Thirteen certified Turkmen trainers who completed training on the topic “Media and information literacy. Fact-checking” in Istanbul, are starting to prepare and conduct a number of free trainings throughout Turkmenistan. This was reported by a Turkmenportal correspondent.

The Istanbul training of trainers was conducted from July 15 to 19 by experts from the International Center for Journalism MediaNet with the support of the US Embassy in Turkmenistan.

The selection of trainers for such an important educational mission took place back in April, immediately after a seminar held by MediaNet specialists in Ashgabat. At that time, 50 representatives took part in the seminar.

Among the participants in the Istanbul training were representatives of the media, SMM specialists, bloggers, psychologists, representatives of public organizations and training centers.

“The training was held in a dynamic atmosphere, we all exchanged knowledge and ideas with each other”, - says one of the participants, Mamed Alikberov. - Our tutors used a variety of methods and approaches, making the learning interactive and fun. For me it was truly a unique experience. In practical classes, I saw how important it is not only to transfer knowledge, but also to involve the audience in the process in order to increase the level of media literacy”.

Having completed the training, Mamed, like other participants, plans to conduct a series of trainings for representatives of youth, civil society, and teachers, including in Turkmenabat.

“This training provided an excellent foundation for my future studies and work in the field of media literacy, and I look forward to applying everything I learned”, - he notes.

Another training participant, representative of the public organization “Yenme” (“Overcoming”) Madina Mustafina shared her impressions:

“The training turned out to be extremely useful and informative for me. I learned how artificial intelligence can be used to analyze media content and automate information verification processes. I expanded my knowledge of using teaching methods and received expert advice. Now I am ready to conduct media literacy training for young people, representatives of the civil sector and other interested parties”.

Madina intends to conduct trainings in Dashoguz velayat, in addition, in Ashgabat she will train students on the basis of her public organization.

Ahead of the Turkmen trainers will be not only conducting classes and trainings on media literacy and fact-checking, but also advisory support from MediaNet experts, which will be held in an online format.

Media and information literacy is a set of necessary knowledge and skills to solve problems such as reduced critical thinking among content consumers, the spread of misinformation and hate speech, decreased trust in the media, and others.

Fact checking is checking information for truthfulness, accuracy and reliability. This term translated from English means “fact checking”. Fact checking is often mentioned among journalists and media specialists, because before publishing any information, it is necessary to check its accuracy.

We previously reported that representatives of Turkmenistan are studying methods of teaching media literacy.