Background

In today’s fast-growing digital world, young people are consuming more and more information every day, and yet they don’t have access to the necessary tools to critically analyze all that they are consuming. The way information is accessed by people has been transformed by algorithm-oriented news feeds and social media platforms, which tend to prioritize engagement over accuracy. As per UNESCO, it is essential for people to have media and information literacy for them to identify cases of misinformation, confirm credible sources, and participate in the democratic processes meaningfully. 

There are considerable challenges that accompany the spread of misinformation, especially for students who are at the crucial stage of developing critical and analytical skills. As the research done by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development highlights, a lot of young people find it difficult to differentiate between reliable and unreliable/misleading information online, which makes them prone to misinformation, manipulation, and biased narratives. The impact of these challenges increases in the context of underserved communities because they have limited access to media literacy, journalism opportunities, and other important digital learning resources. 

The opportunities are very limited for young people to be able to engage with news production and journalism meaningfully. Most students, while exposed to all forms of current affairs and other news, don’t have access to education that can make them aware of how to navigate information. Whether it is researching, verification, writing, or presentation of news, they have very little access to proper means of education. In order to tackle this problem, we need initiatives that can bring together critical thinking, media literacy, and practical forms of communication skills that can, in turn, empower students to not just become informed consumers but also confident, skilled, and responsible creators of information.