Youth Workers from Bulgaria about Training Course "Post Truth"
Updated: May 17, 2022
Interview of Brayan Sandov after the Training Course.
Can you give us your opinion about the project “Post-truth“? What is the most important thing you have learned during the training?
I found the training on FAKE NEWS extremely useful and practical. I'm now aware of that "weapon" used by political figures or large corporations for their own benefits and interests. Also, I've learned about the mindset, traditions, and history of 7 European countries, just by talking to the participants in the project. My social and presentation skills also have increased as we had to speak in front of the rest of the group. It was also quite easy and entertaining to learn a few words in several different languages.
In your opinion, how can young people deal with propaganda, misinformation and fake news? Do you have your own tips?
I believe young people should first be informed about the existence of FAKE NEWS. Even though it could be very easy to just accept that they exist, sometimes people tend to underestimate how impactful they could be on society. I'm confident that such a project could be the perfect foundation for spreading awareness and the consequences of FAKE NEWS. After that, young people need to be educated on how to fact-check them. Also, they need to remove all non-verified news sources. The only sources that they might rely on would be the large newspapers, which should be licensed and under regulations.
How do you plan to share and use your knowledge in your local community?
My plan is to occasionally talk about that to my students and friends. I've already unfollowed some untrusted news pages on my Facebook. I wrote down the websites, which can be used for verifying whether certain news is true or false. After all, we all should be cautious and careful when reading even a post from a verified source. Sometimes, a person's opinion could be just their own one, and that doesn't necessarily mean that is a fact. They might just express their own opinion, but at the end of the day, we should be able to evaluate whether we're on the same page with this person. I'm definitely sharing my knowledge on the topic with my students. I'm so passionate when educating them about such useful topics. They could be even more exposed to fake news in the future, as they probably will spend more time on the Internet and Social media than our generation.