On the 29 of March the TY Journalism team took part in a media literacy workshop provided by DCU PhD student Ricardo Castellini da Silva. In this workshop, the TY team learned how to discern the difference between real and fake news. Throughout the workshop, the students became media literate and became more aware of using social media.
In this course the students were given a series of news outlets and were asked to decipher the difference between real news and fake news. The students learned how easy it is to mistake a fake news outlet for an official outlet and the importance of cross-checking sources to make sure that the information is reliable.The students took part in a game which taught them how to create fake news. Through the game the TY students realised how easy it it to create fake news and how severe the impact it has on today’s society. It has made them more aware and has also improved their media literacy.
This workshop was very informative and it would be valuable for upcoming journalism classes in the future. These students are more aware and are able to identify between real and fake news. It has encouraged some to continue to develop their interest in the news and improve their media literacy. We send our thanks to Ricardo Castellini da Silva for providing us with this course and we all send him the best of luck with his PHD.
By Victoria Emorinken