On 25 and 26 November 2023 the project team of DVV International Moldova, in collaboration with ANTIM – National Association of Young Historians of the Republic of Moldova, held the training workshop “Researching the phenomenon of propaganda in the 20th century”: conceptual, methodological and practical approaches.”
The workshop was organized in Chisinau, at the Bristol Hotel.
The workshop participants were history teachers from Chisinau and from the districts of the country.
- Ludmila Coada, through her presentation, clarified the concept of “propaganda” and explained how history-based propaganda can be defeated. In this context, she pointed out the role of historical education and the development of critical thinking skills, the ability to call in question and to use different sources of information.
- In his presentation, Octavian Țîcu spoke about Propaganda and Russian expansionist plans in Romania: A History from Peter I to Putin. He explained the myths of Soviet history and the truths that remained hidden from the people. He also referred to the fact that society believed in the actions of “invented heroes” and was significantly influenced by Soviet propaganda.
- Sergiu Suvac, in his presentation specified how the propaganda of the war on the Dniester is reflected in school programs and history books. He contends that the new history books present to students on both sides of the Dniester River completely opposite versions of the events of that time, and history teachers have the role to present to students the real and impartial facts, with the help of the books, an equitable image, but also with a patriotic, value-based and tolerant approach.
- Igor Cașu, highlighted important aspects of propaganda in the context of the Russian-Ukrainian war.
- Daniela Vacarciuc provided an insight into the propaganda topics reflected in the media. She referred to the risks that propaganda brings to human dignity and conscience.
In the Republic of Moldova, three organizations of the civil society (Independent Press Association, Independent Journalism Centre and Association of Independent Journalists of the Republic of Moldova) launched in 2015 the campaign against false and biased information “STOP FALS!” The organizations proposed to reduce the effects of propagandistic and manipulative information that deform reality and to develop citizens’ capacities for critical analysis of the information that they receive. Since 2017 the “STOP FALSE!” campaign has developed the online platform www.stopfals.md, on which articles exposing false and tendentious information are published.
