March 31, 2021 – COBURG, MADRID - How can you distinguish reliable from false information? How can you recognise and combat fake news? What characterizes serious and responsible research? These were some of the questions tackled by more than 200 European high school students from Germany, Italy, Kosovo, Serbia, and Spain as part of the Europe-wide project Path2Integrity.
The students came together in a workshop featuring the participation of Rainer Wieland, Vice-President of the European Parliament. It was organised by Prof. Dr Priess-Buchheit, Coburg University of Applied Sciences, and Katharina Miller, a lawyer from Madrid, to help them learn more about fake news and reliable information.
“It is critically important that students learn to assess the quality and veracity of information to which they may be exposed,” said Priess-Buchheit. “This is especially important today as people and societies grapple with issues related to Covid, and science struggles to be heard and trusted in a sea of voices.”
In this international workshop employing innovative learning methods, the students encountered and discussed different fake news challenges and examined concrete situations in which fake news had become a problem. Through reflection and active joint actions, they were able to address these issues. In doing so, the students learned how crucial responsible research is to obtain reliable information.
Students shared what they had learned in an intensive discussion with Rainer Wieland. Wieland, an experienced European politician, emphasised the central value of media freedom and pluralism. Both are essential pillars of modern democracy. "To support these pillars, we together must fight all forms of fake news", he said.
For more information visit: www.path2integrity.eu.
Contact:
Rebecca Fischer, M.A.
Friedrich-Streib-Straße 2
96540 Coburg
E: rebecca.fischer@hs-coburg.de
7 April 2021
