(Dis)informative Carrion In Central America

Media Literacy As A Response To Information Disorders In The Region

Abstract

In Central America —as illustrated by the case of the alleged sale of vulture meat as if it were a chicken that caused alarm in four countries in the area— media and socio- digital pages pounce daily on disinformation (carrion, let us call it) that they then spread to gorging on likes and imposing false narratives. Using this example as a trigger, and after reviewing quantitative data from national studies and conducting qualitative interviews with experts, this paper seeks to compare how audiences in these societies are exposed to spread “informative disorders” about science, public health, and politics. The results reveal that growing access to the Internet and the lack of media skills make Central America an ecosystem that is easily contaminated. As a solution, it is proposed to promote, in collaboration with national educational systems, Media and Information Literacy that complement technical approaches (using tools) with critical visions (interpreting content) and articulate particular training projects that have until now been isolated.