Believe don't believe
The more information we have, the harder it is to navigate. We are confused. How do we make sense of the media world? What can we trust?
The last presidential election exposed an unpleasant phenomenon: the false and distorted messages that arrive in the inboxes of seniors. But that's just the tip of the iceberg. Most of today's seniors lived through the most active stage of their lives in the absence of a developed media market. Today's era places much greater demands on critical thinking, and seniors in particular may be subject to the pressure of mymedia - they often become targets of manipulation or succumb to information pessimism and conspiracy theories. Tomáš Pika sums up the issue for Hlídací psa, a project of the Institute of Independent Journalism.
Elpida has been working intensively on the topic for some time and has created a comprehensive programme in cooperation with Transitions and with the support of the O2 Foundation.
1 - Credibility Manual
There are many motivations for lying and manipulation in the media. But what to do about it? There is no need to despair and think that no one and nothing can be trusted. We've created a list of key criteria to help you navigate if you come across a report whose credibility you doubt. A reputable source should meet as many of these as possible. You can download and print the manual at any time and keep it handy at all times. DOWNLOAD the Credibility Manual
2 - Living in the Information Age
The aim of the series of seminars held at the Elpida Centre is to introduce seniors to the world of the media, to the craft of journalism and to contribute to a betterto improve their ability to form their own opinion, to face the onslaught of advertising, to navigate the Internet safely or to debate with guests about values such as freedom of speech or state propaganda.
✣ Excursions to CT
✣ How is news made?
✣ A journalist is also a human being (discussion with...)
✣ Advertising and manipulation
✣ Fake news
✣ Television and radio
✣ We trust photography
✣ Trapped in the net or internet safety
✣ The history of print media
✣ History of television and radio
✣ The good sense of journalism
3 - A series of lectures, classes and meetings in various parts of the country
We emphasize face-to-face meetings with interesting guests all over the Czech Republic. From the dozens of events we have held, we are compiling experiences for methodology to help local actors - librarylibraries, clubs and informal groups - to integrate this topic into their regular educational and cultural and social activities. All this using intergenerational networking and the involvement of journalism students and other disciplines. Thanks to the cooperation with TOL, 26 lectures have been held in regions across the country since the beginning of the year. 10 more are planned by the end of October.
4 - Special copy of VITAL
A whole issue of VITAL magazine, which Elpida has been publishing for 12 years, is dedicated to the topic of fake news. In it, we have covered topics such as:
✣ Merchants of fear and hatred. Who are they and what is their motivation?
✣ The world near, the world far. How can we understand what is happening in a world we have no direct experience of?
✣ Digital health. How not to be frustrated?
✣ The business of attention. How does the media affect our emotions?
✣ Do Czech journalists even know what weighs on the population?
A special edition of VITAL was published in June. Order it now.
5 - Recording of the debate
Watch the recording of the Believe don't believe debate we held in Prague in September 2018. Apolena Rychlíková, Robert Čásenský, Janek Rubeš and Jaroslav Valůch discussed the topic of mainstream media. Debates were also held in Brno, Olomouc, Bratislava and Košice.
6 - workshop and methodological meeting
In the past year, in cooperation with Transitions, we organized dozens of educational meetings on media and trust in information sources across the Czech Republic. A number of institutions working with seniors have been involved (or are considering it) in these activities. In June 2019, we held a workshop and methodological meeting to review what has already happened and distill ideas to implement next. Guest speakers included Josef Šlerka from the New Media Studio (StuNoMe) and the Foundation for Independent Journalism, who set the myths about fake news straight. He used dozens of examples to demonstrate why reading information is so difficult. (He recalled, for example, the Loftus & Palmer experiment to see how much we are able to influence memories with a well-chosen question, to show how suggestive means can affect our evaluations.)
Who is behind the projects?
Elpida is Greek for hope. But it is also the name of an organization that helps seniors become a confident and respected part of society. In the spirit of the Old's Cool motto, Elpida is changing the way people look at old age - it runs the Elpida Educational and Cultural Centre for seniors fromPrague and the Senior Crisis Line, founded the brand Socks from Grandma, publishes the magazine VITAL, and organises the intergenerational Old's Cool festival. In short, she is trying to make Czech seniors lead a full & happy life.
Transitions is a non-profit media company that actively supports media independence. It has decided to focus its many years of experience in supporting quality independent journalism in different parts of the world on supporting Czech seniors. Therefore, it is cooperating with Elpida on a series of educational events in towns and villages, the purpose of which is to show ways to navigate in the current information noise.