Canadian Immigrant Now Teaches Newcomers to Combat Misinformation

Immigrant Journalist Empowers Newcomers with Media Literacy Skills to Combat Disinformation

Drawing on her own experiences as an immigrant, journalist Mona Awwad has transformed personal challenges into a mission to protect vulnerable newcomers from the dangers of disinformation. Through a specialized training program, she’s equipped nearly 80 recent immigrants to Canada with critical media literacy skills.

“I witnessed firsthand how newcomers can be vulnerable to disinformation, especially when it affects critical areas like health, employment, or housing,” explains Awwad. “I wanted to give my community the tools to manage this reality.”

Awwad’s journey has been marked by displacement and adaptation. Born in Kuwait to a Jordanian family of Palestinian origins, she fled the Gulf War at age five. After returning to Jordan, she later moved to the United States, where she experienced hostility following the September 11 attacks. Back in Jordan again, she felt caught between cultures – “too American” for Jordan, yet “too Jordanian” for America – before finally finding a sense of belonging in Canada in 2015.

Now working as a freelance journalist and researcher focused on immigration policy in the Middle East and North Africa, Awwad recognized a critical gap in newcomer support services: the ability to navigate increasingly complex information landscapes.

Her opportunity came through the International Center for Journalists’ (ICFJ) Disarming Disinformation initiative, a three-year program supported by the Scripps Howard Foundation. Working in partnership with MediaWise from the Poynter Institute, the program trains community leaders who can then educate others on media literacy skills.

“The program reshaped how I see media literacy,” Awwad reflects. “It’s not only about spotting false information or knowing how to verify sources. It’s a broader mindset – a daily habit of questioning, checking, and reflecting on the information we consume.”

To make these concepts accessible to her community, Awwad developed QIRAA, a framework that stands for “Question, Identify, Research, Acknowledge and Act.” The term also means “reading” in Arabic, creating a meaningful connection for Arabic-speaking participants.

During her workshops, Awwad guided participants through critical examination of information, credibility evaluation, and recognizing manipulation attempts. She discovered that many newcomers lacked foundational digital literacy skills – the basic ability to use digital technologies – which made them particularly vulnerable to online scams and misinformation.

Workshop participants initially felt overwhelmed upon realizing how pervasive disinformation is in daily life. However, Awwad’s practical approach included real-time verification exercises, such as identifying fraudulent rental listings – a common problem for newcomers seeking housing in unfamiliar cities.

The impact has been immediate and tangible. One participant reported helping her elderly father avoid a rental scam by applying verification techniques learned in the training. Another began volunteering at a local community center to share knowledge about misinformation with fellow immigrants.

“Following the practical exercises, participants shared that they felt more confident and had already employed the techniques to protect both themselves and their families from scams,” Awwad notes.

The ICFJ’s Disarming Disinformation initiative has now trained 27 community leaders like Awwad, who collectively have reached over 3,200 people worldwide with media literacy education.

Awwad plans to expand her efforts with more specialized workshops focused on employment, housing and health-related disinformation – areas where immigrants are particularly vulnerable to exploitation. She’s developing a tiered approach that begins with digital literacy fundamentals before advancing to more sophisticated verification techniques.

For Awwad, this work represents a deeply personal mission. “I know how vulnerable newcomers can be to confusion, misinformation, and even scams when trying to settle,” she says. “Helping them navigate information with more confidence feels deeply personal to me. It’s my way of giving back in the same way I once needed support.”

As disinformation continues to proliferate across digital platforms, initiatives like Awwad’s represent a community-based approach to building resilience among vulnerable populations – equipping people not just with facts, but with the critical thinking skills needed to evaluate information independently in their new homes.