July 15, 2021

‘The president said so, then it must be true’

topic:	Freedom of Expression
located:	Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia
editor:	Katarina Panić

My mum is 80 years old; so is my mother-in-law. I have been in journalism for over 20 years, and in the course of this time I have been trying to teach them not to trust everything they see on TV, but, obviously, I've failed. 

For instance, they completely believe whatever Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić says against the opposition. They even mildly hate people they never saw represented on the very same TV channels. When asked if they ever wonder how come none of these people appear on air in order to speak up for themselves, the ladies said it must have been that they do not want to. When prompted to think whether this perhaps is about the media being totally controlled by the ruling party, they say I exaggerate.

For most of their lives, my mom and mother-in-law have lived under rigid communism - from which they inherited a herd mentality, being trained not to question hierarchy. However, I never gave up on persuading grandmas to ask logical questions about whatever they see, hear or read. For me, it is an experiment that shows how the average recipients of media and social networks' content are functioning. It could help me shape the approach of the next generations. All three of my children are still subteens, and we have yet to face the issue. 

Here in Bosnia, the debate on what to do with media literacy and the formal educational system started some five years ago. 

I recall attending one of the discussions where the majority was against implementing anything similar in elementary schools and kindergartens, saying it would be too much for children, as well as too disturbing in general. The minority said it is possible to gather experts and create adequate curricula as early as preschool. They claim it would be too late to include the topic in secondary school, since high-school students already have a rich history of consuming informative content. 

Meanwhile, this minority became a vast majority.

Today is World Youth Skills Day. The United Nations initiated it in 2014 in order to emphasise the strategic importance of equipping young people with skills for employment, decent work and entrepreneurship. 

Although the focus is predominantly on skills related to the labour market, one of the biggest challenges in the post-covid-19 world is fighting the infodemic. 

I like to believe that being online or offline will not be the only difference between my daughters and their grandmas.

Image: World Economic Forum. 

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