Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, Govt. College for Women, M.A. Road, Srinagar organised a workshop on ‘Media and Information Literacy’ on 25th April 2025.
This workshop was attended by faculty members of the college and was aimed to build their capacity to navigate the evolving media landscape and combat misinformation. The workshop was part of the FactShala University Network programme supported by Google News Initiative and developed by DataLEADS, an award-winning digital media and tech company with focus on information ecosystem, data research and media literacy.
The resource person for the workshop was Dr. Afsana Rashid, Assistant Professor, Media Education Research Centre (MERC), Kashmir University and a certified FactShala Trainer. The workshop covered various themes including media bias, misinformation ecosystems, deepfakes, artificial intelligence, and critical thinking.
Speaking on the occasion, Principal, Prof. (Dr.) Yasmeen Farooq said, “Fake news has emerged as a major problem across the world so it is important that we are well equipped with essential media literacy skills to critically assess media content so that we act as informed and responsible citizens. Without proper media literacy, people fall prey to misinformation and manipulation.”
Prof. Yasmeen appreciated the efforts of the journalism department for conducting seminars and workshops with experts from industry and academia sharing their experiences and insights on relevant themes.
“The students of the department have brought laurels to the college. I hope the department continues with the good work it has been doing in terms of preparing the students for the industry and also the higher studies,” the Principal added.
In her elaborate presentation, Dr. Afsana differentiated misinformation and disinformation. She shared the tips to identify the fake information and stay safe online. The resource person also shared some valuable online platforms designed to boost media and information literacy skills.
Earlier, while introducing the theme of the workshop, Head, Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, Dr. Suhail Ahmad said the department has conducted four fact-checking workshops with Google certified trainers over the years– in 2018, 2020, 2021 and 2022. “So this is the fifth workshop of its kind hosted by the department though this particular one is meant exclusively for faculty members,” he added.
“We have all been complaining about fake news. Even a section of mainstream media has been found guilty of peddling fake news so much so that these days you don’t feel like watching TV news sometimes. That is why such workshops are so important,” he added while referring to the objectives of the programme.
The workshop concluded with a discussion session in which the participants shared their personal experiences about the deluge of information and the difficulties faced in verifying the authenticity of the content these days. Prof. Sadaf Bushra presented Vote of Thanks. The logistics of the programme were handled by Dr. Rouf, Dr. Mudabbir, Dr. Nazia, Dr. Haifa, Dr. Naseema and Ms. Razia.
