The 2024 Media and Information Literacy Academy Amman (MILAA) took place in Amman, hosted by the Jordan Media Institute. It brought together more than 70 students and staff from our AREACORE partners in several Arab countries, Germany, and various Jordanian universities for lectures, workshops, and practical training. This year’s MIL Academy focused on media in times of conflict and war, particularly on the spread of misinformation and disinformation. One key focus was the impact of these phenomena in the context of wars and elections. The Academy also explored the role of artificial intelligence as a tool for both combating and perpetuating misinformation.

Real-world examples were discussed, including how misinformation is currently shaping Western perspectives on the war in Gaza. Through lectures, workshops, and case studies, participants gained a deeper understanding of these pressing issues and developed skills to navigate and mitigate the effects of misinformation in today’s media landscape. This was accompanied by workshops where students practiced fact-checking information in the era of AI and using OSINT (Open Source Intelligence) data for geolocation searches to verify information.

Guest speakers:

Guest speakers included among others Mirna Abou Zeid (Dean, Jordan Media Institute & AREACORE), Gretchen King (Lebanese American University), Marian el Khouri, Basim Tweissi (Doha Institute for Graduate Studies), Mohamad Khamaysseh, Barakat Zyoud, Rano Tahseen, Josette Abi Tamer, Olivier Van Bockstael, Ghayth Mahadin, Geir Terje Ruud (Technology, journalism and media development), Jad Melki (Lebanese American University & AREACORE), Katharina Nötzold (FU Berlin & AREACORE) and various trainers from JMI.

The students had the opportunity to study and implement AI in journalism and evaluate its impact through their projects. By delving into the capabilities of AI, they gained valuable insights into the potential advantages and challenges it presents to journalism. The culmination of their joint efforts resulted in final presentations, where they could choose to present their projects as a 5–10-minute podcast or a 2-3 minutes long video. These presentations included 5-minute talks on their selected topics, accompanied by PowerPoint presentations, posters, or the produced clips. MILAA 2024 concluded with a sightseeing trip to Salt and a dinner where participants celebrated their achievements. In addition to the direct educational benefits, the annual MIL events foster collaboration among students and faculty from our partner universities in the AREACORE programme. This enables the formation of professional networks for both students and staff, instilling a commitment to prioritize media and information literacy in their respective home countries, and reinforcing the bonds between our partner universities that teach media and communication in the Arab world and Europe.