For Immediate Release
Press Release
Almaty, Kazakhstan, December 19 - Today, the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Central Asia Media Program launched the fourth annual MediaCAMP Eduthon. The five-day online seminar on media and digital literacy will bring together educators and content producers from Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan for training, information sharing, and collaboration. The participants will learn best practices and innovative approaches to promoting media literacy and will work with mentors to develop their own media literacy projects. The most promising projects will receive financial support from USAID for implementation in 2023.
Opening the event, Myra Emata-Stokes, USAID Acting Regional Mission Director stated, “Media literacy is the key to navigating the ever-evolving media landscape. It is encouraging to see media literacy education has taken root in Central Asia and is becoming an important discipline. When it comes to media literacy, citizens must possess the knowledge and skills to critically analyze information, be able to verify it before sharing, and have the resources and avenues to engage with local media.”
Eduthon 2023’s participants, who include students, civic activists, and professional content producers, will increase the region’s media and digital literacy by reaching new population groups with original projects tailored to local communities. This year, Eduthon is focused on countering misinformation and will cover topics such as critical thinking, propaganda, neural networks, algorithms, and building trust through media literacy.
The Central Asia Media Program Chief of Party, Marat Bigaliyev, remarked, “In the past year we have seen how information wars turn people against each other in our region. As a society, we are becoming fragmented, and it’s becoming easier to manipulate us. Media literacy could help us find ways to continue dialogue with each other and stay united. That’s the main goal of the Eduthon this year.”
MediaCAMP will hold online sessions open to those interested. The program and other details are available on Eduthon’s website at https://newreporter.org/eduthon2023.
The USAID-funded Central Asia Media Program, implemented by Internews, aims to develop a more balanced information environment in Central Asia in order to promote openness among young people and adults to various ideas, opinions, and perspectives, and, in turn, increase their civic participation.
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USAID is the world’s premier international development agency and a catalytic actor driving development results. For more information on USAID in Central Asia visit https://www.usaid.gov/central-asia-regional, the Central Asia Media Program https://ru.internews.kz/mediacamp/, Internews https://internews.org/, Internews in Kazakhstan http://start.internews.kz/.
