Post-Truth as a Main Feature of Modern Media Landscape and Primary Concern of Media Education

Post-truth is increasingly in demand among scholars, journalists, and ordinary people all over the world. That is why it may be no accident that in 2016, the Oxford Dictionary named it a word of the year. Based on the wide range of available interpretations of post-truth, the author formulates his own definition of this phenomenon as a part of existing media and political landscape: post-truth is first and foremost an attribute of contemporary media and political reality the essence of which is that facts are replaced with subjective, emotional, and sometimes false statements. An inference is made that in order to successfully combat negative effects of a post-truth media environment (i.e. disinformation, misinformation, fake news, manipulation, etc.), joint efforts of both institutional and non-institutional subjects are needed. These are (but not limited to) nonprofit organizations focusing on debunking false information, governmental agencies supporting media education programs and developing relevant legislation, and media community monitoring the way professional ethical standards and norms are abided by. However, efforts of governmental and non-profit organizations, as well as the part of professional media community most committed to ethic norms, would not be enough to withstand negative effects of a post-truth age unless the audience itself develops media literacy skills.