MCCM
RESILIENCE
OUR MEDIA
The Youth Newspaper Association in Bosnia and Herzegovina is developing tools that help in understanding and communicating more easily with young people.
Millennials were born and raised during the transition from the analog to the digital world. Newspapers, magazines, and traditional TV content have been replaced by social networks, internet search engines, and AI tools. Generation Z does not recognize traces of the analog world – for them, it is prehistory. Their communication is fast, more visual in character, direct. They embrace informal tone and slang and prefer two-way communication with institutions. Their older interlocutors are more inclined to explanations, long speeches, and a formal tone. In using digital platforms, they emphasize informative and professional content.
Intergenerational misunderstanding also arises from the fact that trends in the digital world change quickly. Young people notice these changes and adapt. When they try to communicate a certain problem with those who are not part of their digital world, they hit a wall. On the other side of the wall is not necessarily someone who doesn’t hear, doesn’t see, or doesn’t feel, but simply someone who doesn’t understand.
Members of the Youth Press Association noticed this and asked to what extent young people in Bosnia and Herzegovina are being heard and understood. Then they began their research.First, they explored whether young people are the focus of media reporting in BiH. The task was to qualitatively and quantitatively assess whether and how the media present information about young people, as well as to evaluate the general position of youth and the state of the media in BiH. The conclusions are not encouraging. Media generally do not have editorial policies concerning youth. These topics are often marginalized and treated superficially. The media that young people follow the most, according to surveys, do not have sections dedicated to them. The lack of youth representation in the media, as stated in the report’s conclusions, indicates society’s neglect of this population.
Bridges Between Generations
Out of these reflections came the publication Bridges Between Generations: A Guide to Better Digital Communication Between Generation Z and Millennials. The publication is part of the wider program (Non)visible Youth, which provides young people with a platform to express themselves and find a way to be understood in the adult world that often overlooks them.
The focus, as stated in the manual on intergenerational communication, is on a comparative analysis of attitudes, opinions, and interpretations of digital signs and language between millennials and Generation Z. They examined the differences and similarities in their communication channels.
“The manual is designed as a guide through the dynamic world of digital communication. We treat signs, slang, emojis in different ways. The research showed us that we perceive many signs from the digital world differently, even oppositely,” says Mirza Mujdžić Jojić from the Youth Press Association.
The manual contains a set of tools and guidelines for media that lead to better communication with young people and thus a better understanding of their problems and needs. It also includes useful recommendations for parents and teachers, politicians, and civil society organizations.
From Youth Camp to Magazine Pages
The manual was created at a camp in Jajce, with young people from several towns across Bosnia and Herzegovina – Zavidovići, Mostar, Jajce, Bosanski Petrovac, Doboj Istok, Konjic. In addition to discussing the influence of digital media on their education and social life, participants produced media content, both news reports and video stories.
Their texts were published in the magazine Karike, published by the Youth Press Association. This magazine is one of the few media platforms dealing with youth issues. There, one can find texts on concrete problems such as studying, student housing, migration, employment.
Young people have something to say, they conclude at the Youth Press Association, but they need to be listened to and others must learn how to communicate with them. They usually speak about problems with few words, but that does not mean the problem is not big.
The project “(In)visible Youth” is funded through the Our Media sub-granting scheme, which has provided support to 21 local projects across the Western Balkans.
The regional program “Our Media: A civil society action to generate media literacy and activism, counter polarisation and promote dialogue” is implemented with the financial support of the European Union by partner organizations SEENPM, Albanian Media Institute, Mediacentar Sarajevo, Press Council of Kosovo, Montenegrin Media Institute, Macedonian Institute for Media, Novi Sad School of Journalism, Peace Institute and Bianet.
This article was produced with the financial support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of Mediacentar Sarajevo and SEENPM and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.
