The problem of critical thinking during media content consumption in the conditions of an information war

Abstract

The article is devoted to the problem of content consumption in modern media, in the context of the development of critical thinking, the basic components of which are media literacy and information stability. The urgency of the study lies in the fact that today there are serious threats for the Ukrainian media and information fields, which arose as a result of the hybrid geopolitical aggression that Ukraine has suffered from, from the Russian Federation. The subject of the presented research is critical thinking and the skills of resisting manipulations in the media in the servicemen of the Ukraine Army. The purpose of the study presented in this article is to quantify the level of critical thinking in the target group and identify specific issues in this context. To achieve this goal, such general scientific methods as analysis, comparison and observation were used, and the main applied research was a sociological survey (questionnaire). The results of the study show that the main sources of information for the representatives of the target group are social networks (79.8 %), online media (61.5 %), and messengers (46.8 %). The vast majority of respondents (70 %) used Ukrainian when consuming media content, 22 % of them used no language, and 8 % admitted that they prefer Russian. It was found that the target group chose more visual forms (video, infographics, photos) than texts as the media content format. Unfortunately, the study revealed low levels of critical thinking, as only 53.7 % said they would check information obtained from the media in alternative sources. 45.1 % of respondents believed that they had never been the object of media manipulation, while in fact the propaganda of the relevant structures of the Russian Federation is primarily aimed at them. The results of the study show that the representatives of the target group have a very serious problem with critical thinking, the level of media literacy and information stability. This circumstance is a prerequisite for the need to further improve the management of information processes in the Ukrainian media for the Armed Forces, qualitatively improve and increase the production of relevant media content, as conducting systematic training for target groups on media literacy and information sustainability.