Developing media literacy skills in young people

Tbilisi 15 May, 2019. Improving young people’s knowledge and skills in media literacy will be the main focus of cooperation between UNICEF and the Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics this year. A series of two-day workshops for young people will be held in Tbilisi and the regions.

Teaching will be conducted using a media literacy coursebook developed by UNICEF and the Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics. The coursebook is an adapted version of the PONDER programme developed by the UNICEF Kosovo Office. A group of Georgian experts adapted the existing resource to make it relevant for a Georgian setting. The coursebook will help young people to critically analyze the information disseminated by the media. The exercises in the coursebook focus on developing skills of perception when reading printed, or viewing audio and video/photo material.

The two-day workshops for senior high school students will be held in Tbilisi, Batumi, Kutaisi, Marneuli and Tsnori. Up to 20 young people will participate in each workshop. Attendees will include students from media schools, as well as other young people who, as peer-educators, will share what they learn with other members of their community.

In the modern world, where the information flow is constantly growing, society has to develop the right skills to identify the reliability of information. Media literacy has been gaining more importance in Georgia, as only a society that is media literate and has the capacity to think critically will manage to defend itself from misinformation. This is the main goal of fostering media literacy in young people in Georgia.

As part of this work, the Charter will also announce an award for in-depth coverage of children’s issues. At the end of 2019, a special jury will reveal a winner who will be awarded a prize from UNICEF and the Charter.