She arrived in Canada as an immigrant and now teaches newcomers how to resist misinformation
As an immigrant, Mona Awwad knows how daunting it is to start over in a new country. The promise of a better future collides with the fear of acceptance. That vulnerability stays with Awwad to this day and sparked her curiosity when she saw the chance to become a media literacy trainer.
Awwad’s journey spanned most of her childhood. Born in Kuwait to a Jordanian family of Palestinian origins, she fled the Gulf War at 5 and returned with her family to Jordan. Later, she moved to the United States, only to feel unwelcome after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Back in Jordan again, Awwad felt torn between cultures and countries that she had called home — “too American” for Jordan, yet “too Jordanian” for America. In 2015, she arrived in Canada, where she finally felt at home.
Now a freelance print and broadcast journalist, Awwad draws on those experiences in her work with journalists and immigration policy researchers in the Middle East and North Africa. She also sees how media literacy can equip immigrants with skills that last a lifetime.
Related Knowledge Center: Media literacy
Digital technology has irrevocably altered the media landscape. As traditional sources of credible information — gatekeepers — lose influence, jostled and often replaced by content of uncertain pedigree, many users lack the requisite skills to separate fact from fiction, truth from lies, sense from nonsense. The market doesn’t reward one over the other — social media algorithms often produce better business outcomes with falsehoods — prompting some dedicated efforts to empower users with better critical-thinking tools.