Developing the Government Communication System and Media Literacy in the Face of Media Misinformation
Amman4 min read
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The importance of the media in enhancing trust in national institutions and protecting public awareness from rumors and misleading information is increasing by providing a cognitive environment that helps citizens understand public issues and take their positions based on facts and knowledge.
The role of the media is no longer limited to reporting events and official statements, but it is also required to interpret policies and decisions, follow up on their results, open the field for responsible dialogue, and provide accurate information that enables citizens to distinguish between correct news and misleading information.
This matter is linked to the media's ability and its commitment to professional independence, objectivity, and verification of information, as well as the readiness of institutions to provide information and answer the public's questions.
In Jordan, this file gains special importance in light of national efforts aimed at developing the government communication system, enhancing media and information literacy, and confronting false news and hate speech, which contributes to strengthening public trust and protecting society from the dangers of digital misinformation.
Public trust is not built merely by the density of media messages or the repetition of statements, but is formed through the accumulation of positive experiences, the clarity of information, and the ability to provide convincing answers to issues that concern citizens.
In this context, one of the most important functions of the media is to establish a balanced relationship between institutions and society by transmitting official information and verifying it when necessary, as well as raising questions that concern citizens, following up the implementation of government decisions and programs, and monitoring their actual impact on daily life.
In the professional analysis of this role, professional media that is content with transmitting statements without follow-up or accountability may lose part of its ability to influence and convince, while media that provides information within its context and explains the backgrounds and results of decisions contributes to enhancing the public's understanding of public issues.
Hence, a healthy relationship between the media and institutions is based on complementarity in serving the public interest while maintaining the independence of journalistic work and the community's right to knowledge and literacy.
According to the expert and researcher in criminology, Dr. Khaled Al-Jubhour, the widespread spread of social media platforms has brought about a fundamental shift in the way news is produced and circulated, as any user can publish information that reaches thousands of people in a short time, regardless of its accuracy or the reliability of its source, pointing out that this leads to an increase in the risks of circulating inaccurate news, especially when it is related to sensitive economic, social, or political issues, especially when fragmented information is published out of context or old images and clips are used to portray events as new facts.
In this context, Al-Jubhour explained that the responsibility for protecting public awareness does not fall solely on media institutions but is distributed among media outlets, official institutions, civil society organizations, and individuals themselves.
Pointing out that professional media can play a decisive role in reducing the spread of misinformation by quickly verifying, clarifying facts, and correcting false information clearly for everyone, and that the delay or ambiguity of official information may leave room for conflicting interpretations and rumors that are difficult to contain later.
On the subject of media and information literacy as one of the main paths to protect public awareness, researcher and educator Dr. Maha Salem said that the subject of media and information literacy is not limited to teaching individuals how to use digital tools but also includes developing their ability to analyze content, evaluate information sources, and assess the content of media messages, pointing out that the goal is to enhance the community's ability to responsibly deal with information sources and confront false, misleading, and fabricated news, rumors, and hate speech.
She pointed to national efforts and trends towards expanding the integration of media literacy concepts in education and enhancing the capabilities of young people and developing continuous learning and awareness programs, as these paths represent an opportunity to strengthen critical thinking among the new generations and help them deal with digital content in a more conscious and responsible manner.
Salem added from an educational and media perspective that investment in media literacy should start from school and university and continue through public programs and awareness campaigns so that verifying information becomes a daily goal and behavior for everyone, not just an exceptional measure when crises occur, noting that this approach becomes increasingly important with the spread of content produced using artificial intelligence techniques that allow the production of images, clips, and sounds that may appear real despite being false, which imposes the development of verification skills and keeping up with modern digital tools.
