“Name it to Tame it”: IREX for Media Literacy in Lithuania

Objectives and Aims

Modern media landscape today requires high quality skills and knowledge to navigate and use critically tremendous information flows. Media literacy knowledge and skills help individuals evaluate the information content in daily life and equips them with the necessary competences to recognize disinformation and propaganda (Terzis et al., 2020).

Our goals for this paper are to analyse and present the main activities and results of the 2022 Media Literacy in the Baltics project at Vilnius University and share best practices. The project is part of the Media Literacy in the Baltics program that aims to enable better engagement of critical dealing with multiple forms of media. It leverages the IREX Learn to Discern (L2D) media literacy training curriculum and approach implemented by International Research & Exchanges Board (IREX) organization with the assistance of the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). It is a part of coordinated international effort to help people acquire knowledge and develop the skills strongly needed in the post-truth media and information era. It aims to prevent the spread of the manipulative information, disinformation, hate speech, and propaganda that appears across multiple information sources and content (Learn to discern. Media literacy: trainer’s manual, 2020).

Outcomes

We developed the main activities and products of the Media Literacy in the Baltics project at the Vilnius University Faculty of Communication. In our roleas a partner in this project, we analysed results usingstatistical data andfeedback from attendees. To do this, we created forms targeting university students, academics, information specialists, and schoolchildren. We conducted media literacy seminars and workshops for other than Lithuanian speaking students as well at partner high schools. We arranged seminars/workshops during summer school for Vilnius University students and academics. And we prepared an article for academic research and literature review on media literacy. Vilnius University accepted the general university course, “Media and Information Literacy,” we created.. We adapted and integrated the JEDI (Journalism in the Era of Disinformation) method into this course. The aim of this course wass to develop students’ abilities to understand the information sphere and its processes in the media and to gain skills that are essential for conscious and critical consumption of the media content. Students completing the course should be able to evaluate and manage all daily information flows as well as to discern between reliable and unreliable information sources, credible content and disinformation, misinformation, and fake news. Finally, Vilnius University Faculty of Communication acted as an organizer of the international students’ conference, SOLUTION2022, on media literacy https://www.kf.vu.lt/dokumentai/Programme-Final-Public.pdf in cooperation with Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas (Lithuania).

References

  • IREX (2020). Learn to discern. Media literacy: trainer’s manual. Retrieved January 15, 2023 from https://www.irex.org/sites/default/files/node/resource/learn-to-discern-media-literacy-curriculum-english-3.pdf
  • Terzis, D., Kloza, D., Kuželewska, E., & Trottier, D. (Eds.). (2020). Disinformation and digital media as a challenge for democracy. Retrieved January 22, 2023 from https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/disinformation-and-digital-media-as-a-challenge-for-democracy/4AA403BC2691C317616CBD580894A02D

Martynas Petrikas, Jurgita Rudžionienė
Vilnius University, Lithuania

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