Filipino journalists and media educators joined forces for a media and information literacy (MIL) campaign formally launched Friday, Oct. 6 at the University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication (UP CMC) in Diliman, Quezon City.
Aptly titled “Media and Information Literacy Project,” the initiative aims to aid teachers, students, and other interested individuals in learning MIL and to combat the rampant misinformation and disinformation happening in the country.
For context, a 2021 Social Weather Stations survey revealed that the majority, or 51%, of Filipinos have a hard time spotting false information on radio, television, and social media.
The project contained a series of MIL “vlog tutorials” or lessons uploaded on the project’s YouTube channel. A new tutorial video and a module guide designed for teachers in handling their MIL classes effectively are released every two weeks.
“Ito po yung naisip naming proyekto [at] munting ambag ng aming kolehiyo para sa ating guro at para sa pag-aaral ng media and information literacy sa ating bansa,” UP Journalism Department chair and broadcast journalist Kara David said.
(This is the project we thought of and our college’s small contribution to our teachers and for the teaching of media and information literacy in the country.)
The video lessons posted will feature topics on journalism and fact-checking and will be discussed by veteran news anchors and reporters from ABS-CBN News and GMA Integrated News.
“Everyone involved in this project understands that to reach students, it is important to empower teachers in a way that expands the influence of their teaching beyond the four walls of the classroom,” Internews Philippines country director Peter Mackenzie said.
The first episode, hosted by broadcast journalist and documentarist Howie Severino, is now available for viewing.
The “Media and Information Literacy Project” is spearheaded by the UP Journalism Department, in cooperation with the UP CMC Foundation Inc. implemented by Internews, and funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) under their five-year Initiative for Media Freedom (IMF) program. — Xander Lauren Cipriano