Hero Mustafa: In the last year we have failed to protect independent media – Bulgaria

© Velko Angelov

“In the last year, we have not been able to make much progress on the issue of media independence. We have not been able to protect them enough, and they are fundamental to democracy.”

This was stated by US Ambassador Hero Mustafa at the conference “Media Literacy in Bulgaria. What We Learned from the Crisis”, organized by the Media Literacy Coalition and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation. Ambassador Mustafa joined the video link when he was quarantined due to contact with a person who tested positive for coronavirus.

According to her, there should be legal guarantees in Bulgaria against attempts to exert political pressure on independent media. “Any attempt to undermine this independence or any attempt to concentrate the media in the hands of a few influential people weakens these extremely important guardians of the public interest. I promise you that we will continue to work to promote independent media and media literacy.” said Ambassador Mustafa.

In his statement, he highlighted the importance of working for the critical thinking of adolescents in addition to media literacy at school. Apart from the educational system, independent media and a strong civil society can help you.

“Basic media literacy and critical thinking should be taught in school from an early age. These are skills that will serve us throughout life. It is extremely important to develop healthy online habits to use social media from an early age, so while becoming teenagers, so that young people can make informed decisions and be more resilient to the negative effects of misinformation. In this way, the future generation will be more literate and, hopefully, wiser in consuming online content ” said Ambassador Mustafa.

Ambassador Mustafa set the example with his five-year-old daughter, who is learning to read and write. “It is not about teaching him what is written on a page, but also about teaching him his critical thinking. Asking the important questions: what do you read, what do you hear, what do you see? This critical thinking is essential.” thinks the ambassador.

“Because civil society and independent media play a very important role. It is not only the educational system and parents who teach their children to think critically, we need independent media and civil society. They are the guardians, we need your help to identify and fight threats, “said the ambassador

He added that civil society and independent media are needed for people to recognize and disclose misinformation, to distinguish reliable sources from questionable ones. “That is why it is important to ask ourselves these important questions about who is the owner of a particular publication, who is the author of a publication, what are the motives. Asking these questions is also part of critical thinking, which is extremely important and can be done. build through the media and civil society “.

According to her, fake news and misinformation spread “like a virus” thanks to modern technology. “It is our responsibility and goal to ensure that future generations learn to distinguish truth from falsehood, recognize misinformation as a danger, and support those who work with transparency. Transparency is an extremely important concept for any democracy. Transparency is this. what gives life to democracy, “said Hero Mustafa.