The epidemic of “false news,” “misinformation,” and disinformation has a significant impact on many recent events and the best way to fight this is through education. The Philippine Association for Media Information and Literacy (PAMIL) advances in the battle against disinformation, armed with different webinars educating the public about different topics on disinformation.
For starters: Conversations with Asia-Pacific Media and Information Literacy (MIL) Experts
In celebration of the World’s Press Freedom Day, Asian MIL Experts from East and Southeast Asia gathered in an online webinar “Conversations with Asia-Pacific MIL Experts” to discuss the role of MIL in a society where freedom of the Press is an important pillar of democracy. Centered on the theme “MIL and Society in Action”, guest speakers from East and South East Asian countries dwell on the relevance of Human Freedom Index.
“If you have a high press freedom index, most likely you have a very healthy freedom of expression, assembly, association, and privacy”, Ramon Tuazon, Media Development Specialist for UNESCO Myanmar Office lectured.
Other notable guest speakers who joined the event were Dr. Kevin Veale from New Zealand, Dr. Magimai Pragasam from India, and Dr. Gulnar Assanbayeva from Kazakhstan.
PAMIL-CFA MIL Webiserye 2022
Localizing the effort to combat disinformation, the international webinar was followed by a five-episode Webiserye, providing an avenue for the viewers to hear from different resource speakers.
PAMIL laid out projects to combat misinformation through a five-episode Webiserye revolving around Media and Information Literacy and Disinformation, with each episode stretching to different issues about disinformation, as follows:
Webisode 1 – Media and Information Literacy (MIL) para sa pamilyang Pilipino), aired on July 16, 2022 with Dr. Hemmady S. Mora as resource speaker. She is the vice president of PAMIL and the dean of the College of Communication of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP).
Webisode 2 – Usapang paMILya: Suriin natin ang balita at impormasyon, aired on July 29, 2022 with Mrs. Rychelle Sy – Kho as resource speaker. She is the secretary as well as a board member of PAMIL. She is also an educator from the MGC New Life Christian Academy.
Webisode 3 – Usapang paMILya: Maging magalang at etikal sa paggamit ng social media, aired on August 13, 2022 with Mr. Marlon Nombrado as resource speaker. He is the co-founder and head of research and publicity of Out of the Box (OOTB) Media Literacy Initiative.
Webisode 4 – Usapang paMILya: Maging ligtas sa pagggamit ng midya at internet, aired on August 27, 2022 with Mr. Ysrael Diloy as resource speaker. He is a child protection specialist at Stairway Foundation, Inc.
Webisode 5 – Usapang paMILya: Pagpapahalaga sa midya at impormasyon tungo sa tamang pagpapasya, aired on November 5, 2022 with Ms. Yhna Therese P. Santos, MLIS and Mr. Rommel F. Lopez, MCM as resource speakers. Ms. Santos is an assistant professor at the School of Library and Information Studies, U.P. Diliman while Mr. Lopez is an associate editor of PressONE.ph as well as an assistant professor at De La Salle University (DLSU) – Dasmarinas and University of Santo Tomas (UST) Graduate School.
4th National Forum on Media and Information Literacy (MIL)
PAMIL in partnership with CFA held the 4th Annual National Forum on Media and Information Literacy online on January 22-23, 2022 with the theme Addressing Crises through Media and Information Literacy. The forum was a two-day event wherein five distinctive speakers discussed topics on the matters concerning MIL. The event opened with the theme’s keynote speech delivered by Mr. Ron F. Jabal, CEO PAGEONE Group.
For the first plenary session, host/creator and decipher: Ms. Kristine Sabillo discussed the topic on Communicating Science Effectively to the Public in Times of Pandemic.
For the second plenary session, NDRRMC Spokesperson and Officer-in-Charge of Public Affairs Office and Office of Civil Defense Mr. Mark Timbal talked about Communicating Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction.
For the third session, President of High School Philippine History Movement Mr. Jamaico Ignacio shared his knowledge on Upholding Philippine History Against Distortions and Denialism.
For the fourth session, Head of UST Journalism Program Asst. Prof. Felipe Salvosa, II discussed the Journalism Crisis in the Philippines and the World
And, for the fifth session, Co-founder of the Democratic Insights Group Atty. Luie Tito Guia spoke about The Electoral Processes and Rights to Political Participation in the Philippines.
In the context of the election, Atty. Guia emphasized the importance of MIL and critical thinking by saying, “You can have the best economic and anti-poverty policies but if you do not elect the right people in the government, and if the people have no power to dictate who shall lead, due to weakness in our political system, these laws are useless”.
Expanding the mission through Takorama Film Festival
Apart from anti-disinformation issues, PAMIL also partnered with the Takorama Film Festival to explore the themes of humanism and ecology through showcasing animated films around the world. Two board members from PAMIL joined the film selection committee of the Takorama Film Festival 2022: Ms. Pie Mabanta-Fenomeno and Mr. Armyr A. Encarnacion.
The festival features fifteen carefully selected short, animated films from different international studios. The Takorama festival focuses on humanism and ecology, well as the poetry and originality of visual universes. All contenders are silent films and can be watched by children around the world. Children from around the world vote for their favorite film and award the Children’s Prize among the five categories.
The Children’s Prize Winners
From 3 years old
Ant by Julia Ocker, Germany, 2013
Ants work perfectly together but a small ant does it differently.
© Studio Film Bilder
From 6 years old
Outdoorsby Olesya Shchukina, France, 2014
A little girl lets a bird escape and goes looking for it with its owner.
©Folimage Studio
From 9 years old
Lilaby Carlos Lascano, Italy, 2014
Lila, a young dreamer, uses her imagination and her drawings to change the course of things.
© Carlos Lascano
From 12 years old
Ice Pepperby ESMA, France, 2016
Two penguins on the ice floe discover something that could change the future of Antarctica.
© ESMA
From 15 years old
Hybrids by A Danset, C. De Carvalho, France, 2013
In the near future, marine fauna must adapt to pollution in a hybrid form.
© Melting Prod