The more our youth is involved and educated about media, the greater their civic and political engagement. The active participation of young people in public life also means more frequent verification of the truth of information and greater confidence in their own potential to recognize disinformation.

This is stated in the publication “Encouraging Youth Civic Activism through Media Engagement“, which presents the findings of the research conducted by the Institute of Communication Studies (ICS), with respondents aged 18 to 29.

Young people who are civically and politically engaged more often discuss important social topics and are involved in volunteering work both with their families and through their schools; they have more experience with the work of the local and central government, but also with civil society organizations, and are more educated and aware of the impact that the media and disinformation have in society. Hence, political institutions, schools, civil society organizations, the media and family take precedence in encouraging youth activism, which in turn is a challenge for those who work on youth education and socialization as well as the creation of youth policies.

The publication states that the families of young people who are less engaged do not discuss as often social and political events and these young people are not steered or pressured to vote. Such discussions and conversations also happen more rarely in schools. According to young people, primary schools offer more opportunities for volunteering and civic activism, and secondary schools focus more on opportunities for political activity, but this is not systematic i.e., it is left to the will of individual teachers and professors to encourage activism on their own initiative. The respondents emphasized that the municipalities are not accessible and are closed off to the demands of young people, as well as to what is happening to them or is being planned for them. Almost all young people said that the central government involves them very little in the creation of youth policies and does not contribute to their civic and political engagement. The media, on the other hand, are recognized as activism blockers because they are overly concerned with political-party events and they assign disproportionately little time and space for other important social topics that would encourage some activity among young people. The only bright example are civil society organizations – young people believe that CSOs successfully reach out to them and encourage their participation in public life.

The publication recommends increased media engagement and literacy of young people so that they are trained for critical reasoning and combatting disinformation, having faith and strength to make changes in society.

• Media literacy programs are always needed and they must be updated, so as to include youth awareness raising about the impact of social media and the potential dangers of excessive consumption of social media. Investing in communities and forums in which socio-political events and media content can be discussed in a safe and constructive way should be one of the goals of educational institutions and civil society organizations, to encourage a greater sense of civic duty and engagement.
• Local youth councils, direct involvement in decision-making processes and maintaining regular communication through schools and social media have been identified by young people as effective strategies for central and local institutions to engage the youth.
• The variety in media coverage that corresponds to the different values and preferences of young people, the practice of constructive journalism that focuses on solutions, instead of only focusing on problems, as well as the balanced mix of negative information and positive stories will contribute to improving the self-confidence and desire of young people to participate in civic and political activities.
• Early involvement in public life through and with family support, such as volunteering and voting in elections, will also have an effect on young people’s civic and political engagement.

ICS conducted the research on news consumption, disinformation recognition and civic engagement among young people, on a controlled sample of 345 respondents aged 18 to 29, with different demographic and socioeconomic characteristics (high school students, university students, unemployed and employed persons), conducting a field survey and three focus groups in the period from December 2023 to March 2024. The research is part of the “Use Facts” project, which is supported by the British Embassy in Skopje.