IMME launches News Literacy presentations with the support of the BUILD programme
October 3, 2024
IMME releases study on News Literacy
The Institute for Mass Media has just released its report on the pilot News Literacy campaign for secondary schools it ran at the end of 2024. The project was supported by the BUILD programme which is co-financed by the European Union, through the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values (CERV) program, the Bodosaki Foundation and the NGO Support Center.
The campaign and its findings make a strong case for the need for Cypriot authorities to consider introducing News Literacy modules in school curricula. The report’s central premise is that expecting citizens to identify and ignore disinformation presupposes that they must have first developed an appreciation for the value of truthfulinformation and, by extension, quality journalism. It reminds that democratic states have a positive obligation to make this happen, starting in schools.
The presentations were targeted at pupils in Year 11, 12 and 13 in public and private schools and at University students and were conducted in both Greek and English. Through the presentations IMME highlighted the significance of quality journalism in a democratic society, the right of EU citizens to information provided within a free, transparent and pluralistic media environment, pointed to the difference between newsrooms and content creators and how disinformation can be countered by fact-checking, investigative journalism but mostly by a news literate citizenry.
The project “Building a robust and democratic civic space” (BUILD) aims to protect, promote and raise awareness of EU fundamental rights & values by supporting civil society organisations (CSOs) in Greece & Cyprus and by increasing their capacity and sustainability. BUILD is co-funded by the European Union (90% of the grant), through the Citizens, Equality, Rights, and Values (CERV*) programme, and by Bodossaki Foundation and NGO Support Centre (10% of the grant), with a total grant amount of €2.9 million.
The report’s findings and recommendations (in English and Greek) are available on our homepage.
