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UNESCO Launches Indonesian Edition of the Handbook to Counter Disinformation
The spread of disinformation and misinformation, especially on the social media platform, has affected journalism and journalists. News media are under increasing pressure to produce news at a faster rate yet face the challenge of decreasing revenue and higher competition from different social media platforms and internet giants.
In conjunction with the commemoration of the World Press Freedom Day 2019 with the theme 鈥淢edia for Democracy: Journalism and Election in Times of Disinformation鈥 on 3 May in Jakarta, UNESCO Jakarta officially launched the Indonesian version of the handbook 鈥淛ournalism, 鈥楩ake News鈥, and Disinformation鈥 for journalists and journalism educators.
鈥淲e hope that all the journalism schools and training institutes will be able to use the handbook in their programmes,鈥 urged the Director and Representative of UNESCO in Indonesia, Dr Shahbaz Khan, in his remarks during the launch of the handbook.
This edition was translated and edited from the English version by a team of journalism and communication researchers from the Department of Communication Science of the Gadjah Mada University, comprises Dr Kuskridho Ambardi, Dr Novi Kurnia, Ms Rahayu, Mr Zainuddin Muda Z. Monggilo, and Mr Engelbertus Wendratama. To further localize the content, a booklet with 鈥淚ndonesian Context鈥 was also created as a complementary resource to the handbook.
Written by experts in the fight against disinformation, the handbook explores the very nature of journalism with modules on why trust matters; thinking critically about how digital technology and social platforms are conduits of the information disorder; fighting back against disinformation and misinformation through media and information literacy; fact-checking 101; social media verification and combatting online abuse.
The World Press Freedom Day was created by the UN General Assembly back in 1993, following the recommendation of UNESCO's General Conference. The Day is UNESCO鈥檚 flagship global campaign to raise awareness of the fundamental principles of press freedom, to defend the media from attacks on their independence, and to pay tribute to journalists who have lost their lives in the line of duty. The main event in 2019 took place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Jakarta was the host city of the main global event in 2017.
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