By Victor Bwire
As misinformation, harmful content, and the demand for clean information grows globally, stakeholders in the information sector are creating novel approaches to empower users, particularly the youth, with competencies and resources to utilize and produce media content responsibly.
The youth represent the largest demographic using media spaces, especially digital platforms. They generate income through content monetization, engage in national dialogues on critical public interest matters, and increasingly misuse media spaces, resulting in legal conflicts and substantial penalties due to defamatory or harmful content.
Most of these users are students within formal education systems. Secondary school students bring phones into schools or use them during weekend leisure activities, thus playing a significant role in the information environment.
Consider events such as school fires and examination leaks, among other viral content produced by students, and the repercussions these have had. During holidays, students receive assignments requiring phones, tablets, and internet-connected devices. In this process, they create, curate, and distribute both accurate and misleading information.
With ICT advancements, society is becoming more interconnected, facilitating information and resource sharing through media. Additionally, the increasing use of algorithms and Artificial Intelligence is transforming information creation and distribution, raising concerns about freedom and autonomy.
Youth, including students, employ media platforms, both conventional and digital, to create and consume information, which is often manipulated or weaponized around issues such as human rights violations, radicalization, and recruitment into violent extremism.
This is detrimental. For information to be effective in enabling citizens to exercise their rights, it must be accurate, timely, and accessible, particularly in today’s climate of information saturation.
This understanding has prompted the Media Council of Kenya, in partnership with various secondary schools, to rejuvenate journalism clubs. These clubs, which have long existed in schools, now function as platforms for developing communication skills, creativity, and early interest in media practice, as well as promoting media information and digital literacy.
They are utilized for awareness forums, town halls, and freedom of expression cafés, where students learn to identify, fact-check, and produce reliable information that can also generate income. This helps cultivate a culture of information integrity from an early age.
The Competency-Based Education (CBE) model recognizes Media Technology as a crucial pathway and emphasizes the necessity to formalize journalism clubs. This calls for their acknowledgment and support from stakeholders like the Ministry of Education and the Media Council of Kenya to align them with national education priorities and reinforce their role in skills development and career preparation.
Student journalism initiatives have gained significant popularity. With the Media Council of Kenya establishing a framework to mainstream them, they now serve as vital channels for enhancing students’ understanding of media literacy, journalism principles, and ethics. They also foster critical thinking, creativity in content creation (writing, photography, multimedia), leadership, collaboration, and responsible media consumption and production. Most importantly, they provide a platform for student mentorship.
The Kenyan government has adopted ICT in service delivery. Initiatives such as Huduma Centres, e-government directives, the Digital Literacy Programme, Konza Technopolis, and the e-Citizen portal require citizens to communicate responsibly to fully benefit from these services.
The demand for information integrity and responsible content production and consumption across both traditional and digital media is central to addressing the widespread presence of harmful content, including hate speech, disinformation, and foreign information manipulation.
A compromised information ecosystem has become fertile ground for misinformation and manipulation globally, especially in critical areas such as elections and security. Digital platforms, in particular, have become the primary arena where information pollution occurs and, equally, where efforts to promote integrity, accountability, and responsible influence must be concentrated.
Exposing students to skills and tools for responsible media use can drive entrepreneurship and support the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 12 (sustainable consumption and production) and SDG 16 (peaceful and inclusive societies and access to information).
Schools are also organizing student journalism expos as learning and demonstration platforms rather than competitions, aligned with the CBE model, emphasizing skills development, creativity, and Media Information and Digital Literacy (MIDL).
Together with other interventions such as press clubs and media hubs, media information and digital literacy are emerging as key frontiers in promoting access to credible information, especially as the demand for clean and responsible media content intensifies in the country.