the dialog. This broader attain ensures that media literacy turns into an integral a part of the faculty tradition,” she mentioned.
Going ahead, Natarajan plans to incorporate signal language in her trainings to make them accessible to a bigger viewers. “By collaborating with signal language professionals, I hope to create an inclusive studying setting for these with listening to impairments,” she mentioned.
Her work demonstrates that combating misinformation is extra than simply fact-checking — it calls for a community-wide effort to construct digital resilience. On the heart of those efforts is a critical-thinking mindset. “Important considering allows people to investigate and consider the data they encounter, (and) encourages questioning the validity of claims,” she mentioned. “This talent is crucial not just for private empowerment but additionally for fostering a extra knowledgeable and accountable society.”
