Children as young as eight are exposed to disinformation, leading editor says
On Thursday, international media experts held a public event at the University of Malta on the theme of fighting disinformation
Even young children are being exposed to disinformation, an editor of one of the world’s leading international news agencies said.
Joyce Zablit of AFP (Agence France-Presse) was speaking at a conference on the spread of fake news on Thursday when she said that fact-checking needs to be presented in formats that are accessible to all people.
“We need to adapt fact-checking to be more attractive. We need to use formats, like video fact-checks, to reach younger children in schools, even at the age of eight,” said Deputy Chief Editor for Europe at AFP, Zablit.
On Thursday, media experts from around the Mediterranean held a public event at the University of Malta on the theme of fighting disinformation and empowering society.
The event marked the start of the second round of the Mediterranean Digital Media Observatory (MedDMO), an EU-funded project bringing together journalists, media literacy experts and researchers in Malta, Greece and Cyprus, as well as from the international news agency, Agence France-Presse.
Times of Malta’s fact-checking service is part of that project.
During a panel discussion at the event, Editor-in-Chief Herman Grech said establishing Times of Malta’s fact-checking desk has been one of the paper’s most important developments.
“Sometimes Neville (Borg)’s fact-checks are the most-read articles throughout a day. I believe in ‘unlearn, relearn and adapt’—that’s what I say to journalists. The most important thing is for young people to engage with us, speak to us. Media literacy is so important; we should go back to the basics and explain why people need to trust the media.”