The PG departments of Mass Communication and Video Production and Multimedia of Hans Raj Mahila Maha Vidyalaya organised “Factshala, India Media Literacy Network workshop. The resource person of the workshop was Prof. Umesh Arya, Chairman, Department of Communication Management and Technology, Guru Jameshwar University of Science and Technology, Hisar, Haryana. Principal Prof. Dr. Mrs. Ajay Sareen welcomed him and said that while it is difficult to control the flow of information, media and information literacy can lessen the impact of this problem by developing media and information literacy competencies amongst people. She said that there is a need to have concerted efforts to make people media and information literate so that they can sail smoothly in the sea of information and media messages. Mrs. Rama Sharma, Head of PG department of Mass Communication and Video Production department welcomed him and gave his brief introduction. She also gave the concept note of the workshop.
Prof. Umesh Arya pointed out that in present times; the importance of awareness has been increasing but the universal question of how to acquire news still remains. Lately, literacy has become defined as IT literacy and it should also include Media Literacy, because while news and information can be received within seconds, dissemination of it is being threatened because of social media, increasingly, every day. Top-down communication has become lateral communication, and while everyone is a journalist now, responsibility should be imbibed in every one to be able to battle fake news. Fake news is made and spread to mislead public opinion as well as generate advertising revenues and to fight this menace, media literacy is the only weapon, available. He advised that mainstream media needs to improve their skills differentiating between facts and fiction, and fact-checking methods, irrespective of the urgency.
Prof. Arya said that Media literacy is the ability to understand the different types of media and the messages it gives. He said that once a message has been received it is important to ask 5 questions: who created the message, why was the message created, who is the target of the message, what is the information included and excluded in the message, and what is the message making the reader feel. He made his session very interactive with feedback sessions simultaneously which he took through various online modes.
As an educational institution, the Departments of Mass Communication and Multimedia of Hans Raj Mahila Maha Vidyalaya took on the responsibility of helping students, faculty and professionals to indentify Disinformation, and in turn, encourage them to actively participate in public affairs as a media literate citizen. This workshop was attended by more than 750 participants through facebook live. Moderator of the workshop and Dean Student Welfare Dr. Anjana Bhatia presented vote of thanks. She also thanked Head of Multimedia Department Mr. Ashish Chadha and Technical team Mr. Vidhu Vohra and Mr. Rishabh Dhir.
