Harvard event posted
The webinar "How do media find room for peace" sponsored by Harvard University (see previous blog) was recorded, and has been posted online. You can find it at https://www.pon.harvard.edu/events/kelman-seminar-media-find-room-for-peace/ .

Fulbright Update:
Moldovan students learn to "Navigate the Media Storm"
Finding your way through a storm of bad information in the media is a daunting task anywhere, but especially so here in Moldova, which is trying to keep its head above water in the midst of a flood of Russian disinformation.

To help young Moldovans do this, I presented a seminar over two days for high school students that offered a guide on how to use the tools of media literacy, peace media, and peace journalism to “Navigate the Media Storm.”

At America House, students discuss disinformation

The event, organized by and held at America House, began with definitions of mis and disinformation, fake news, and deepfakes. I showed the students a hilarious deepfake of Donald Trump speaking Romanian, and talking about mamaliga, a beloved local dish similar to polenta. Then, the 20 participants and I discussed the corrosive impact of disinformation in Moldova, and its ability to further polarize the population while sewing confusion and discord.

I was joined by two of my favorite Moldovan colleagues, both of whom gave brief presentations. Petru Macovei, executive director of the Independent Press Association (Asociatia Presei Independente), talked about fact checking generally and about Moldova’s exemplary fact checking platform StopFals. He told the students about Russia’s “hybrid war” being fought online against Moldova, discussed types of bad information, and reminded the students about the importance of always asking questions about any information they come across.

We were also joined by Alexandru Ghetan, program manager for the Youth Media Center (Centrul Media pentru Tineri). He and the students discussed current examples of disinformation—for example, the viral falsehood that Moldova is going to send troops to Ukraine. The discussion also included the motivations behind fake news, which, in this election year in Moldova, boil down to, “they want our votes,” according to Ghetan.

I urged the students to practice peace media when they create or share content. Peace media, I explained, is when content creators, media consumers, and social media users make choices that can create an environment more conducive to peace. For the students, this means not creating or sharing content that includes stereotypes or hate speech, not sharing mis or disinformation, carefully choosing the words and images they use, and creating and sharing content that builds bridges and encourages peaceful dialogue.

The students seemed to enjoy the sessions, but not as much as I did. 

Alexandru Ghetan discusses fake news