Media literacy focus of OSCE-organized training course for students of University of Sarajevo
A two-day training course on media literacy for over 20 students from the Faculties of Philosophy and Political Sciences of the University of Sarajevo, organized by the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), was held on 16 and 17 December 2017 in Sarajevo.
The workshop helped the students to further develop their critical thinking skills, understand how media messages shape our culture and society, and recognize bias, spin, misinformation, fake news, and lies.
Spokesperson of the OSCE Mission to BiH Zeljka Sulc said media literacy is becoming a necessity in the world of information overload. “We need to work on improving the ability of citizens, and in particular young people, to think critically about the media content they consume.”
The Director of the Institute for Social Research of the Facility of Political Sciences in Sarajevo, Professor Emir Vajzovic, stated that lifelong learning in the form of practical workshops are crucial for digital and information literacy as well as for understanding media and its impact to society in the digital age.
In order for citizens to take an active part in democratic processes, media and information literacy is of decisive importance, said Adnan Muftic, third year student at the Faculty of Philosophy. “Today’s workshop will help to ensure that young people not just adequately use, search and understand information, but are also able to critically think it through.”
The training was facilitated by Vanja Ibrahimbegovic Tihak, one of the leading experts in the field of media literacy education in BiH.