Fakes, jeansa and lack of awareness as a media literacy challenge in the region

The Odesa Oblast Organization NGO “Committee of voters of Ukraine” summed up the results of the study into the situation with media literacy in the region, which was held from October to December 2019 in the format of focus groups in Odesa and Odesa region.

Within the project framework “Countering disinformation: a regional dimension” media literacy experts conducted focus groups in 26 Odesa region localities. Among them: Artsyz, Sarata, Berezivka, Kurisove, Izmail, Tatarbunary, Podilsk, Velyka Mikhailivka, Bolhrad, Rozdilne, Lyubashivka, Reni, Yuzhne, Chornomorsk, Ovidiopol, Teplodar, Bilyaivka, Krasnosilka, Balta, Vylkove, Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi, Ananiev, and Odesa.

The issues related to the state of media literacy development in the region were discussed by more than 300 representatives, including educators, public activists, scientists, media, representatives of local governments, trade unions, NGOs, which shape the public consciousness and broadcast ideas and views.

The result shows that women are more interested in media literacy issues development (85% of participants are women, 15% are men). Teachers, librarians (60%) and authorities (25%) have responded actively, the least responsive were media representatives (5%), others - 10%. Before the discussion, the participants gave their knowledge an average of 3 points (out of 5 possible). The number of correct answers after the focus-group participation increased by almost 30%.

It should be noted that the Odesa region residents heard about media literacy activities mostly from our organization (owing to previous events). For example, Tatarbunary also mentioned the StopFake website, Kurisove - VOXCONNECTOR resource, and attendants from Tarutine and Rozdilne said they had heard about media literacy but did not know about training, seminars and other events. In Ovidiopol, Vylkove, and Ananiev, the participants admitted this topic was a discovery for them.

Half of the participants clearly distinguish between fake, propaganda, manipulation; the other part is confused in the definition of the concepts.

The biggest problems in misinformation disseminated through media or social networks include:

• political influence on voters’ will;
• creating social tension among people who are targeted with manipulated in order to trigger a conflict;
• distortion of the situation in Ukraine and the region, lack of complete and objective information;
• manipulating voters and neglecting respect to the authorities, especially local ones, provoking conflicts between people who trust different media, who are manipulated and then become aggressive;
• distortion of the world view in the minds of citizens, their sensitivity to manipulation, deception of people who believe in “jeansa”;
• fraud through social networks requesting to transfer money for non-existent people treatment;
• people’s incredulity in mass media (linking it to the country’s political life)
• information pollution that causes the consciousness deformation, degradation of the population. People stop focusing on informational space, their consciousness is manipulated, the tension in society grows, mass media lose people’s trust.
• misinformation that is spread because of personal benefit.
• the Internet booms (as the Blue Whale, the Pennywise, the Magical Owl).

Another major issue is ignorance and inaccessibility to the sources of information among elderly people. People tend to protect themselves from information instead of analyzing it. A higher level of country’s development can also enhance people’s need for media literacy.

The largest number of incidences of misinformation was often observed by the residents during the election campaign (manipulation in favor of one branch of power). It could also be sponsored by the local business.

Bolgrad believes that it’s not disinformation but rather a "decoration" of activities that is prevalent.

Tarutino noticed that misinformation can be found in materials about the authority performance.

Violation of journalists standards is typical and includes a presentation of incomplete information, one-sided reporting on the event, placing the publications by political forces to compromise their opponents (Rozdilne).

However, the focus group in Savran assured that the local media do not disinform due to the fact that the community lives in a small town where everyone knows one another,  and even if there are some mistakes, they are corrected immediately.

The participants from Bilyaivka recalled misinformation and fakes, which are spread by the media or social websites about the of the Russian aggression against Ukraine: "Ukrainians eat children", "They carry vending guns", "Right Sector", etc.

There are no local media in Vilkove, so examples were taken from social media such as announcements about diseases and requests to help sick people, which is why people stopped trusting them.

Velyka Myhailivka recalled manipulation acts on the nationwide level.

People from Ovidiopol and Kilyia could not provide examples of disinformation.

Many focus groups reported that local media often use biased materials in favor of local authorities.

Focus groups in Teplodar indicated that local social media spread a lot of fakes, e.g. that the drugs were brought to the eighth grade and handed out at school.

By asking the focus group to give the examples of fakes they had noticed in public space, we obtained the following results:

• 200 people burnt in the Trade Unions Building in Odesa on 2 May 2014 and "cannibalism" (Sarata, Podilsk, Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi);
• UTC (United Territorial Community) needs to build prosecutor’s office and that UTC will not pay pensions;
• Odesa region will meet a great earthquake (Kurisov, Reni);
• The Berezivka City Council bought an overpriced Christmas tree and allegedly stole the money;
• Trees were cut down in Izmail Park;
• Yellow snow is a consequence of the explosion at the chemical plant (Lyubashivka);
• The boy won international competitions but remained unknown to residents with the following suggestion to congratulate him (Rozdilna);
• Raising money for "sick people’s treatment" (Savran, Balta);
• “Bomb planting” at the Dnister water treatment plant (Bilyaivka);
• Yanukovych died, a crucified boy (Podilsk).

Before being gathered in the focus group, about 70% of participants encountered the term "jeansa" in the media. However, the level of awareness differs from city to city. For example, in Bilyaivka, only one journalist out of 19 participants knew what jeansa meant.  Other people suggested that the term means made-to-order not marked materials about politicians or candidates in close to the election, hidden advertising of stores, their products, and bloggers’ activity on social networks.

According to the participants, the number of local/regional media is generally insufficient:

"Newspapers are dependent on business and authorities, so they broadcast untrue information."

Local residents get to know most of the news either from Facebook or from the local website.

Besides the information given by coaches of Odesa Regional Organization “Ukrainian voters' committee”, participants knew very little about media education events. In Savran, people read about media education in mass media but they still believe that there is nothing like that in the region. In Kіlіya, Vilkove, and Ovіdіopol, it was the first time people had heard about media education in focus groups. All participants wished to attend an educational event, because they believed such knowledge in modern life was essential.

Concerning the ways to address the problem of critical thinking, participants indicated that the school program was not sufficient; what they said was needed was qualitative retraining of teachers at the state level, as well as useful educational activities from NGOs. The participants complained about the low level of awareness of university professors, outdated views, old teaching methods, misunderstanding of the modern children’s needs. They think the government should take responsibility for it, and the public organizations and donors can help educate teachers and young people, as well as other audiences. It is necessary to conduct informal training activities, which are carried out by NGOs, but it would be good if they gave certificates afterward, - the participants said.

One of the important issues is to increase teachers' competence, to retrain them, to provide tutorials, multimedia tools that will be of interest to children (games, cartoons, etc.), but the Ministry of Education should certify these guidelines for teachers to be authorized to use them.

In Rozdilna participants believe that the development of critical thinking should be the responsibility of both school and parents, as well as the country and NGOs. They all should conduct relevant trainings on this topic. In Bilyaivka, most participants supported the idea that media literacy is the responsibility of the citizens themselves, who should not be lazy to ask questions, analyze and think about what they see or hear. All it takes is a citizen's desire and understanding that being media literate is not yet to be deceived. An offer was made to carry out topical media literacy quests at city-wide events. Another suggestion is to conduct psychological training for the locals (psychological health). Distribution of so-called media literacy express-letters.

Ovidiopol says that it is impossible to implement media literacy skills due to lack of Internet access at schools or because children do not have smartphones, as in Ananiev.

In general, Odesa region citizens seek knowledge and ask to increase the level of reporting about events (mailing, telephones) and their frequency:

“Training activities should be carried out at least once every 1-2 months for different categories of citizens,” Izmail suggested.

The project is supported by American people through the USAID “U-Media” project, which is implemented by the international organization Internews.