On Friday, 15 November 2024, starting at 12:00 hrs, the Media Literacy Network held its Annual Meeting for 2024. The meeting was held online, as the last of the activities of the 2024 Media Literacy Days. The meeting was attended by Aleksandra Temenugova (ICS), Maja Ravanska (Lice v Lice), Dejan Dokuzovski (IREX), Snezhana Trpevska (RESIS), Vesna Nikodinoska (MIM), Biljana Nasteska – Kalanoska (ZNM), Marina Tuneva, Filip Stojanovski (Metamorphosis), Slavica Atanasovska (Helsinki Committee), Aneta Andonova (MRT), Sasho Bogdanovski (AVMU), Viktor Stojanov (AVMU), Marina Trajkova (AVMU) and Emilija Petreska-Kamenjarova (AVMU). The meeting, which was led by Network Coordinator Emilija Petreska-Kamenjarova, had the following Agenda:
- Completion of the candidacy declaring procedure for members of the Coordination Group and the Network Coordinator;
- Election of members to the Coordination Group and the Network Coordinator;
- How the year went – information presented by the Coordinator and other members;
- Foreign organizations’ expression of interest to become Network members;
At the beginning, the list of candidates for members of the Coordination Group and Network Coordinator were announced. Emilija Petreska-Kamenjarova (AVMU), Maja Ravanska (Lice v lice), Aleksandra Temenugova (ICS), and Jasna Ercegović (Resource Center) had applied as candidates before the meeting, while, at the meeting the list was extended by one more candidate – Vesna Nikodinoska (MIM). The Network Coordinator indicated that the attendees at would elect a new Network Coordinator and new members of the Coordination Groupl this meeting, as their their 2- or 3-year mandates had expired. A discussion was opened on whether the Network should continue working with staggered member mandates or switch to mandates with the same duration for all members, as well as on whether there should be a discussion on the qualifications the members of the Coordination Group should have.
Vesna Nikodinoska pointed out that it was good to rotate and change the people who were part of the Coordination Group, as the difference in the mandate allowed the group to have continuity in its work, while also including new people. Her proposal was to keep the duration of the mandate as it had been before. Aleksandra Temenugova joined the discussion presenting a stance that she was applying for a member of the Coordination Group with a mandate of 2 years, just like Vesna Nikodinoska. The discussion resulted in the remaining 3 candidates, Emilija Petreska – Kamenjarova, Maja Ravanska and Jasna Ercegović – running for members with a mandate of 3 years.
Before moving on to the second item on the Agenda – the vote – the Network Coordinator raised the question of whether the present Network representatives considered that eight members were enough to elect the Coordination Group and whether they needed greater representativeness, considering that the Network had a total of 86 members. Marina Tuneva took the floor to discuss this issue, pointing out that the election should be made by the active members of the Network, as there had been several attempts to include the remaining members, but the turnout was usually low. After this, a vote was held, which, at the suggestion of Snezana Trpevska, was conducted for all members at once. The five members of the Coordination Group were elected by acclamation, and the only candidate for Coordinator of the Network, Emilija Petreska-Kamenjarova, was re-elected.
After the vote, a discussion followed on how the year had gone in terms of the Network’s news and activities. Emilija Petreska-Kamenjarova shared her view that the fact that the Macedonian Network had become a member of the international network of Media and Learning Association (M&LA), at the Association’s invitation, was sufficient proof that our Network was already internationally recognized. The M&LA had asked for the Macedonian Network’s support on two occasions so far: once for the purpose of the Association’s application for an EU-funded project, and the second time, when, through M&LA, the European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO) had asked for support for their Guidelines for Evaluating Projects in the Field of Media Literacy. In both cases, the Network granted its support. Through these organizations, research and surveys conducted by the Network members had been shared as well, and a text had been was shared that was published in the October edition of the M&LA online magazine.
Aleksandra Temenugova took the floor and said that through the Network and thanks to the AVMU, contact had been made with M&LA for cooperation regarding the ICS’ activities for introducing media literacy in the higher education. The January issue of this organization’s magazine will highlight what ICS has been doing under the YouThink project, while, at the end of February/beginning of March next year, representatives of the Media and Learning Association will be guests at the symposium that ICS organizes every year.
Emilija Petreska-Kamenjarova invited the other Network members that were present at the meeting to share their experiences and impressions of this year’s edition of the Media Literacy Days (2024). Biljana Nasteska-Kalanoska from ZNM (AJM) shared that they were truly satisfied with all the support and cooperation with the AVMU and that this year’s event, organized by AJM as part of the 2024 MLD had gone even better than the one they had organized the previous year, marking greater attendance and media coverage. Short videos had also been made from the event itself, which received good response on the social networks where they had been shared. Aneta Andonova of the MRT shared her impression that the work of the Network was gaining greater visibility owing to the Media Literacy Days.
Maja Ravanska took the floor and shared information that the event organized by Lice v Lice and GRIT in Probishtip had gone well and thanked AVMU and Sasho Bogdanovski, who was a guest at the event, for their contribution, pointing out that now other schools from Probishtip and Zletovo had expressed interest in more such activities for the pupils in the primary schools.
Emilija Petreska-Kamenjarova also raised the topic of organizing the 2025 MLD, as local elections are planned to take place next year, coinciding with the period when the Media Literacy Days are usually held. A proposal was placed to organize 2025 MLD later next year, so that there would be no overlap with the election campaign. The remaining present members of the ML Network accepted the Coordinator’s proposal.
The Coordinator called on the attendees to give suggestions for new activities of the Network and on how to share information within the Network’s mailing group more actively. Biljana Nasteska-Kalanoska gave her opinion on the online magazines that are shared and suggested that information be shared via short videos, posts on the social networks. Snezana Trpevska discussed how to increase the activity of the Network, and said that the other members of the Network should also be invited to share additional information about their own activities related to media literacy. Her suggestion was to try to disseminate the newsletter once a month or quarterly.
Viktor Stojanov suggested that the Network should open its own profile on LinkedIn, so that the information about the activities of the Media Literacy Network could be shared there as well.
Marina Tuneva joined in the discussion with her proposal for joint initiatives with other Networks and organizations in the country, for example, with the Network against Hate Speech in the Media.
After this, the attendees discussed the next item on the Agenda, with the Coordinator informing that the International IDEA organization, which is currently working on a project for combatting foreign interference and information manipulation, especially during elections, which is also being implemented in our country, was interested in the work of AVMU and what could be a topic for cooperation. This organization had shown interest in becoming a member of the Network. The issue was discussed by all those present, who concluded that there is no formal obstacle to the participation of a foreign organization in the Network, but that certain criteria should be established for who can join it. The sharing of the more important information may need to be in both Macedonian and English, but this issue remained open for further consideration.
