The Media Literacy Open Days were held on 6 October in Belgrade and 7 October in Novi Sad, under the joint European Union/Council of Europe action “Freedom of expression and freedom of the media in Serbia (JUFREX 2)” and in co-operation with the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media of Serbia (Regulatory Authority).
The participants of the two events were pre-school educators and directors from Belgrade and Novi Sad, representing several different pre-school institutions. The said events enabled them to discuss media literacy for children of the pre-school age, and to receive teaching material prepared under the JUFREX action, for educators and parents. Several participants expressed high interest and willingness to use the provided material that was prepared in co-operation with the Regulatory Authority, in their activities. Furthermore, during the events the participants engaged in a questionnaire survey designed and implemented by the Council of Europe expert and intended to assist the Regulatory Authority in understanding the pressing challenges for protection of minors from harmful content, and further plan their activities in promoting media literacy among children.
The JUFREX action aims to support the Regulatory Authority, whose role among other is to protect the interests of the users of electronic media services including minors. The media literacy is gaining prominence as a pressing issue, provided that the onset of digital age and availability of media, raise a concern for protection of children who are increasingly being subjected to harmful content. The JUFREX action’s support to the Regulatory Authority is in line with the Recommendation of Committee of Ministers to member States (CM/Rec(2018)1) to “ensure that independent national regulatory authorities and/or other bodies have the scope and resources to promote media literacy in ways that are relevant to their mandates”.
The action “Freedom of expression and freedom of the media in Serbia (JUFREX 2)” is part of the joint European Union/Council of Europe programme "Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022".
