MediaWise, the Poynter Institute’s media literacy initiative, is partnering with DataLEADS, a digital media and expertise firm, and its media literacy program, FactShala, to launch the primary of its variety, ambassador-led academic video sequence in India, with assist from the Google News Initiative.

The video sequence, developed with a micro-learning format in thoughts and catering to viewers’ busy schedules, will incorporate trusted native journalists because the voice of media literacy training. The movies are a part of the newly launched FactShala Ambassador Program.

“We’re excited to continue our work helping fight misinformation around the world,” stated MediaWise director Alex Mahadevan. “And it’s particularly important as we continue to see the effects of falsehoods online spill out into the real world.”

The video sequence can be designed with the viewer in thoughts – providing sensible expertise and helpful instruments that individuals can make use of to higher type reality from fiction on-line. Topics embrace research-backed methods corresponding to the right way to detect deceptive knowledge visualizations, the right way to confirm manipulated pictures and deepfakes, the right way to make use of crucial pondering methods by means of lateral studying, the right way to establish misinformation warning indicators, the right way to have troublesome conversations with family and friends about misinformation, and the Digital Inquiry Group’s (previously Stanford History Education Group) three questions. The movies can be co-published on FactShala’s, The Quint’s, and MediaWise’s YouTube channels and social media platforms.

“We’re honored and excited to partner with the Poynter Institute to give people the tools and the confidence to engage with the modern media landscape. The launch of this project is a great step forward in accelerating the growth of media literacy in India,” stated Syed Nazakat, Founder & CEO, DataLEADS. “Every Indian should have access to high quality and trustworthy information that equips them with competencies to think critically about the information they consume, create and share every day. We are proud to work with India’s leading thought leaders such as Ritu Kapur to foster media literacy for all.”

Joining the challenge is Kapur, managing director and founding father of The Quint, a information and opinion web site in India. She will function the English-language ambassador for each MediaWise and FactShala. Through her work within the information business and being a catalyst for change, Kapur isn’t any stranger to the media and data ecosystem. In addition to her work with The Quint, Kapur was a founding member of Network 18 in 1992 and pioneered The Citizen Journalist Show on IBN within the early 2000s, successful a number of awards. When Network 18 launched its English-language information channel, then generally known as CNN-IBN, she served as a options editor.

Ritu Kapur recording a video for the Ambassador Program. (Vijay Sadasivuni/DataLEADS)

“Amidst India’s rich diversity, the Ambassador Program focuses on nurturing a discerning generation, dedicated to ingraining the instinct of fact-checking, cultivating a society where separating truth from falsehood becomes second nature,” Kapur stated. “Its mission is to shape a society that is well-informed and robust, paving the way for a more resilient future.”

Kapur at the moment serves on the Reuter’s Institute Advisory Board. In her position as a MediaWise ambassador, Kapur will stroll viewers by means of expertise and methods they will use when navigating the knowledge ecosystem.

“We are pleased to continue our partnership with industry experts and trusted journalism voices that are collaborating to find new ways to tackle the ever-evolving challenge of online misinformation, find sustainable ways to transfer critical thinking skills and scale the reach of media literacy efforts,” stated Surabhi Malik, Google News Lab Lead in India. “Programs like FactShala Ambassador will go a long way to help users build resilience against online misinformation, help reduce its harms and is hence a step in the right direction.”

The MediaWise Ambassador program launched in 2019 with NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt because the inaugural ambassador. At that point, the mission was to empower Gen Z with media literacy expertise.

Since that yr, journalists worldwide have joined the trouble to empower individuals of all ages, globally, with methods to type by means of the web noise. The program now consists of ambassadors CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, former ABC Good Morning America anchor Joan Lunden, Telemundo’s José Diaz-Balart, PBS NewsHour’s Amna Nawaz, Washington Post’s Dave Jorgensen, PBS NewsHour’s Hari Sreenivasan, Newtral’s Ana Pastor, Thomson Reuters Foundation’s Openly’s Enrique Anarte Lazo and others who take part in MediaWise’s numerous tasks and outreach to empower all with the talents to establish factual data.

This video sequence joins MediaWise’s rising worldwide portfolio with media literacy partnerships and tasks spanning 10 international locations. The movies will launch in English, adopted by Hindi and two extra languages in 2024. To be taught extra concerning the ambassador program in India, please go to https://factshala.com/mediawise-ambassadors/.

The challenge is supported by the Google News Initiative in India.

About The Poynter Institute
The Poynter Institute is a world nonprofit working to deal with society’s most urgent points by educating journalists and journalism, overlaying the media and the complexities dealing with the business, convening and group constructing, enhancing the capability and sustainability of reports organizations and fostering belief and reliability of data. The Institute is a gold commonplace in journalistic excellence and devoted to the preservation and development of press freedom in democracies worldwide. Through Poynter, journalists, newsrooms, companies, large tech firms and residents convene to seek out options that promote belief and transparency in information and stoke significant public discourse. The world’s prime journalists and rising media leaders depend on the Institute to be taught new expertise, undertake finest practices, higher serve audiences, scale operations and enhance the standard of the universally shared data ecosystem.

The Craig Newmark Center for Ethics and Leadership, the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), MediaWise and PolitiFact are all members of the Poynter group.

Support for Poynter and our entities upholds the integrity of the free press and the U.S. First Amendment and builds public confidence in journalism and media — an important for well being democracies. Learn extra at poynter.org.

About MediaWise
MediaWise is a social-first digital media literacy initiative of the nonprofit Poynter Institute. The program teaches individuals of all ages and backgrounds the right way to responsibly have interaction with on-line content material within the age of data overload. MediaWise was created in 2018 to empower residents to seek out trusted sources and make sense of the huge quantity of data at their fingertips. MediaWise brings easy, but efficient, digital media literacy instruments to individuals the place they’re — whether or not they’re on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, X (the platform previously generally known as Twitter), TikTookay, or in one of many 10 international locations the place MediaWise operates — and stroll them by means of each step to find out what’s actual and what’s not on the web. Through MediaWise, everybody can do their half to scale back the unfold of misinformation and elevate the information.

Follow MediaWise on social media to discover ways to debunk viral claims and be extra crucial shoppers of on-line data. Explore packages and be a part of the answer at poynter.org/mediawise.

About DataLEADS
DataLEADS is a digital media and expertise firm aimed to assist individuals perceive and interact with the world round them. DataLEADS’ work consists of fact-checking initiatives, knowledge analytics, media analysis, media and data literacy interventions, curriculum growth, designing public coverage interventions and artistic growth initiatives.

About FactShala
FactShala is a media and data literacy program run by DataLEADS with assist from the Google News Initiative. The programme helps individuals from small cities and villages throughout India to critically assess on-line data and sift information from misinformation. The imaginative and prescient is to empower communities round them with moral approaches to data literacy and important pondering expertise.