Using Communication for Development practices to fight manipulative media in the Czech Republic

Sammanfattning: Mediatization theory, which I used as a paradigm for this work, conceive the boundaries between media, society and politics are vanishing. In a society where media are omnipresent and becoming parts of our lives, media literacy and civic education are crucial for the democratic development of society. Especially in a situation where the society is divided and various sources from the secret services of the Czech Republic, but also professionals focusing on media and security warn there are concerns about the presence of foreign state influence in the Czech Republic. Lack of historical tradition in media education in the Czech Republic led an open field for other actors to engage. One of them is the most prominent Czech NGO People in Need and its communication for development department. I analysed the organisation, using various resources, including research interviews and a document study. The People in Need, which has a unique educational section One World in Schools , prepares multiple free media educational programmes, among them an audio-visual lesson the Current Russian Propaganda in the Czech Republic. Furthermore I focused on other C4D programmes focusing on the topic. I found communication for development might be a powerful tool when trying to cope with misleading information. But since the work with “truth” is sometimes problematic, participants must follow rigorous procedures leading towards neutrality. Otherwise, the C4D program could also be labelled as propagandistic.