MediaWise, the Poynter Institute’s digital media literacy initiative, is expanding its international reach to Spanish-speaking Latin America.
One year after developing WhatsApp-based media literacy courses in Brazil, France, Spain and Turkey, MediaWise launches “Aprenda a verificar la información digital” today in Guatemala. The 10-day course, created with support from Meta, includes five minutes per day of tips, techniques and guidance on how to navigate the internet safely — and avoid misinformation.
Each day, participants receive a video diving into digital media literacy topics, including how to get out of your echo chamber and how to effectively talk to friends and family about falsehoods online.
“It’s more important than ever to be a critical consumer of content online,” MediaWise director Alex Mahadevan said. “As Guatemalans head to the polls in June, we want to ensure they do so with the facts.”
Professional badminton player and Olympian Kevin Cordón becomes MediaWise’s first athlete represented on MediaWise’s roster of Ambassadors.
Íñigo Fernández, Meta’s public policy director for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, said digital literacy is one of the most effective ways to deal with misinformation on social media.
“We are excited that this course on WhatsApp is arriving in Latin America to help Guatemalans read, watch and share content in a more critical and responsible way ahead of the general elections in June,” he said. “This builds on other Meta initiatives to fight misinformation, such as the network of over 80 independent fact-checkers who review and rate false information on Facebook and Instagram.”
MediaWise partnered with news broadcaster Guatevisión to localize the course content for Guatemala. Its ability to reach a wide audience on air and in print positioned Guatevisión as an ideal organization to work with MediaWise.
Doménica Velásquez, editorial director of Prensa Libre and Guatevisión, said disinformation is one of the main threats to societies and democratic systems because people are so easily manipulated, and most of the audience is “little aware” of how present it is in their lives through their digital devices.
“The alliance with Meta and the Poynter Institute is an invaluable opportunity for Prensa Libre and Guatevisión because it allows us to contribute so that millions of Guatemalans can acquire tools to identify and reject manipulated information,” he said. “If the media, the academy and the large content distribution companies achieve these initiatives with the most critical citizens, the quality of decisions will improve and therefore their quality of life.”
María Luisa Gómez, anchor of Noticiero Guatevision. will teach digital media literacy concepts throughout “Aprenda a verificar la información digital.”
Guatevision’s María Luisa Gómez, a news industry veteran with over 20 years experience, joins the MediaWise ambassador program. Gómez is an advocate for transparency and accountability in journalism and has received several national and global accolades for her work, such as the Guatemalan National Journalism Award in the television category.
“Disinformation is like a virus that quickly spreads, having a negative impact on society, undermining trust in institutions, undermining informed decision-making and endangering democracy,” says María Luisa Gómez, anchor of Noticiero Guatevision.
Professional badminton player and Olympian Kevin Cordón becomes the first athlete to join the MediaWise ambassador program. He competed in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Cordón has won national and international competitions, including a gold medal at the 2011 Pan American games.
Stanford University in the United States, Universidad de Navarra in Spain and Escola Superior de Propaganda e Marketing in Brazil have studied MediaWise courses and found improvement in users’ ability to detect false or misleading headlines.
About The Poynter Institute
The Poynter Institute is a global nonprofit working to address society’s most pressing issues through professional journalism education, fact-checking, media literacy and ethics. The Institute is a gold standard in journalistic excellence and dedicated to the preservation and advancement of press freedom in democracies worldwide. Through Poynter, journalists, newsrooms, businesses, big tech corporations and citizens convene to find solutions that promote trust and transparency in news and stoke meaningful public discourse. The world’s top journalists and emerging media leaders rely on Poynter to learn new skills, adopt best practices, better serve audiences, scale operations and improve the quality of the universal information ecosystem. Support for Poynter upholds the integrity of the U.S. First Amendment and builds public confidence in journalism and media, an essential for lasting democracy. Learn more at poynter.org.
About MediaWise
MediaWise is a social-first digital media literacy initiative of the nonprofit Poynter Institute. The program teaches people of all ages and backgrounds how to responsibly engage with online content in the age of information overload. The fact-checking enterprise was created in 2018 to empower citizens to find trusted sources and make sense of the vast amount of information at their fingertips. We bring simple, yet effective, digital media literacy tools to people where they are — whether they’re on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter or TikTok or in one of the six countries where MediaWise operates — and walk them through every step to determine what’s real and what’s not on the internet. Through MediaWise, everyone can do their part to reduce the spread of misinformation and elevate the truth. Follow MediaWise on social media to learn how to debunk viral claims and be more critical consumers of online information. Explore programs and be part of the solution at poynter.org/mediawise.
