SRINAGAR: Government College for Women, M.A Road Srinagar organised a workshop on ‘Media and Information Literacy' here today.

The workshop was organised by the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication of the college.

The workshop was attended by faculty members of the college and was aimed to build their capacity to navigate the evolving media landscape and combat misinformation.

Speaking on the occasion, Principal, Prof. (Dr.) Yasmeen Farooq said, "Fake news has emerged as a major problem across the world so it is important that we are well equipped with essential media literacy skills to critically assess media content so that we act as informed and responsible citizens. Without proper media literacy, people fall prey to misinformation and manipulation."

She said there is a need for more such workshops to spread awareness among people regarding the importance of verifying online content.

The resource person for the workshop was Dr. Afsana Rashid, Assistant Professor, Media Education Research Centre (MERC), Kashmir University and a certified FactShala trainer. The workshop covered various themes including media bias, misinformation ecosystems, deepfakes, artificial intelligence, and critical thinking.

In her presentation, Dr. Afsana differentiated misinformation and disinformation. She shared the tips to identify the fake information and stay safe online. The resource person also shared some valuable online platforms designed to boost media and information literacy skills.

Head, Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, Dr. Suhail Ahmad said the department has been conducting fact-checking workshops with Google certified trainers on regular basis in recent years.

"We have all been complaining about fake news. Even a section of mainstream media has been found guilty of peddling fake news so much so that these days you don't feel like watching TV news sometimes. That is why such workshops are so important," Dr. Suhail added.

The workshop was part of the FactShala University Network programme supported by Google News Initiative and developed by DataLEADS, an award-winning digital media and tech company with focus on information ecosystem, data research and media literacy.

The workshop concluded with a discussion session in which participants shared their personal experiences about the deluge of information and the difficulties faced in verifying the authenticity of online content these days.