GMA holds masterclass series to help combat fake news

MANILA, Philippines — In this day and age of social media, there are people who cannot help but wonder if what they are reading or watching online is fact or fiction.

It cannot also be denied that there are individuals who seem to be clueless when it comes to verifying information amid the proliferation of fake news with clickable headlines.

Thus, even while the public is aware of the existence of fake news stories, believing in them is a possibility, especially when these stories use the logo of reputable media outfits.

During the recent virtual media conference for the formal launch of GMA Batangas station, GMA Regional TV first vice president and head Oliver Victor Amoroso said GMA network is fortunate to know that there are people who are discerning when it comes to fake news and can easily identify verified news stories. This speaks about media literacy, one of the necessary skills nowadays, and GMA is making an initiative to help promote media and digital literacy so as to prevent people from becoming victims of misinformation and disinformation.

The masterclass series couldn’t have come at a better time with the national elections happening in May.

“As part of our responsibility (as a media organization), we are going around the Philippines starting next week (note: they may have already started by the time you read this) with our GMA masterclass series. We will have four masterclasses in the Visayas in partnership with various universities para maging media literate lalo na sa social media or digital platforms ang ating young population already old enough to vote this coming election,” told Oliver to The STAR regarding the Kapuso network’s move in combating fake news.

The masterclass is aimed at teaching young people to critically evaluate content they encounter particularly on social media.

“So aside from the four masterclasses, we are also having five masterclasses in Mindanao. We are also going to the rest of Luzon for this GMA masterclass series as part of our initiative in making sure that our viewers who are also accessing news on social media or through different digital platforms para aware sila ano ‘yung totoo versus doon sa fake news,” Oliver said.

Holding masterclasses in different areas of the country forms part of GMA Network’s efforts to show its commitment to provide serbisyong totoo to Filipino audiences.

GMA first organized a nationwide masterclass series in 2019 through its regional TV arm, as part of an election advocacy campaign in time for the elections that same year. The series featured some of the network’s award-winning and most prominent news and public affairs personalities such as Howie Severino, Ivan Mayrina, Raffy Tima, Sandra Aguinaldo, Mariz Umali, Jun Veneracion, Nielsen Donato and Atom Araullo.