Aspiring journalists at Solihull Sixth Form College took part in a media literacy workshop recently, studying how to tell fact from fiction.
20 Year 12 A level Media Studies learners participated in the session, which was led by Misoon El-Gomati from the Guardian Newspaper Foundation. The workshop was part of the paper’s ‘Behind the Headlines’ scheme, which helps young people learn how to research news stories, separating disinformation from misinformation, studying different writing styles of fake news stories and how Artificial Intelligence generated images can be manipulated to construct a news narrative.
Other topics covered during the session included clickbait, news reputability, fact-checking and accurate sourcing of information.
One of the learners who took part was Beth Lennon and she commented:
“I gained knowledge about newspapers and journalism that will be useful for me in the future, as I am considering a career in this field.”
Another participant was Selin Jones, who added:
“It was really informative and educational, and the activity spotting fake news was fun and interesting.”
Media teacher Daniel Spurr added:
“Those involved gained valuable insights from an industry professional and will now become media literacy ambassadors when they share back their experiences with their classmates.”
1 March 2024