Media Literacy workshop at the “Alecu Russo” University of Balti. Young people discussed the challenges of contemporary journalism and the responsibility of disseminating information in the public space

30 students from the “Alecu Russo” State University of Balti participated on 20 March 2025 in a media literacy workshop. During the event, young people discussed the challenges of contemporary journalism, as well as the responsibility of disseminating information in the public space. The workshop was organised by the Independent Journalism Centre (IJC) with the support of the European Union.

Victoria Tataru, program coordinator at the IJC, welcomed the participants, inviting them to take advantage of the time reserved for an in-depth approach to the concepts and phenomena related to fake news, deepfake, disinformation, manipulation, propaganda, etc. “The need for media education in society is very high. As future journalists and representatives of other specialties who are present here, but certainly consumers and online content creators, it is important to understand that media preparation and critical thinking are mandatory skills to be able to deliver quality products to the public. You need to know what information to access, how to select it, and what you choose to pass on so as not to mislead public opinion.”

Ana Sârbu, a university lecturer and workshop trainer, engaged the young people in an interactive discussion on several topics of interest to them.

“Information and images circulate today in a continuous flow and at an amazing speed, so that it often becomes extremely complicated to be able to orient yourself in this huge space. To know how to be properly informed, to be able to select the correct news from the fake news is a great challenge, especially in the online environment, where most fake news is spread,” said Ana Sârbu.

The young people watched several videos from the media and online platforms in a practical exercise, being asked to recognize whether the information presented is real or false.  “Currently, fake news is crafted so skillfully and manipulates so subtly, that even journalists sometimes struggle to it. As a rule, fake news is created to discredit the image of an institution or a person and mislead the public. Behind these narratives, there is usually always a financial or political gain,” said the journalist Ana Sârbu.

“Nowadays, disinformation is reaching levels we could hardly imagine. To understand what I mean, I encourage you to watch some videos created with artificial intelligence. We are talking about deep-fake content, which is fake. There is nothing real – neither the text nor the images. AI can generate a deepfake in a very short time, using an image or video, analyzing online behavior, generating voice, and even answering questions. This is the most dangerous aspect, and in a few years things will become even more complicated”, Ana Sârbu explained.

For about three hours, the participants of the media literacy workshop watched various materials, discussed and analyzed them through their personal opinions and experiences, concluding that, to cope with today’s reality, one must be well-informed, possess general knowledge and, above all, apply critical thinking to assess the quality and correctness of the content you interact with.

Young people shared some impressions of the workshop they attended.

Elizaveta Guțul, 1st year student of Faculty of Letters, Journalism and Mass Media specialization

“I think it is important to promote such activities because they enhance not only our knowledge, but also our ability to handle real – life situations in journalism. What I have learned today will help me in the future”.

Adelina Ivanița, 1st year student of Faculty of Letters, Journalism and Mass Media specialization

“This training was extremely useful for me. Even if some things seemed familiar at first glance, today, I had the opportunity to go deeper. Artificial intelligence has made the work of a journalist very complicated, but I hope I’ll manage it”.

Sabrina Thor, 1st year student of Faculty of Letters, Journalism and Media specialization

“I already work in a newsroom, and I can say that the abundance of information can be truly overwhelming. Sometimes, it can be quite complicated to distinguish whether information is true or false. The information shared during the training helps me to be better prepared for my future profession”.

MIL workshop was organised within the “Responding, Expanding and Acting on Disinformation” project (READ), implemented jointly by International Media Support (IMS) from Denmark and the Independent Journalism Center (IJC), with the financial support of the European Union.