FactShala: Think, Understand & then Share…. सोचो, समझो, फिर शेयर करो….

 Project initiated on 09.11.2020.

Recording program- FactShala

Today we live in the Age of Information/ Digital Age. Earlier, people had to make efforts to get access to information. We had to seek information, but in the present times, information seeks us. This is the age where information has come at the fingertips of humankind, thanks to the Digital Revolution. Our interaction through the internet and with the digital world is increasing daily. We consume a lot of information online: whether it is news or content that comes to us through various social media websites and other digital chat and video platforms. Information is the fuel that ignites the fire of human progress. It is a commodity we all require and thrive on, whether it is about an individual, a place, a community, a country, or the world at large. Information is the basis for the progress of mankind. For a democracy like India, the role of information is extremely important. Whether it is related to government schemes, citizen’s rights, weather, health, education, or any aspect -we all need information.

Effort for making illiterate women information literate

Lack of information and awareness is harmful to an individual, and society as a whole. While good information is useful and helpful for us, bad information can result in disastrous and irreversible damages that not only affect an individual but can also damage the social fabric of a democracy like India. Earlier, we used to rely on information that came to us through traditional sources of media, that is, radio, newspapers, and TV. These sources are tasked with the responsibility of verifying information before circulating it and therefore were reliable. While the advent of social media has led to a boom in the amount of information available to us, its veracity has come under the scanner as there are no mechanisms in place to ensure that the information being circulated by an individual through social media is authenticated. The ability of social media to amplify information, coupled with a lack of gatekeeping measures has posed various serious situations. This is responsible for the increased volume of fake news and misinformation being circulated among people. Wrong information reaches people very quickly and incites them to take action on it, often with disastrous results.

FactShala trainer Dr Sangita Choudhary conducting seminar at SSCBR ITI

It is also important to acknowledge and understand that we are all vulnerable to fall for misinformation and manipulation, irrespective of our age and educational background. Therefore, it becomes extremely important to critically evaluate the information that we come across before blindly accepting it and believing it. Imagine a world where you have no clue what is true, what is not, a world where you do not know whom to trust. Isn’t this a scary prospect? The real fight is against this scary scenario and we all must do whatever we can to prevent our world from reaching there. Information literacy is one strong weapon for the fight. FactShala is a news and information literacy programme launched in India by Internews in collaboration with DataLEADS with support from Google.org and the Google News Initiative. This programme aims to educate the Indian people about media literacy and empower them to consume information critically. This programme is designed to help people across India – especially in states with low literacy to understand the nature and characteristics of content published online. FactShala is a community of info literacy trainers who have joined hands to help others around them understand better the nature of online content.  Various Community Radios Stations (CRS) of India are also part of it as the purpose of community radios is also to inform and educate marginalised and vulnerable who do not have access to information. CRS-Kamalvani 90.4 FM is one of them.  Dr Sangita Choudhary as a representative of Radio Kamalvani has taken training from Factshala and is now a FactShala India Media Literacy Trainer. Dr D. P. Singh, founder of FCRS & Radio Kamalvani is a advisory council member of FactShala. As FactShala’s ambassadors & trainer, Radio Kamalvani is reaching the unreached and helping people learn to understand better the nature & characteristics of content published online. Under the assigned project, Radio Kamalvani is broadcasting series of radio program under the name FactShala. Suchnao ka Mayajal, Strot Suchna k, Aoo Viksit Kare Alochnatmak Soach, Khoj Satyapan ki, Pal Bhar to Soacho are some of the episodes of the series. Along with radio broadcasts, CRS-Radio Kamalvani is also physically reaching people and conducting their training following all precaution and safety measures amidst Corona. Radio broadcast and training is mainly concentrating on the topics such as information landscape, misinformation, disinformation, fake news, News, information and bias, critical thinking, fact-checking, stop, check, go ahead. The aim is about empowering others with tools, techniques, approaches & vision to deal with this era of Fake News.

Truth-telling is in a serious crisis as the tide of misinformation rises globally. So Truth-seeking: to help people think about accuracy and practice verification, is the need of this Digital Age.