GCW Srinagar organises workshop on
‘Media and Information Literacy’
SRINAGAR, APRIL 25: Government
College for Women, M.A Road Srinagar organised a workshop on ‘Media and
Information Literacy’ here today.
The workshop was organised by the
Department of Journalism and Mass Communication of the college.
The workshop was attended by
faculty members of the college and was aimed to build their capacity to
navigate the evolving media landscape and combat misinformation.
Speaking on the occasion,
Principal, Prof. (Dr.) Yasmeen Farooq said, “Fake news has emerged as a major problem
across the world so it is important that we are well equipped with essential
media literacy skills to critically assess media content so that we act as
informed and responsible citizens. Without proper media literacy, people fall
prey to misinformation and manipulation.”
She said there is a need for more
such workshops to spread awareness among people regarding the importance of
verifying online content.
The resource person for the
workshop was Dr. Afsana Rashid, Assistant Professor, Media Education Research
Centre (MERC), Kashmir University and a certified FactShala trainer. The
workshop covered various themes including media bias, misinformation
ecosystems, deepfakes, artificial intelligence, and critical thinking.
In her presentation, Dr. Afsana differentiated
misinformation and disinformation. She shared the tips to identify the fake
information and stay safe online. The resource person also shared some valuable
online platforms designed to boost media and information literacy skills.
Head, Department of Journalism and
Mass Communication, Dr. Suhail Ahmad said the department has been conducting
fact-checking workshops with Google certified trainers on regular basis in
recent years.
“We have all been complaining about
fake news. Even a section of mainstream media has been found guilty of peddling
fake news so much so that these days you don’t feel like watching TV news
sometimes. That is why such workshops are so important,” Dr. Suhail added.
The workshop was part of the
FactShala University Network programme supported by Google News Initiative and
developed by DataLEADS, an award-winning digital media and tech company with focus
on information ecosystem, data research and media literacy.
The workshop concluded with a
discussion session in which participants shared their personal experiences
about the deluge of information and the difficulties faced in verifying the
authenticity of online content these days.