Media Literacy workshop at the USM. Young journalists concerned about fake news and disinformation through artificial intelligence
46 students from the Faculty of Journalism and Communication Sciences of the State University of Moldova (USM) participated on 17 February 2025 in a workshop on media literacy. During the event, young journalists discussed different topics of interest to them and their future profession. The workshop was organised by the Independent Journalism Centre (IJC) with the support of the European Union.
“Being a journalist these days is not easy. No matter what subject you cover, you have a huge responsibility towards the public, to whom you have to provide accurate and well-researched information. And this requires a thorough preparation at university,” said journalist Ana Sârbu, university lecturer and workshop trainer. She welcomed the IJC’s idea to organise, for students of journalism faculties in the country, thematic initiations dedicated to explaining in depth the notions and phenomena of fake news, disinformation, deepfake, manipulation, propaganda, etc., as the crisis periods we are going through nowadays represent real challenges for all, including media representatives.
“You have often heard and perhaps even experienced fake news. What is it and where does it come from? How does this kind of information spread? To make it easier for you to answer this question, I suggest you take a look at some videos and then tell me what emotions the footage has stirred in you”, Ana Sârbu urged the young journalists at the start of the workshop.
One by one, the lecturer asked the participants to see several video clips of fake news and deepfake news stories that are mainly circulating on social networks with the aim of misleading in order to damage someone’s image, reputation or for financial or political gain. “What feelings have these videos provoked to you? Did you feel fear, worry, misunderstanding, disappointment, sadness? If a news story or video arouses too many emotions, check it from several sources. Misinformation is usually based on such emotions. Misinformation is like a drop of water puncturing a rock. If you hear it all the time, if it’s distributed often, on several channels, eventually you have the predisposition to take it as truth, even though it’s false”, the trainer explained.
“Deepfake is even more dangerous because it analyses not only the voice, but also the behavior, the algorithm, the reactions, the nervous tics of the person and translates them all into video. This is done so subtly that we will soon end up not being able to tell the difference between a real video and one created with artificial intelligence. The only way to tell them apart is to focus on the content, not the technical side. We will only emerge victorious in this battle if we know how to work with sources well enough to put them through the veracity filter. Otherwise, due to lack of time and general knowledge, we run the risk of becoming easy prey to misinformation”, the journalist warned the USM students.
In this context, Victoria Tataru, program coordinator at the IJC, provided the young people with information materials to help them better understand the knowledge gained during the workshop. According to her, “in times of crisis and information overabundance, everyone needs media skills, especially journalists. We all have a responsibility to educate citizens with critical thinking, who can analyse and ask questions about any information we come into contact with”.
Cătălina Cuciuc, Ist-year student of Journalism and Media Processes
The activity I participated is very different from the courses I have studied so far at the university. As complicated and complex the topics discussed were, they were explained in such a simple way that we could understand them. For example, even though I had some general knowledge about artificial intelligence from other professors, what I have found today will be very useful to me both personally and professionally.
Evelina Curca, Ist-year student of Journalism and Media Processes
Today I had the opportunity to discover other facets of journalism. Some things I found quite scary – I am talking about the deepfake phenomenon, how information technologies have evolved and how much they can influence us. These are very big challenges not just for us, but for humanity in general, because the complexity with the information technologies are developing today can radically change the situation in the world. We need to think critically and constantly analyse the information we contact with.
Ștefan Albu, Ist-year student of Communication and Public Relations
Information is the most important resource to survive and exist today. I was glad to learn so many new things about the media, about how to understand which information is truthful and which is not. A well-informed person is a protected person. And we are the ones who will have to make sure that people have access to truthful and quality information. It was useful and extremely actual.
Sabrina Colbasnicov, Ist-year student of Journalism and Media Processes
We have learned how the media can manipulate us, how we can identify fake news and deepfake, which is very complicated for us, because it is very difficult to distinguish which part is real and which part is created with artificial intelligence. However, I am hopeful that journalism will also move forward, taking into consideration that the Code of Ethics has already contains some provisions relating to artificial intelligence. I am planning to work in the media and I believe that we need such activities, lessons, lectures which will prepare us how to deal effectively with such complicated topics.
Iuliana Chistruga, Ist-year student of Communication and Public Relations
I think it is very important not only communicators or journalists should know about media literacy and critical thinking, but also simple persons should know about fake news and their hidden messages, to be able to distinguish between a well-documented, correct news from official sources and fake news that manipulates public opinion. Personally, I always get my information from the official websites of public institutions or I check the news in other media that I trust. I inform myself from channels I trust, less or almost not at all from social media.
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.
