Battling misinformation in the community: The Media Literacy Project 

By Hayley Juhl

The catalysts for the Media Literacy Project were three conversations, two of which were with my teenager.

“Beyoncé was behind Aaliyah’s death,” she told me one day.

What?!

“Cite your sources,” I shot back. (I say that a lot in my house.) Snopes.com had debunked that rumour and we had a talk about disinformation.

A week or so later, she said: “Trump just had a stroke!” 

“Cite your sources!” 

She tried, but her sources weren’t reliable. Clearly this required a bigger conversation.

Around the same time, a discussion with a colleague about mistrust of media in general ended the way most of those chats do: “If only we could talk to people face-to-face and explain what we do.”

That’s exactly our plan.

Misinformation, disinformation and generative AI have polluted the newsscape. As the digital transformation of media continues, we have fallen behind on teaching people how to seek out trusted news. 

The Media Literacy Project will provide workshops, seminars and panel discussions to community members, leaders, educators, parents and students in Greater Montreal to encourage civic engagement, and empower people to navigate the media landscape and understand media influences. As Gazette journalists, we are uniquely placed as the voice of anglo Quebecers.

We’re beginning where most education starts: by going into our schools to teach and learn from students, teachers and parents – to talk to them face to face to explain not only what we do, but what bad actors do, and how to tell real news from that other stuff. We’re even going to talk about the thing that scares journalists the most: AI and its place in the world.

We as a community are raising the next generation of journalists and media consumers. It’s vital that we get it right and that we model good media citizenship.

So when our kids come home with some bizarro rumour and we say, “Cite your sources!” they can do it with confidence.

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Hayley Juhl is vice-president of CWA Canada Local 3011, which represents staff at the Montreal Gazette and Bethesda Game Studios. She has been with the Gazette since 1989, working in the newsroom during some of the biggest stories in Montreal’s history, and experiencing some of the biggest changes the media industry has ever seen. Resources for the Media Literacy Project will be available in 2026.