MINUTES OF THE MEDIA LITERACY NETWORK MEETING
HELD ON 15.11.2019
On November 15, 2019, within the Media Literacy Days 2019, a meeting of the Media Literacy Network was held in the AVMU premises. The meeting was attended by: Violeta Gligoroska (Metamorphosis), Filip Stojanovski (Metamorphosis), Marija Petrevska (EZE), Leon Zlatkovski (EZE), Olga Samardzic Jankova (Conedu Global), Goran Lazarov (Eurotink), Goran Galabov (Volunteer Center Skopje), Yelmaz Dervishi (MCMS), Snezhana Trpevska (RESIS), Gjorgi Mitrevski (RESIS), Marina Ivanovska (SEMM), Mirce Adamchevski (SEMM), Vesna Nikodinoska (MIM), Monika Aksentievska (ICS), Alexandra Temenugova (ICS), Dejan Georgievski (CRM), Vera Boćićeva (SUGS “Josip Broz Tito”), Emilia Velichkova (SUGS “Josip Broz Tito”), Kristina Mitrovska (Ohrid Institute), Stole Naumov (CRM), Zoran Fidanoski (AVMU), Emilia Petreska – Kamenjarova ( AVMU), Viktor Stojanov (AVMU) and Marina Trajkova (AVMU). The meeting discussed the following:
1. At the very beginning, the results of the voting on the composition of the Coordination Group of the Network were announced. The group is composed of 2 members with a mandate of one year: Olga Samadzic Jankova from Konedu Global and Vesna Nikodinoska from MIM – both won 12 votes each; and three members with a mandate of two years: Emilia Petresca – Kamenjarova from AVMU (10 votes), Snezhana Trpevska from RESIS (9 votes) and Marina Tuneva from SEMM (7). The other candidates received the following votes in the voting held on October 3: Zhaneta Trajkoska from IKS and Filip Stojanovski from Metamorphosis 6 votes each, Goran Lazarov from Eurotink 4 votes and Zoran Bogatinov from MRT – 3 votes.
2. It was announced that the voting for the coordinator(s) of the Network held on October 3 was unsuccessful, i.e. the results were as follows: Emilia Petreska-Kamenjarova – 3 votes, Zhaneta Trajkovska – 2 votes, Snezhana Trpevska – 1 vote, Filip Stojanovski – 1 vote, Vesna Nikodinoska – 1 vote, Zoran Bogatinov – 1 vote and Marina Tuneva – 1 vote. The present members of the Network decided during the re-voting, to find these seven persons on the ballot.
3. During the re-voting, Emilia Petresca-Kamenjarova from AVMU was voted in as coordinator of the Network with 6 votes. The other candidates won the following votes: Zhaneta Trajkoska from IKS – 4 votes, Filip Stojanovski from Metamorfosis – 2 votes, and Snezhana Trpevska from RESIS, Marina Tuneva from SEMM, Vesna Nikodinoska from MIM and Zoran Bogatinov from MRT – 1 vote each.
4. The three working groups of the Network held their constitutive meetings on November 7 and 8, at which they determined the coordinators of the groups and the directions for action in the coming period. Sasho Bogdanovski (AVMU) was elected coordinator of the Group for Formal and Non-formal Education; The research group chose Viktor Stojanov (AVMU) as its coordinator, while Marina Trajkova (AVMU) was chosen as the coordinator of the Network Promotion Group and attracting new members. The coordinators of these groups presented at the meeting what was agreed so far within the groups.
5. Members of the Group for formal and informal education are: Biljana Janeva (Ohrid Institute), Zhaneta Trajkoska (ICS), Violeta Gligoroska (Metamorphosis), Olga Samardzic Jankova (Conedu Global), Snezhana Trpevska (RESIS), Vesna Nikodinoska (MIM) , Sasho Bogdanovski (AVMU) and Katerina Sinadinovska (SEMM). Since the coordinator of the Group for Formal and Non-formal Education was not able to attend the meeting, the information about what was agreed at the first meeting of this group was presented by Vesna Nikodinoska. The presentation consisted of the following points:
– It is necessary for the Group to ask all members of the Network to submit brief information about what they have done so far in the field of formal and informal education for the Ministry of Education. Based on this information, an overview of past and existing projects that have been implemented or are being implemented in this area will be prepared. Apart from the members of the Network, it is necessary to identify other entities that are not members, and that have implemented projects related to the Ministry of Justice.
– The Prepared Review should be submitted to all members of the Network and a thematic meeting would be organized at which areas and activities that are missing would be discussed and guidelines would be determined in which fields should be worked in the future.
– Guidelines for further development of activities in the field of formal and informal education for MPs, the Network would refer to competent institutions, donors, CSOs and other relevant entities.
– Before approaching the creation of a Strategy for Ministry of Education at the state level, it is recommended to create a comparative analysis of educational systems of different countries, in order to determine what model would be most suitable for Macedonia. At the same time, it should be taken into account that the concept of MP overlaps to a large extent with other areas and it should be taken from the fact that functional literacy is a fundamental prerequisite for MP. Any strategy document for MO cannot deliver long-term results unless formal education is comprehensively reformed to provide competencies for both functional literacy and critical thinking.
– The dominant approach in the eventual development of a Strategy for the Ministry of Culture should include building policies in the field of education, culture and the media/audiovisual sector. Education will only develop media literacy if it is also effective in developing functional literacy, reading habits, critical thinking skills and competencies for civic awareness and participation. Culture, that is, cultural policies, should be aimed at encouraging and promoting creativity in general, and especially at literary creativity and publishing, which are a prerequisite for nurturing and developing the readership. Media policies, on the other hand, should encourage quality and professional media texts, creative media (audiovisual) work and audience awareness of the function and structure of credible media content, as opposed to those that are not.
– At the end of her presentation, Vesna Nikodinoska shared information that within the Coalition for Media Literacy a list of resources has already been prepared, or rather an overview of already prepared analyzes in the field of media literacy, which will be shared with the members of the Network, so that they can supplemented with their research and used for further coordination.
6. The members of the Research Group include: Kristina Mitrovska (Ohrid Institute), Alexandra Temenugova (ICS), Goran Lazarov (Eurotink), Igor Micevski (RESIS), Viktor Stojanov (AVMU), Vesna Nikodinoska (MIM), Snezhana Pachoska Kitanchev ( MRT), Marina Ivanovska (SEMM) and Stole Naumov (CRM). The coordinator of the Group, Viktor Stojanov, presented the points that were discussed at the constitutive meeting:
– The research on the level of media literacy among the adult population over 16 years old at AVMU (which is financially supported by OSCE, the field research was done by IPSOS, and expert interpretation of the results was done by Snezhana Trpevska from RESIS), which was presented on the first day of The conference – November 14.
– For 2020, AVMU is planning research on the level of media literacy among children, and the members of the Network are expected to provide suggestions on what to pay attention to when developing the research methodology.
– It is necessary for the working group to compile a list of potential funds for research and regional and international projects for which the members of the Network could bid jointly.
– The media support of MRT for the presentation of the results of conducted and future research on this topic.
In the discussion that followed, the following was agreed upon:
– To develop methodological guidelines on how, with which methods and techniques the aspects of media literacy should be researched, the members of the Network should adhere to them during research and the results of domestic and foreign research should be considered and interpreted starting from these methodological guidelines. Also, during research, the research questions should be asked clearly and the methodology should be clear.
– When planning new researches, take into account the list of those that have already been done, that is, they should not be repeated/overlapped, except when a new situation needs to be determined cyclically, and care should be taken that the new researches supplement the old ones.
– In addition to developing standards for research on various aspects of media literacy, it is also necessary to develop standards for the evaluation of projects or programs aimed at raising the levels of media literacy.
– It is necessary to improve the part of the website www.mediumskapismenost.mk where the realized researches are published, by categorizing them (quantitative, qualitative, mixed) with a short description (in the form of an abstract) of the research subject, the methods applied and the main results. The produced papers/researches should continue to be published on the Web page of the Network, in order to build a resource center, and the members who want can place links to them on their web pages.
– To create a complete redesign of www.mediumskapismenost.mk.
– To try to involve the media more.
7. The group for promoting the Network and attracting new members is composed of the following members: Dushko Arsovski (Diversity Media), Monika Aksentievska (ICS), Filip Stojanovski (Metamorphosis), Slobodanka Filipovska (Conedu Global), Gjorgi Mitrevski (RESIS), Marina Trajkova (AVMU) and Marina Tuneva (SEMM). The coordinator of the Group, Marina Trajkova, presented the following conclusions that emerged from the constitutive meeting:
– To create a Facebook page of the Media Literacy Network, whose administrators will be the active members of the Network who participate in the working groups. In such a way, it will be possible to familiarize the wider audience with the Network and its activities, and communication with other stakeholders in this sphere will be facilitated. On the page, it will be possible to share information about the activities of each of the members, interesting contents and campaigns and information about the activities of the Network as a whole. In addition, to create an Instagram profile on the Network, to reach the younger audience (students, high school students, students).
– To call primary, secondary schools and colleges to become members of the Network. It was also discussed, in coordination with the Group for Formal and Informal Education, to offer mediation for possible cooperation between the Ministry of Education, the interested donors and educational institutions, in order to organize informal lectures and exercises with young people on various aspects of media literacy. This idea arose from the realization that the interest in this topic is being awakened more and more by educational institutions.
– Each of the members of the working groups should separately promote the Network at their events, projects and media visits – with brief information about the membership and composition of the Network, about the goals and activities and the openness for receiving new members. In such a way, the Network would open up for membership in other coalitions, thereby increasing the possibilities for cooperation with other stakeholders (on various projects).
– In the future, a plan for a systematized approach to the media should be drawn up, that is, they should be invited to join the Network as new members. In addition, to be informed about all the activities of the members of the groups and the Network as a whole. Through the media, education should be offered to the public about the processes of submitting petitions and complaints to AVMU and SEMM.
– The representative of Diversity Media – Dushko Arsovski offered to make contact with the radios at the local level. In such a way, they would be offered membership in the Network and the opportunity for regular briefings on all the activities of the Network and its active members.
– To open a discussion with the rest of the working groups, regarding the possible ways of financing the further activities of the Network.
At the end of the meeting, Emilia Petresca-Kamenjarova thanked that AVMU representatives were chosen as coordinators of all groups and the Network, but emphasized that the main idea was for the coordinators to be from other organizations in order to achieve decentralization and a sense of ownership over the Network at all members.
Coordinating Group of the Network
