A response to online hate speech through the enhancement of high-quality professional and citizen journalism

ended

Online hate speech is a growing problem in Greece and Cyprus which can be attributed to societal attitudes towards specific groups, the evolution of online media, lack of awareness and of appropriate tools to recognise and counter hate speech. Professional&citizen journalists are producing content containing hate speech both intentionally, to gain visibility and unintentionally because they are not in position to effectively recognize it. The project aims to support high quality journalism in Greece&Cyprus through the enhancement of media literacy skills of professional and citizen journalists (bloggers, social media influencers) and help them to promptly recognize online hate speech patterns and produce anti-hate speech journalism. It also aims to increase awareness of the general public on online hate speech features via online campaign following a bottom-up and participatory approach through the establishment of a youth-led alliance consisting of citizen&professional journalists. WP1 Project management & coordination,WP2 Development of targeted tools for journalists to counter online hate speech, WP3 Capacity Building activities addressed to professional journalists both students and junior journalists, as well as citizen journalists, WP4 Pilot testing digital skills and media literacy through the stimulation of anti-hate speech online news portal, WP5 Dissemination activities. A developed guide booklet for journalists, 350 trained professional and citizen journalists, targeted and practice-oriented training material, increased knowledge for the project’s target groups on the phenomenon of hate speech online in terms of how it proliferates across the internet and social media and what are the strategies lie behind and enhanced capacities on how to address it, high-quality journalism, national online campaigns, strengthened cooperation between professional and citizen journalists, increased awareness of the general public on the phenomenon of online hate speech.