For 25 years, the SÜDKURIER has been campaigning with its media project Klasse! at schools for more media competence among pupils. To mark the anniversary, the new six-part series “Secure on the Net” will be published, which deals with recognizing dangers and dealing with them. On May 9th there will be an event in Singen with Mirko Drotschmann and the Minister of Education Theresa Schopper, to which the SÜDKURIER invites school classes, teachers and parents. You can register using this link.
Mr. Drotschmann, artificial intelligence (AI) could play an increasingly important role in the spread of fake news. Does this pose a risk to young people?
First of all, I see many opportunities associated with artificial intelligence, also for journalism. Things will be possible that we don’t even dare to think about today. On the other hand, AI sure makes it easier and easier to create professional fakes. Here it is important to use targeted media training to point out mechanisms and dangers and to follow developments critically from the start – also and above all in schools and other educational institutions.
You are in favor of media literacy as a school subject. Why is that important?
Today’s young people have nothing more to do with than with digital media. At school, but above all in my free time. You don’t need to explain to them how to operate devices. But there is a great need to learn how to move around the web safely and securely. I don’t think it should be packed into other school subjects, such as German or politics. That does not work. I think it needs an extra compartment. I believe that you can start in fifth grade, if not in first grade.
What would such a lesson look like?
It should be about how to tell a right source from a wrong one. How to see if a site is trustworthy? But also how to deal with your personal data. What should you disclose, what not? What are the dangers of platforms like Tiktok? Or: What are my parents allowed to put online and what are they not allowed to?
Are instructional videos not enough for this?
Videos on the web can be watched, but don’t have to. In school you have to attend the subject, there’s no getting around it. I think some things are so important that you can’t leave them to leisure. We live in a time where there is an incredible amount of fake news that many people fall for. There is hate on the internet – cyberbullying is a big issue. This should be a topic in school. Of course I can make a video about cyberbullying, but a few people will watch it and a lot of people won’t watch it. School is the better place to reach people.
Where do you see dangers if there is too little media competence among children and young people?
For example, I see the danger that people will fall for false reports, believe them and, in the worst case, spread them further. And in doing so, under certain circumstances, heat up moods. For example against classmates, and that brings us to the next topic. That one does not reflect and write bad things on the net. You do not see the person under whose photo you are commenting. You don’t see how the reactions are, what that does to these people. That is what is so dangerous about cyberbullying. While you used to at least see someone bursting into tears or running home when you were bullied at school – in the real world, so to speak – you don’t have that opportunity. On the net, you may just keep going and that can take on really violent proportions. It is important to act preventively.
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Many students use your videos as a learning resource alongside class. What do you offer that teachers cannot?
Although I have a historical education, I studied history, but I have no pedagogical training. I would never presume to say that I can do anything better than a teacher. I see the videos more as a supplement, like tutoring. I talk about a topic for 10-15 minutes, people can rewind me, click me away and never look back. You can’t do that with the teacher. I hope I can convey an enthusiasm for the subject of history. This is something I would like to see a little more of from some teachers.
Even people without a journalistic background create news formats that classify current topics.
First of all, I think that everyone here in Germany can try their hand at this area. But as a spectator, you should pay close attention. Who is this person, what is their background? How do you work with language, how do you work with sources – transparent or rather veiled? If you keep these things in mind, you are less likely to be misled. At the same time, I also think that the makers naturally have a responsibility. Anyone who says that I am now creating a journalistic product should also adhere to the basic journalistic principles.
How can parents promote media literacy?
I’m not a fan of banning children under a certain age from using tablets or cellphones. Because of course they know. When the kids see dad sitting there looking at something on his cell phone, they want to take a look too. That’s quite logical. It is important for parents to ensure that screen time is not too high, especially for younger children. But there should also be a balance among young people. What I also think is important: that parents are interested in what children and young people are doing online.
My mother used to be always interested in what kind of music I listen to. Not because she wanted to control me, but simply because it was a genuine interest. So I gave her some CDs and we talked about it. I believe that if there is an honest exchange between parents and children, then you can prevent a lot. You can also ensure that the children come to their parents if they encounter something bad on the Internet.
Content is becoming more and more compressed on social networks. Does that also have an impact on the viewers?
Actually hardly. You can see how long people watch the videos on YouTube and it’s pretty much the same over the years. But what I’m already seeing is that people expect things to be presented to them in ever shorter chunks. At the same time, this creates an illusion of knowledge. Just because you watched a video that’s a minute and a half long and discusses the Holocaust, you don’t know about the Holocaust. On the contrary: I think it’s dangerous to suggest to people that with such a short video you have an overview and don’t have to deal with it any further. That’s why I’m skeptical about bits of information that are too small. It works for some themes, not at all for others.
You also work with bits of information on your Instagram channel.
Of course you have to adapt to the platform. Instagram is a platform where longer videos hardly play a role, it’s more about individual feed posts. That’s exactly what we do on the platform. But we don’t let the platforms dictate which topics we deal with or how we approach the topics in terms of content. Reach should never come before content.
It’s also about reach. Do you sometimes adapt your videos to topics that are doing particularly well?
I find it very difficult to do that. That would mean that you let a platform dictate what content you play. And I don’t think that has anything to do with journalism anymore. I try to address the issues that viewers want. 70 to 80 percent of the topics are viewer requests. And I also try to observe the journalistic criteria when it comes to the relevance of a topic. If a topic was only interesting because it clicked well, I wouldn’t do it.
They come to the Singen Stadthalle on May 9th. What can we particularly look forward to?
I am very happy to be coming down south. I have a few insights with me: behind the scenes of my YouTube channel “MrWissen2go”, for example in analysis data, usage behavior, things that you don’t normally see as a viewer. And of course it’s about fake news and how to expose it. I am particularly looking forward to being asked many questions.
