In Manizales, one of the country’s cities with the highest proportion of residents over 60, a media literacy course teaches older adults how to verify information.
For 69-year-old Ángela María Henao Toro, something about a forwarded WhatsApp message didn't make sense. It claimed that temperatures in her hometown of Manizales, Colombia, could soar to 122 degrees Fahrenheit (50 Celsius) because of the El Niño weather phenomenon.
Manizales, a city nestled in the mountains of Colombia's coffee-growing region, has an average temperature of about 61 degrees Fahrenheit (16 Celsius). The message, falsely attributed to the Colombian Civil Defense, urged residents to prepare for an extreme heat wave with recommendations such as avoiding filling their cars' gas tanks to prevent explosions.
The message — which fact-checkers across Latin America have debunked — has circulated since 2023 and resurfaces whenever El Niño returns.
By the time she received it, however, Henao Toro had already developed the skills to question what she was reading. She learned them through "Digital Literacy Against Misinformation," a course offered as part of the Intergenerational University for older adults at the Universidad de Caldas.
"That's why I found the course so interesting, because it really helped me look more carefully at what I see on social media and understand what's real and what's not," Henao Toro told LatAm Journalism Review (LJR). “I thought it was incredibly important.”
A retired librarian, Henao Toro was part of the program's fourth cohort. In June, the Intergenerational University marked its first anniversary, offering courses in Manizales in response to a demographic reality: the city has one of the largest proportions of older adults in Colombia.
Como parte del curso “Alfabetización digital contra la desinformación” los estudiantes hicieron una visita al periódico La Patria de Manizales, Colombia. Aquí son recibidos por su director, Fernando-Alonso Ramírez Ramírez. (Foto: Cortesía Sania Salazar)
According to the Manizales Mayor's Office Observatory for Planning and Territory, 21% of the city's population is now over age 60, above the national average. That share is expected to continue growing.
During its first year, the Intergenerational University offered at least 60 free courses in subjects including art, history, technology, nature and health, certifying more than 2,000 older adults. Regardless of which course they take, all participants also receive training on mental health.
"That tells us something very valuable: older adults want to keep learning, but they also want to stay connected with other people," Darío Arenas Villegas, vice rector for University Outreach at the University of Caldas, told LJR. “This program has shown that these spaces help combat unwanted social isolation, strengthen well-being and mental health, and encourage active participation in cultural and recreational activities.”
Older adults, along with children, are among the groups most vulnerable to disinformation. Some studies suggest they’re more likely to consume misinformation because it reinforces their existing beliefs. Older adults are also frequent targets of online scams.
Recognizing the risks misinformation poses, Arenas said the university decided to create a course focused on addressing it.
"More than teaching people how to use tools to verify a news story, what we want is for them to develop a more critical mindset — to ask questions before believing or sharing content," Arenas said. "At a time like this in Colombia, when important public decisions are being debated, it's essential to reflect on the information we consume, but also on the information we share and help circulate."
The university partnered with the Manizales-based digital news outlet Pensé que ‘VOZ’ Sabías. Founded two years ago, the outlet incorporates information from citizen watchdog groups — volunteers who monitor public spending — into its reporting while also offering media literacy workshops on misinformation.
"We combine investigative journalism techniques with the oversight work these citizens do on the ground," founder Sania Salazar, who previously worked at fact-checking outlet ColombiaCheck, told LJR. “There's also a broader goal: We're convinced that if people understand how journalism works because they're involved in the reporting process, they'll be less likely to fall for misinformation.”
The outlet's workshops typically target high school and college-age students, but teaching older adults has been especially rewarding, Salazar said.
"It's been absolutely wonderful," she said. “We have so many prejudices about old age, but I'll tell you this: I go to these classes, and they're the ones who give me energy. They're incredibly engaged, always on time, eager to learn, constantly asking questions, and willing to try everything. They're learning, but they're also building friendships.”
The 48-hour course focuses on practical skills designed for people without journalism backgrounds. Salazar walks participants through examples of how professional fact-checking organizations verify information and then leads activities, including having participants play the role of misinformation creators so they can better understand how false narratives spread and how to identify them.
"I've spent a lot of time explaining how misinformation and social media manipulate people's emotions," Salazar said. “We give them practical tools and techniques, but we also recommend trustworthy news outlets and help them recognize how their emotions are being manipulated.”
That's exactly what 72-year-old Luz Marina Hoyos Botero says she learned. The media literacy course was the fifth class she had taken through the Intergenerational University. She enrolled because she wanted to better understand how news is produced and how to tell which stories are credible.
Visita de estudiantes del curso “Alfabetización digital contra la desinformación” al periódico La Patria de Manizales, Colombia. (Foto: Cortesía Sania Salazar)
"It was truly a wonderful experience," Hoyos told LJR. “I learned that many stories circulating on social media are false, and I used to share them — especially the ones that made me feel afraid or worried.”
Now, whenever she comes across suspicious information, Hoyos checks it against reporting from outlets such as Pensé que 'VOZ' Sabías before believing or sharing it.
She was also one of two students selected for the program's first international exchange with the University of Guadalajara, where participants learned about that institution's work with older adults.
Henao said she was struck by both the sheer volume of misinformation circulating online and by how convincing AI-generated content can be.
"Another thing that surprised me is how influencers or YouTube videos use very sensational headlines," she said. “You click on the video, and it's completely false or has nothing to do with the headline. They do it just to get people to open it. Once you learn which sources are trustworthy, everything changes because you become much more careful about what information you believe.”
Helping participants discover reliable news organizations is one of Salazar's main goals.
"I don't tell them what they should read or consume," Salazar said. “I simply give them a broad overview and let them choose. I recommend a list of 15 or 20 Colombian and Latin American news outlets and ask, 'Have you ever heard of these?' Most of them say, 'No, we had no idea they existed.' Most of these outlets are digital, and we assume everyone is on social media, but that's not always true. Older adults are sometimes left out of these newer, high-quality digital journalism initiatives simply because they don't know they exist.”
The Intergenerational University is now preparing to welcome its fifth cohort, with registration opening July 14. One of the 20 courses offered will once again focus on digital literacy and misinformation. And for some graduates, the learning continues after the course ends: several alumni now meet monthly in a reading club to discuss and analyze news coverage published that month.
This text was translated with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Jorge Valencia
