OSCE Representative highly values Armenian government’s commitment in raising media literacy

YEREVAN, MARCH 15, ARMENPRESS. OSCE highly values the Armenian government’s strong commitment in developing media freedom and raising the level of media literacy.

Teresa Ribeiro, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, gave a comment to ARMENPRESS during her visit in Yerevan, talking about the dynamics of the media literacy, the current challenges in fighting fake news and disinformation not only in Armenia, but also in the region and around the globe.

“What I know from media literacy in Armenia is that this is a strong commitment from the government, which, I think, is a very positive step, and we were precisely discussing it how important media literacy is nowadays for engaging people in a better way of looking at information, at this kind of big sphere and strong flow of information coming from everywhere. So, this, I think, is very very positive, and I am really excited about this political will and strong commitment from the authorities in Armenia”, Teresa Ribeiro said.

In response to the question about the OSCE priorities over the topic, she said the OSCE is not going to compete with UNESCO and other institutions that are deeply involved in media literacy. “We are now initiating project, and as I also mentioned we are not going to compete with UNESCO and other institutions that are deeply involved in media literacy. But maybe what we will do is to look at media literacy from the specific point of view that I mentioned, which is media freedom literacy”, she said, adding that this means “to raise awareness regarding the importance of media literacy to better enjoy media freedom”.

“If you really want to have media freedom, if you really want to preserve media freedom, you need media literacy”, she noted.

Asked what media outlets and journalists could do to raise the level of the people’s media literacy and protect them from fake news and disinformation, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media said journalists and media outlets play an important role in that.

“Nowadays the borders do not exist anymore. So in the case of information, it’s very important to have a strong strategy to address the challenges related to these very strong flows of disinformation and misinformation. Regarding the responsibility of the media outlets, I think, they have a strong responsibility. It requires more and more, the respect for high standards, high professional standards, which, I think, is very important. And the journalists they may be themselves the fact-checkers, this is very important. It’s not something that an organization must do it for the journalists, the journalists themselves, they have to respect first of all the truth, the facts and be the strongest fact-checkers. This, I think, is very important. It’s very important for the journalist to be very aware of these new challenges and be more and more careful in checking the facts and in searching the truth. I would say this is the most important from the side of the media outlets and from the side of the journalists”, she said.

OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Teresa Ribeiro visited Armenia for the first time on March 9. She met with representatives of the civil society, and informed that she had a very constructive conversation and meetings in Yerevan.

She participated in a conference on media and information literacy organized by the Armenian Foreign Ministry in cooperation with UNESCO.

Aram Sargsyan