The interests of young people change from generation to generation. Compared to other age groups, young people consume different content and prefer modern forms of communication. In order to reach them, convey a message to them and try to exert a certain influence, we need to speak the same language, communicate through the same channels and offer them content tailored to them.

This simple causality, however, encounters many obstacles in its application. Trends in communication are rapidly changing and improving, and those who deal with young people, in order to keep up with them, invest additional efforts that often endanger their modest capacities. This especially applies to those who already have difficulties in their functioning and ensuring sustainability in their work, such as various associations, formal and informal groups, local media, non-governmental organizations, etc.

Noticing this as one of the important challenges, Belgrade Open School, under the auspices of the Media and Youth for Democratic Development project, which is supported by the Kingdom of Sweden, organized a two-day training for improving the capacity of partners, where this was one of the key topics.

Stefan Markovic (PHOTO: Belgrade Open School)

Mobile journalism, as one of the ways to bring the media closer to young people through social networks and one of the more economical and accessible ways of dealing with this vocation, was the topic of two sessions within the training aimed at partner media. Especially important for local media, mobile journalism can save capacity and provide an advantage to newsrooms compared to traditional content and media, which do not follow the interests of young people. These sessions were held by Sanja Kljajic, from the German public service Deutsche Welle and an assistant at the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Novi Sad.

On the other hand, civil society organizations whose target group is young people had the opportunity to hear more about what communication with young people should look like during the training organized for them, what trends and research results say, as well as what young people, as the ultimate users, we essentially want. Equally important is the issue of visibility in the media of CSOs for youth, more specifically the content they produce, the activities they organize and the initiatives they initiate. For youth organizations and associations, the media is an important medium that connects them with their target group and makes them more visible, and it is extremely important that they know how they can become attractive to them.

With a handful of examples from their work, interactive discussion and a focus on the specific interests and difficulties of partner organizations, this part of the training, in two separate sessions, was held by Jovana Bozickovic, manager for communications and public advocacy at BOS, and Marina Zec, chief and responsible editor of “Oblakoder” magazine.

Youth, politics and advocacy

Research shows that young people in Serbia, despite the existence of normative and institutional frameworks, are not represented in institutions, and that there is no incentive for participation in decision-making processes.

If young people are, as it is claimed, the “driving force” of every society, it means that it is necessary to improve policies and practices that will lead to not only hearing their voice, but also to that voice being respected.

Public advocacy is a convenient means by which local civil society can help solve this and similar problems by insisting on changes in their local environments or in society in general. Researcher Boban Stojanovic spoke about this process, but also about what are youth policies and what are public policies, what is the institutional framework and how does youth policy work at the local level, for representatives of partner CSOs for youth.

Boban Stojanovic (PHOTO: Belgrade Open School)

And other topics

The Law on Free Access to Information of Public Importance, which entered into force in 2004, brought a handful of opportunities, both for the media, which is the backbone of many important investigative stories, and for CSOs, for which requests for access to information of public importance are one of the most important instruments of work. What did this law bring, what are requests for access to information of public importance, how are they used, who are they directed to and other relevant questions were discussed during the workshop held by Stefan Markovic from the Center for Investigative Journalism of Serbia (CINS) for representatives of partner media and CSOs for youth.

As information of public importance has become more accessible and transparent to citizens in recent years, and consequently brought a new dimension of investigative work closer to journalists by providing them with valuable material, searching databases has become a skill of essential importance for investigative media workers. Searching open and subscription databases can be complicated and complex, but the information we receive is verified and of high quality, so every effort is justified. Therefore, representatives of local media partners within the Media and Youth program had the opportunity to hear more about the types of databases, search methods, possibilities of applying the information obtained and other useful topics within the capacity improvement training from Bojana Jovanovic journalist from KRIK.

Bojana Jovanovic (PHOTO: Belgrade Open School)

In the coming period, Belgrade Open School will also work through various programs to improve the capacity of partner CSOs for youth and the media in order to improve and encourage the participation of young people in community mobilization and improve the quality and standards of investigative reporting, with the aim of strengthening democratic practice and contributing to the values of the rule of law and human rights in Serbia.

PHOTO: Belgrade Open School

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