Media Literacy for Future Journalists: Research Findings and Recommendations

• In Event: Poster Session Group 1
  In Poster Session: Media Literacy for Future Journalists: Research Findings and Recommendations

Proposal

Journalism is affected by changes in the communication environment like no other profession, as it directly deals with making sense of an increasing volume of information that reaches the newsroom every day. How much of the skillset of aspiring journalists needs to change, as we face increasing amounts of disinformation from both local and international actors? Media and information literacy is increasingly important skill for everyone today, but it is essential for gatekeepers working at media organizations, as they often are the first line of defense against untruthful manipulation.
Media Literacy in the Baltics Program, a program of the U.S. Department of State, administered by IREX, addresses this challenge by targeting future journalists studying at communication schools in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Learn to Discern university-level coursework “Journalism in the Era of Disinformation” (JEDI) shapes essential skills through building resilience, fact-checking, image and video authenticity verification and dealing with deepfakes and information selected by artificial intelligence. To measure the impact of this intervention, IREX uses monitoring and evaluation design that assesses the following five areas: (1) Information literacy behaviour and awareness, (2) sense of control over influence of information, (3) value of information literacy in society, (4) media analysis skill, and (5) understanding of the news media industry. Pre- and post-training assessment as well as self-assessment methods are used.

Findings from AY 2020/21 show that after taking the JEDI course 93% of students demonstrate an increase in their own information behavior, which indicates the effect of specific media literacy programming at the higher education level, which can be offered not only for journalism and mass communication students but even broader audiences. A considerable number of students also demonstrate increase in other four areas measured, for instance, 56% demonstrate increase in perception of value for media literacy.

This poster will highlight the overall achievements of the Media Literacy in the Baltics Program and explore themes described above about media literacy and critical information engagement as part of university curricula. Using data from monitoring and evaluation results, the poster will illustrate students’ progress throughout their Journalism in the Era of Disinformation course. The presentation will be widely applicable to CIES participants interested in media literacy, journalism, effective tactics to combat misinformation, responsible digital citizenship and incorporating media literacy into formal university curriculum, as well as measuring impact of these interventions.
Boosting media literacy skills in the Baltic states is important because these countries are directly affected by disinformation inspired by the neighboring country on a regular basis, not to mention other mis- and malinformation occurrences reaching people via various modern media channels. The news connected to the global pandemic have also inspired many local disinformation actors and conspiracy theory believers to be more vocal about their opinions, which contribute to the further need to develop information analysis skills for media professionals and the society at large. Both in the Baltics and globally, the need for media literacy in various groups of society, and well-trained journalists in this era of disinformation, is higher than ever.

Author

• Kaspars Ruklis, IREX