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Friday, March 29, 2024

Young writers take charge in fight against misinformation

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“At a time when spreading of misinformation is getting common, what can you do to help people, especially the youth, search for the truth?”

Kabataan Sanaysay first prize winner Marielle Calicdan

This was the question participants in Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature Kabataan Division Essay and Sanaysay categories had to answer in their pieces. The topic reflected the current proliferation of fabricated news and data in the country.

As Ann Jeline Pablo, third prize winner in the Kabataan Essay category, pointed out, it seems that in today’s society there is an ongoing battle between opposing news on which is to be considered real.

“The fact that we allow fake news to spread and that real news still has to fight for its place to be regarded credible causes people to be blindsided by the important things and the issues at hand,” she said.

Meanwhile, Sanaysay category second prize winner Mark Pedere opined, “One of the biggest effects of rampant misinformation is the cultivation of ignorance. Amid changing the mindset of the masses, it may also weaken its critical thinking. One may immediately believe fake news and may lead to the misunderstanding of what is really happening in our society.”

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At just 16 to 17 years old, the six winners in the Kabataan Division of the 69th Palanca Awards represent the youth who are conscious of the truth in society.

Marielle Calicdan, first prize winner in the Kabataan Sanaysay category, said that as an editorial writer, she felt it necessary to use her ink to speak for the minority.

On the other hand, Criscela Racelis, second prize winner of Kabataan Essay, shared her way of helping search for the truth today when the Internet makes it easy to distribute anything: “I hope to overcome that (misinformation) by writing works that can educate my audience whilst also being entertaining and well-written enough to keep them interested and engaged—even through little steps such as posting a few paragraphs on social media.”

Kabataan Essay first prize winner 
Enrico Miguel Perez

As the public encounters countless information every day, receivers have to be mindful and responsible enough to question the information before filing each one under fact or fiction.

Kabataan Sanaysay third prize winner Adrian Pregonir believes that successfully distinguishing real from fake news involves cross-referencing with different kinds of news sources, especially since inaccurate information are easily spread on social media.

“I refer to various sources, from social media posts to news publications, and navigate the faults in each article through reading into the texts.”

“Truth remains elusive,” states Enrico Perez, first prize winner in Kabataan Essay category. “Misinformation is something of our own making because so long as people are capable of thought, they are capable of perspective, which, incidentally, makes some of them capable of writing.”

Named after businessman and philanthropist Don Carlos Palanca Sr., the Palanca Awards continuously seeks to cultivate Philippine literature by providing incentives for writers and serving as a treasury of these literary gems. Go to www.palancaawards.com.ph for complete list of winners.

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