“Structured Learning for Awareness in Media” (SLAM) aims at enhancing young people’s awareness and critical thinking on the role of Mass Media as a challenge and precondition for more inclusive societies towards migrants and refugees. The Council of Europe’s Report “Media Regulatory Authorities and Hate Speech” (2018) underlines the historical significance of media in enticing and feeding the climate of hatred and violence characterizing West Balkan’s turbulent past. The Balkans are still a primary example of media consciously or even deliberately using hate speech for sensationalistic purposes, thereby supporting it and causing its recurrence and reinforcement at the societal level. Bosnia and Herzegovina has recently taken a foremost importance as a transit node for migrants and refugees seeking entrance in EU territory, a trend which the UNHCR (2018) recognized as exponentially increasing in 2018, from the 198 arrivals in December 2017 to the 666 registered in the peak month of March 2018. The strain posed on the local relief system by this surge has contributed to a growing sense of local unrest and discontent, which national mass media have so far been able to answer by providing the public with awareness and understanding circa the phenomenon, in many instances providing an amplifier to internal currents of distrust, hate and stereotyping.From the European perspective, significant indications might be extracted from analysing media coverage about the reception and integration of migrants/refugees. The CoE in its 2017 Report “Media coverage of the refugee crisis: a cross-European perspective” underlines the role played by media in fuelling societal hate speech as consisting in an abetting/legitimacy factor to explicit hate speech brought about by shallow and sensationalistic coverage. Against this backdrop, the project explores the similarities, differences and potential synthesis among the different yet interrelated challenges faced by West Balkans countries and Europe within a transnational effort aimed at laying the grounds of a greater media literacy and critical thinking at the level of the youth and, by extension, of society as a means to provide an antidote against phenomena of hate speech and a building block of successful integration processes.
Identified landscape of shared challenges and existing good practices.Produced comprehensive Web platform for developing capacities of youth operators.Trained young people as multipliers of project principles.Carried out transnational Social Campaign.Developed a cross-border network.Created Guidebook in multiple languages.The foundations have been placed for further project visibility and educational multiplication.Follow-up idea was devised to ensure sustainable local replication.
Project implementation was initiated during the peak of migrants and refugees crisis in Europe and Bosnia and Herzegovina.Main topic of the project was combating fake news and false information about refugees and migrants online and offline.In addition to TC and YE, we organized seminars, round tables etc.Some of activities that were implemented aimed at raising awareness of the fight against hate speech on the Internet, a campaign, large number of local workshops in all partner countries.
<< Background >> Project implementation was initiated during the peak of migrants and refugees crisis in Europe and Bosnia and Herzegovina.Main topic of the project was combating fake news and false information about refugees and migrants online and offline.In addition to TC and YE, we organized seminars, round tables etc.Some of activities that were implemented aimed at raising awareness of the fight against hate speech on the Internet, a campaign, large number of local workshops in all partner countries. << Objectives >> Identified landscape of shared challenges and existing good practices.Produced comprehensive Web platform for developing capacities of youth operators.Trained young people as multipliers of project principles.Carried out transnational Social Campaign.Developed a cross-border network.Created Guidebook in multiple languages.The foundations have been placed for further project visibility and educational multiplication.Follow-up idea was devised to ensure sustainable local replication. << Implementation >> Kick-off Meeting in Bosnia and Herzegovina.Transnational Research and Development of Training Format (All partner countries).Training Course in Italy.Youth Exchange in Bosnia & Herzegovina.Mid-Term Evaluation Meeting in Montenegro.Seminar in Bosnia and Herzegovina.Social Campaign (All partner countries).Production of Guidebook (All partner countries).Production of Web Platform.Final Evaluation Meeting in Italy.Local activities and workshops (All partner countries). << Results >> Web Platform that allow youth operators to empower media literacy of the youth with a specific focus on contrasting mass media stereotyping against migrants and refugees.Social Campaign carried out at the national and transnational level.Network of youth operators and young people connected across partner countries working on this topic.Guidebook in multiple languages for organizations and citizens to replicate project process, and provided groundwork for its improvement and/or adaptation.