Calling all GVers! Register now for the Narrative Spotter workshop which will be divided into two two-hour sessions, happening on October 24 and October 31 at 2 pm UTC. See here what time it will be in your time zone.

Narratives shape public discourse and perceptions, making it essential for individuals to have robust digital and media literacy skills. To mark the start of the Global Media and Information Literacy Week, the Narrative Spotter training aims to equip members of the Global Voices (GV) community with the tools and knowledge necessary to navigate and critically contextualize media content. 

We will advance the methodology used at Civic Media Observatory to untangle chaotic information spaces and aim at telling better stories by comprehending how narratives and counter-narratives are formed and spread. Narratives are dominant ideas or perspectives that shape how events or issues are understood, while counter-narratives challenge, disrupt, or offer alternative viewpoints to these mainstream stories. 

With these added skills, participants will be better positioned to participate in further GV activities such as research with the Civic Media Observatory, write or co-write articles as part of the GV Newsroom, or simply for use in their daily life-consuming, sharing, or creating information.

The sessions will be held in English and will focus on two main components:

1. Media Ecosystem Mapping: Participants will learn to map the media landscape of their regions, identifying key media sources, themes, and entities of interest.
2. Narrative Spotting: This session delves into the narratives emerging from the mapped media sources, enabling participants to identify biases, challenge assumptions, and fill knowledge gaps.

Narrative Spotter Overview

During the Narrative Spotter workshop, participants will engage with real-life examples of media narratives, dissecting how stories are framed and represented. Through interactive exercises, they will learn to identify biases, issues around representation, and gaps in coverage. This session emphasizes the importance of diverse perspectives in shaping a more inclusive media ecosystem.

In this session, participants will:

• Engage in individual and group activities to identify and report on main narratives and counter-narratives.
• Explore the significance of narratives and learn strategies for contextualizing them effectively.
• Practice following narrative developments and identifying shifts in media discourse.

This training builds on the work of Rising Voices and the Civic Media Observatory, two projects within Global Voices committed to understanding how narratives and local knowledge are vital to healthier information ecosystems.

By completing the Narrative Spotter training, participants will:

• Develop critical thinking skills.
• Gain a deeper understanding of media ecosystems.
• Develop more autonomy in analyzing media content.
• Learn to identify biases and fill knowledge gaps.

If you have any questions, please e-mail Giovana Fleck (giovana.fleck [at] globalvoices.org) or Eddie Ávila (eddie [at] globalvoices.org).