ARTICLE 19, the UK-based international human rights organization working to ensure freedom of expression and the right to information, and German leading media development organization DW Akademie has launched an online course titled ‘Misinformation and Factchecking: Media Information Literacy’, according to a press release issued on Monday.
The course is designed to create awareness and make responsible producers of information as well as to foster the ability of critical thinking to enrich and build general skills of news and information.
The course will enhance the capacity of the participants regarding safe and responsible users and producers of information.
They will also learn about safe and responsible communication especially in online communication, digital literacy, digital citizenship, digital etiquette, copyright, etc.
Anyone can attend this course free of cost. Specially, students of communication and journalism, journalists from print, electronic and online media, online activists and social media users will find the course interesting and useful.
Registration of the course is now open. The course, offered in Bangla and will begin on August 1, 2022 for 5 weeks. Anyone on desktop, laptop, tablet and smartphone can do the course at their convenience if they have internet connection only. One has to go to the link https://banglatutorial-media.org/ to register for the course. Upon successful completion of the course, participants will receive an accomplishment certificate from DW Akademie and ARTICLE 19.
Faruq Faisel, the regional director of ARTICLE 19 South Asia said, the global media situation is changing rapidly and Bangladesh is not free from this influence. Online and social media in particular are becoming increasingly popular and important as a source of information and expression. But at the same time, those involved in the use of this medium are at various negative and sensitive risks. Notable among these are rumours, use of fake information, dissemination of intentional information, dissemination of hateful information, etc.
“Lack of media information literacy knowledge puts ordinary citizens, including journalists and social media users, at physical and legal risk. Without mass media literacy, any ordinary citizen, including journalists and social media users, can be misled by misinformation. Therefore, in order to overcome this situation, it is necessary to make the new generation of journalists and ordinary citizens, including the users of social media, efficient and aware,” he added.
By doing this course students will be able to verify the veracity of news, misinformation and rumours, biased and intentionally disseminated news and produce quality information themselves. It will also contribute to enable the reader’s ability to acquire correct information and will develop a conscious and responsible audience.
