It is imperative for citizens to be aware of the misinformation eco-system and counter it through truthful information as misinformation threatens democracies across the world, said Public Affairs Officer at US Consulate General-Hyderabad, David Moyer.
Addressing a training workshop ‘Countering Disinformation for Urdu Journalists’ organised by the department of Mass Communication and Journalism, MANUU, in collaboration with the department of Mass Communication and Journalism, Osmania University, and US Consulate General-Hyderabad, he said there was a need to change the nature of discourse in the media towards positive and factual information on the issues relevant to the public.
MANUU Vice-Chancellor Syed Ainul Hasan urged mediapersons to work towards building trust by strengthening digital media literacy and empowering individuals to identify, critically analyse and counter disinformation. He said Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the first Education Minister of Independent India, and Maulvi Muhammad Baqir, who was the first martyr from Indian journalist community, used journalism as a weapon during the freedom struggle.
DIG (Women Safety) B.Sumathi said disinformation should not become a pretext to intimidate and harass critical voices, denigrate opponents or obstruct the legitimate activities of human rights. OU head of Journalism and Mass Communication department Stevenson Kohir outlined various topics of training sessions. A booklet titled ‘Standard Operating Tools’ for Urdu Journalists was also released.
