Third round of meetings under RADIRIGHTS: Educational initiative for identification of disinformation in Gorna Oryahovitsa, Batak village and Strazhitsa town

The RADIRIGHTS project continues its efforts to raise awareness about Disinformation by holding a third round of meetings by Center Amalipe in Gorna Oryahovitsa, Batak village and the town of Strazhitsa. Between October 2023 and January 2024, three meetings with parents and local residents were organized in each of these locations. The main objective of these meetings was to inform the participants about misinformation and to develop critical thinking skills and media literacy.

Course of the meetings

The meetings in all settlements were led by the educational mediator Stefan Strefanov and included the active participation of local residents. The main topics were presented by Stefan Strefanov and Valeri Angelov, who shared valuable information and practical tips for recognizing and combating misinformation.

Gorna Oryahovitsa

The meetings in Gorna Oryahovitsa attracted a significant number of participants, including parents and teachers. Topics of discussion included:

Main characteristics of disinformation and its objectives.
Methods of spreading fake news and manipulative information.
The impact of disinformation on public opinion and trust in institutions.
Residents of Gorna Oryahovitsa expressed satisfaction with the meetings, noting that they have learned many new things and have begun to recognize fake news more easily.

Village of Batak

In the village of Batak, the meetings were particularly interactive and encouraged participants to share personal stories and examples of misinformation. Key themes included:

Types of misinformation and their signs.
Techniques for creating fake news, such as forging documents and manipulating images and videos.
The importance of critical thinking and media literacy.
Participants in Batak expressed gratitude for the information provided and said they now feel more confident in their ability to recognize misinformation.

Town Strazhitsa

The meetings in the town of Strazhitsa were also successful, with a high commitment from the local community. Discussions covered:

Different forms of misinformation and their impacts.
The role of the media in spreading misinformation and how to assess the credibility of sources.
Practical tips for avoiding fake news and developing habits to verify information.
Residents of Strazhitsa highly appreciated the meetings, noting that the initiative helped to raise their awareness and critical thinking skills.

Conclusion

The third round of RADIRIGHTS meetings in Gorna Oryahovitsa, Batak and Strazhitsa was very successful. The meetings provided valuable information and practical skills to the participants, which led to a significant increase in their awareness of disinformation. The local communities expressed great satisfaction with the trainings and shared that they are now better prepared to deal with the challenges of fake news and manipulative information. The RADIRIGHTS project continues to play a key role in strengthening media literacy and critical thinking in these regions.

The project will be implemented with the support of the Equality, Rights and Values Programme of the European Commission (CERV-2022-CITIZENS-CIV).