On Monday, October 31, 2022 at 1 p.m., a meeting of the Media Literacy Network was held at the Agency for Audio and Audiovisual Media Services.
The meeting was attended by Emilia Petresca – Kamenjarova (AVMU), Sasho Bogdanovski (AVMU), Viktor Stojanov (AVMU), Marina Trajkova (AVMU), Ivana Stojanoska (AVMU), Marina Tuneva (media expert), Bojan Shashevski (MOF), Daniela Stankovska – Plachkovska (Film Agency), Zoran Zlatkovski (VEZ Trade), Gonce Jakovlevska (MCMS), Olga Samardzic – Jankova (Conedu Global), Vesna Nikodinoska (MIM), Mimi Gjorgoska Ilievska (film worker), Biljana Nasteska-Kalanoska ( ZNM), Ana Cvetkovska (MIA), Sashko Panayotov (MIA), Emira Ljama (IREX), Darko Basheski (Planet-M), Alexandra Yankova (Conedu Global), Miranda Ala Rechi (Cinema of RSM), Jacquelina Hadji Zafirova (SEMM ) and Frosina Krusharovska (Eurotink).
The meeting was convened with the following agenda:
1. Results of the voting for two members of the Coordinating Group of the Network;
2. How did the year go (new members in the Network, membership in EMIL, presentation of the Network to European regulators, etc.);
3. Information on the activities of the Network’s Film Literacy Working Group;
4. Miscellaneous.
The coordinator of the Network, Emilia Petresca-Kamenjarova, led the meeting. As part of the first item on the agenda, he stated that the two-year terms of office of Vesna Nikodinoska and Olga Samardzic-Jankova had expired and presented the results of the voting for the election of two members of the Coordination Group of the Network, organized as an online vote, through the Google Forms platform, which it lasted from October 21 to 26. The voting was conducted so that each member of the Network could cast one vote for one of the three nominated candidates, Vesna Nikodinoska, Bojan Shashevski and Kujtim Kasami. Bojan Shashevski was elected as a new member of the coordination group, and Vesna Nikodinoska was re-elected with a mandate of 2 years.
Emilia P. Kamenjarova, in order to inform about the work of the Network in the past year, and also about its international activity, presented the presentation to the audience, which was originally intended for the EMIL meeting where the work of the Media Literacy Network was presented to the European regulators. . He mentioned that the country is one of the first in Europe, which has created this kind of Network, with the inclusion of various actors in society who can contribute in this sphere. She emphasized that it is recognized by the European media regulatory bodies and that our experiences in this kind of networking are useful for a number of European countries. The presentation also served as a reminder of the past events that were part of Media Literacy Days in 2019, 2020 and 2021 and how the progress of the Network has moved during this time period.
The Media Literacy Network has 78 members at the time of the meeting, and the Media Information Agency – MIA joined as the last member. Last year, a new fourth working group for film literacy was formed, which is coordinated by Daniela Stankovska – Plachkovska from the Film Agency. The activation of the new film literacy group was the impetus to include a special film program in the DMP 2022 program this year. At the meeting, Daniela Stankovska – Plachkovska shared her experience of working within the Working Group for Film Literacy and details about the organization and flow of film screenings and the discussion that followed the screening. He particularly emphasized the benefits of the activation of the Film Agency within the Network and of the participation in the Media Literacy Days with the special film program, which are a significant contribution to building awareness of the inclusivity of cinemas and are an initiative to ensure capacities and accessibility for people with disabilities and for subsequent screenings.
In an open discussion, the members of the Network for Media Literacy expressed their opinions on how to improve the work of the Network and how to make it more visible to the public who are not sufficiently familiar with it. The media expert and professor of MIM, Marina Tuneva, and the project coordinator at MIM, Vesna Nikodinovska, as members of the Coordination
Group of the Network, emphasized the importance of raising the level of media literacy of all citizens and the need for more frequent cooperation between the relevant stakeholders. The new member of the Coordinating Group, Bojan Shashevski, proposed to consider the idea of the Network opening a profile on Tik Tok, a social network that is very popular among the young population, and that the format of 20-second videos could be interesting for creating content for media literacy . They also discussed the importance of fighting misinformation and fake news on social networks and online portals and what actions members can take in relation to that problem. The need for cooperation between the four working groups of the Network was highlighted, as well as the earlier definition of the topic on which the next Days of Media Literacy will be organized.
The present individuals and representatives of media, associations and organizations expressed their commitment to further selfless mutual cooperation, more frequent use of the Network for communication and consultation between the various entities in the country that work to raise the level of media literacy of all citizens and sharing resources: publications , research, infographics, teaching materials related to media literacy in Macedonian, Albanian or English so that they can be published on the website www.mediumskapismenost.mk and be available to the general public.
