A study published by the MedDMO team in the Online Information Review focuses on the perception of disinformation among journalism students in Greece, Cyprus and Malta.
The study examines how journalism students in Greece, Cyprus and Malta perceive and understand disinformation, particularly with regard to migration issues.
Using focus groups with third-year students who had previous training in media literacy, the researchers analyzed the participants’ ability to identify misleading content, assess its socio-political impact and propose countermeasures.
Students demonstrated strong skills in detecting disinformation through linguistic cues, visual evidence and assessing the credibility of sources, and recognized that false narratives related to migration reinforce stereotypes and increase social polarization.
While expressing different views on which age groups are most vulnerable to disinformation, all participants stressed the importance of media literacy education.
The research provides a cross-national Mediterranean perspective, revealing ways in which students from countries with similar media systems approach detecting disinformation.
