UNICEF and CJI invite teachers and youth to take part in the largest media literacy lesson in Romania

Bucharest, 14 November 2022. The Center for Independent Journalism (CJI) and UNICEF invite teachers, schoolteachers and students to participate in "Romania's largest media literacy lesson: How we distinguish facts from opinions in the media". Teachers can register until 25 November on the event platform, https://www.qie.ro/faptesiopinii/, to download a range of materials and participate with their students in the global World's Largest Lesson initiative.

For the first time in history, the number of people offline has fallen below 3 billion, meaning more than two-thirds of the world's population spends time online^[1]. At the same time, according to a European Commission report, Romania has a very low level of basic digital skills compared to the EU average (28% compared to 54%), and when it comes to content creation, only 41% of people have basic skills compared to the EU average of 66%^[2].As the internet moves from luxury to necessity, from novelty to part of everyday life, new doors are opened for misinformation to slip into everyone's lives.

It is therefore essential for a balanced society that everyone develops the skills to identify, understand and critically evaluate different types of information. Media literacy provides a way in which these skills can be acquired while studying any of the school subjects taught already by teachers.

How prepared is Romania’s youth to deal with disinformation?

With the help of teachers from the Media Literacy Community, CJI got answers from students about their online media content consumption habits^[3]. In line with global trends, children and young people spend most of their time online on social networks such as Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and WhatsApp. They also follow news and entertainment sites and at least one influencer. But whether or not they believe that fake information is appearing online, most young people still don't know what's fake and what's news. They have not been able to identify elements in articles or posts that make them suspicious when they receive information.

A week ahead of World Children’s Day celebrated every year on 20 November, CJI and UNICEF invite all teachers to take part in "Romania's largest media literacy lesson". During the activity, which will take place from 14 to 27 November, students will be able to learn in class how to verify information using data and statistics to differentiate facts from opinions, creating a safer and more inclusive world. Teachers can download a range of resources tailored to their classroom needs, including a lesson script and a short video.

"When opinions are sold to us as indisputable facts, being able to tell the difference between fact and opinion is an essential skill for all of us. We have prepared a set of resources for teachers and educators to help them guide their students through the media world more easily," says Cristina Lupu, Executive Director of the Center for Independent Journalism.

"We invite teachers and students again this year on World Children’s Day to carry out together the largest media literacy lesson in Romania, a successful event, to which, during previous years, thousands of teachers and hundreds of thousands of students took part. We are working to make education more equitable, inclusive and relevant by empowering children and young people to protect themselves against misinformation in today's and tomorrow's information society," said Anna Riatti, UNICEF Representative in Romania.

The lesson is modelled after the World's Largest Lesson, a global initiative launched by UNICEF in 2015, in partnership with Project Everyone and with support from UNESCO, to engage children in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Through the Media Literacy Programme, CJI is actively working towards transforming education, contributing to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 - Quality Education.

For more information please contact:

The Center for Independent Journalism (CJI):

Adriana Trocea, Brand Manager, adriana.trocea@cji.ro, +40721296965

Bianca Rus, Project Manager, bianca@cji.ro, +40724201405

UNICEF:

Cătălin Pruteanu, Media Consultant, cpruteanu@unicef.org, +40726107799