University of Park to Conduct Peacebuilding Workshop
On Wednesday, November 9, 2022, the McCoy Meetin' House on Park University's flagship Parkville Campus will play host to an enlightening event, "Combating Misinformation: Tools and Techniques". This event, organised by Park University's Center for Global Peace Journalism (CGPJ), forms part of the annual Greater Kansas City Peacebuilding Conference.
The event will feature a trio of speakers, including Derek Donovan, community engagement editor at The Kansas City Star, who will present on misinformation and its impact on professional journalism. Joining him will be Susan Dawson-O'Brien, adjunct instructor of journalism and media communications, and student media coordinator at Johnson County (Kan.) Community College, who will discuss the challenges of misinformed students in academic settings.
The discussion will delve into strategies for combating misinformation, emphasising the importance of media literacy education. This approach encourages critical thinking skills that enable individuals to analyse and evaluate information sources, with a focus on understanding how power dynamics shape media narratives. Notably, some media literacy initiatives, such as the 2022 NATO-associated project by the Center for Media Literacy, frame media literacy more as a defence strategy against "hostile actors" rather than purely educational empowerment, emphasising surveillance and resilience over democratic dialogue and reflection.
The event will also highlight the need for strategic defence framing, where misinformation is viewed as part of a broader cognitive and information warfare. This leads to a more protectionist approach where citizens and students are seen as targets to be inoculated through expert-guided, sometimes militarized, media literacy efforts rather than participants in open democratic discourse.
Engaging multiple stakeholders, including military personnel, policy experts, academics, and journalists, will be another key focus. Collaborations among these groups are essential for developing curricula and webinars that collectively address the complexity of misinformation by combining expertise from various fields.
The presentation will conclude with a panel discussion and questions-and-answers session, providing attendees with the opportunity to engage with the speakers and delve deeper into the topics discussed. The event is free and open to the public.
Whether you're a student, a journalist, or simply a curious member of the public, this event promises to be an enlightening and thought-provoking exploration of the challenges and strategies for combating misinformation in our modern world.
This event at the McCoy Meetin' House, focused on "Combating Misinformation: Tools and Techniques", emphasizes the significance of education-and-self-development and personal-growth through learning, as it delves into strategies for combating misinformation and media literacy, with an aim to foster critical thinking skills and understand power dynamics in media narratives. Furthermore, the discussion highlights the importance of collaboration among various stakeholders, including educators, journalists, and policy experts, for developing effective media literacy initiatives that can equip individuals for open democratic discourse.
