Butuan City student journalists train on information literacy, fact-checking
By PIA Caraga
BUTUAN CITY (PIA)—The city government of Butuan, through the City Executive Management Department-Public Information Division spearheaded a training on information literacy and fact-checking to student journalists and coaches from seven campuses in the city on June 25.
“The government launched the Maging Mapanuri Campaign to address disinformation, as one of the most pressing issues of the country that creates confusion among Filipinos,” Philippine Information Agency (PIA) Caraga Assistant Regional Head Renelle L. Escuadro said, as a resource speaker.
“The campaign calls for an effective collaboration with various stakeholders to promote information literacy and ensure a safer, more informed, and connected society,” she added.
She cited the pivotal role of the youth sector, specifically the journalists in campuses, who have access to most information to support the campaign of the government.
Information pollution
“In information literacy, we are more effective if we are specific in spotting the nature of the information and we refrain from using general terms,” she added.
She encouraged the participants to be vigilant and start appreciating the three types of information pollution: Misinformation is the unintentional spread of false or inaccurate information. It often arises from mistakes, misunderstandings, or misrepresentations and can occur in various forms, such as rumors.
Disinformation, on the other hand, involves the intentional spread of false information with the intent to deceive or manipulate. Tactics may include the creation of false stories, doctored images, and misleading narratives.
Mal-information consists of the dissemination of true information but with malicious intent, such as sharing private or confidential data without consent. It can lead to harm, invasion of privacy, or reputational damage.
“Maging Mapanuri Campaign is designed to empower government communicators to strengthen and disseminate this campaign to different sectors of the society, including student journalists and go beyond your technical skills and become fact-checkers, helping the government promote resilience against information pollution in the digital age through your respective platforms,” she underscored.
The resource speaker shared some online sites and tools for fact-checking that are helpful in verifying statements, photos, videos, among others.
She also encouraged the participants to use development communication in all their communication outputs so the students, teachers and parents may know the programs and projects of the government.
Christopher A. Jamer, one of the participating coaches, expressed affirmation on the need for the government to strengthen the fight against disinformation. “The students are vulnerable to disinformation. We will look into how the school publication can be relevant and contribute to fact-checking.”
For the young journalists, fact-checking is a new avenue and opportunity for them to align with the government communicators in ensuring that every Filipino receives accurate, timely and relevant information.
Meanwhile, this city government’s engagement entitled, “Campus Communicators as Partners in Public Information: Capability for Student Journalists,” is a two-day activity where student journalists and their coaches also underwent upskilling on news writing and workshop on reporting and photojournalism, including knowledge enhancement on media ethics and responsible journalism. (RLE, PIA Caraga)
