A media literacy series produced by Ukrainian online media outlet Toronto TV reached 6.6 million views on Instagram. The participative nature of the project allowed the grantee to test its audience’s knowledge before and after viewing.

In the midst of an information war, Ukrainians of all ages need to know how to recognize Russian propaganda when they see it. Although more than 70 percent of Ukrainians know that disinformation is out there, in recent polling, 65 percent of Ukrainians admitted that they were not interested in materials to help them recognize fake news. USAID’s grantee, Toronto TV, took on the challenge of finding a new way to provide media literacy education in an enjoyable and engaging format.

Known for its popular YouTube comedy show “#@)₴?$0,” Toronto TV produced a series of short videos on media literacy, to be published through Instagram Stories, Instagram TV, YouTube, and Facebook. 

The experiment proved far more successful than anticipated. Without any paid advertising or promotion, Toronto TV’s videos initially reached between 6,000 and 10,000 viewers on the Instagram TV platform. WIthin a few months, their numbers quickly rose to the thousands, and then into the millions.

At the project’s outset,Toronto TV asked its audience about the well-established journalistic standard of verifying information through more than one source. Only 37 percent of 5,300 respondents answered correctly. After the audience watched the short videos on media literacy, the Toronto TV team again surveyed their knowledge of journalistic practices, including awareness of  disinformation, hate speech, hidden advertising, and clickbait. This time 88 percent of the 7,200 respondents gave correct responses. 

Non-governmental organizations such as KyivPride, the Council of Student Government in Chervonohrad, and students and teachers at Borys Hrinchenko Kyiv University and Chernihiv Secondary School are now using Toronto TV’s videos to train their members and students. 

Toronto TV’s media literacy videos are particularly popular with YouTube users aged 18-34 and Instagram users aged 13-34. This is an especially important demographic, as younger Ukrainians increasingly turn to social media both as a source of information and as a means for disseminating disinformation.

Toronto TV’s grant finished in January 2020, but the production company continues producing media literacy videos due to their popularity. Its 57 multimedia videos have reached more than 6.6 million viewers since the initiative’s launch in September 2019, and the audience continues to grow.