Big newspapers enter the classroom to challenge fake news and algorithms

It's called Doubt and Debate and aims to teach kids something that in the age of algorithms risks becoming increasingly rare: doubt. The international tech and media literacy project promoted by the Osservatorio for independent thinking was presented in Milan, returning to Italian schools with a second edition enriched with new content and partners.

The initiative, supported by Tim and Fondazione Roma in some regions of the South, is aimed at high school students with the aim of strengthening their critical thinking and ability to orient themselves in information. Among the novelties of this school year, the entry of three prestigious international newspapers: Financial Times, The Economist and Süddeutsche Zeitung, which will join partners such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and CNN.

«We want to train young people to think with their own heads, to be free from conditioning, manipulation and propaganda – explains the president of the Observatory Andrea Ceccherini – The objective is to help students distinguish facts and opinions, recognize authoritative sources and understand how the same news story can be told from different perspectives».

Through a free platform, schools will be able to access lessons, videos and masterclasses dedicated to topics such as artificial intelligence, algorithms, disinformation and fake news. For Tim's CEO, Pietro Labriola, the challenge is to get out of the information "bubbles" created by algorithms. Hence the slogan #RompiLaBolla, which invites young people to confront different points of view and build autonomous opinions.

Thanks to interactive lessons and comparative analysis of news, Doubt and Debate thus aims to train citizens who are more aware and less exposed to polarization.