On October 27th, 2022, in the framework of the UNESCO Global Media and Information Literacy Week, EUMEPLAT is organising a workshop devoted to “Media and Information Literacy: the Role of Academia and Media Experts“.

This year, the UNESCO week is devoted to the theme “Nurturing trust: A Media and Information Literacy Imperative”.

Abstract

As per UNESCO “Media and information literacy is an interrelated set of competencies that help people to maximize advantages and minimize harm in the new information, digital and communication landscapes. Media and information literacy covers competencies that enable people to critically and effectively engage with information, other forms of content, the institutions that facilitate information and diverse types of content, and the discerning use of digital technologies. Capacities in these areas are indispensable for all citizens regardless of their ages or backgrounds.”

Media is a powerful instrument to inform, share news and knowledge, entertain. It also shapes opinions and perceptions, so reality and truth can be distorted. The fight against disinformation is not always successful, as the skills required are much larger than the media literacy and include the capacity to evaluate, understand and analyse the information and the context. For these reasons, fact-checking must be taught as a method and needs to be transparent and build credibility.

Thus, academics, researchers and media professionals have to join forces in providing citizens, and notably students, with the appropriate skills to understand the evolving media sector, its opportunities and its threats.

During the webinar,  academia and media representatives will discuss this topic analysing its nature from different perspectives: starting from the cooperation initiatives that Higher Education Institutions can implement on media and journalism, then moving to the methodologies and strategies to conduct the research in the framework of the EUMEPLAT project, to close with the experience of Al-Fanar Media, an independent non-profit news organization focusing on higher education, research and culture in the Arab region.

Agenda and registration

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Welcome and greetings

Marcello Scalisi, UNIMED – Mediterranean Universities Union

Introduction and overview of the webinar

Andrea Miconi, IULM University and member of the UNIMED SubNetwork on Journalism

From Citizen Journalism to platformization of news

Miguel Crespo, ISCTE-IUL and EUMEPLAT Project partner

How to train students to recognize fake news

Mohammad El Hawary, Al-Fanar Media

Moderator: Nathalie Clauter, UNIMED – Mediterranean Universities Union

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The full agenda is available here.

To participate, please register here.