By Amina Meric (2019-2020, Bosnia and Herzegovina, placed by ACES in Aledo, IL)

From December 9 to December 11, 2022, seven YES alumni from Bosnia and Herzegovina participated in the NOMAD (Navigating Online Media and Disinformation) workshop in Trebinje. Sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) and the United States Department of State as part of the YES Grant in Southeast Europe, this workshop aimed to help participants distinguish how to navigate online media, recognize disinformation, and fact-check. 

Furthermore, to equip youth in Bosnia and Herzegovina with the tools to navigate online space more effectively and to increase their media literacy and critical thinking skills, mentors guided the students throughout the workshop. Mentors consisted of professionals such as Denis Krama, an English professor from Sarajevo; Lejla Causevic, a history professor from Sarajevo; and Slavica Grkavac, a high school teacher in Trebinje. 

The workshop consisted of four sessions: Information Islands, How to Fact Check, When to Fact Check, and How to Respond. In each of these interactive sessions, participants learned from real-world problems. On the last day of the workshop, participants worked on developing ideas to share this knowledge with their peers in high school or university for their post-workshop projects. 

Silma Jahic shares, “Learning how to fact check is a skill I will always find useful, especially now when we are consuming a lot of different media from many sources, and it’s important to find reputable sources.” Also, alumna Sonja Vanovac states: “Media Literacy is important because media is all around us, and we can’t live our everyday lives without it. We need to differentiate what information is true and which is not so we can know what we need for our everyday life.”

The youth of Bosnia and Herzegovina are witnesses to how much media can impact society. Therefore, this workshop will help create a ripple effect from the alumni who attended and their projects that will continue to share this valuable information and skills. Special thanks to ECA and the YES Grants Program for supporting and sponsoring this workshop.

The following YES Alumni attended the NOMAD Workshop 2022:

Silma Jahic (2021-2022, Bosnia and Herzegovina, placed by ACES in Chico, CA)

Milos Samardzic (2021-2022, Bosnia and Herzegovina, placed by STS Fdn in Phoenix, AZ)

Hajra Smajic (2021-2022, Bosnia and Herzegovina, placed by AFS in Rochester, NY)

Korina Tomicic (2021-2022, Bosnia and Herzegovina, placed by IRIS in Sheffield, IA)

Sonja Vanovac (2021-2022, Bosnia and Herzegovina, placed by Greenheart Exch in Oneida, NY)

Amina Meric (2019-2020, Bosnia and Herzegovina, placed by ACES in Aledo, IL)

Marija Petijevic (2018-2019, Bosnia and Herzegovina, placed by AFS in Rochester, NY)