Novi Sad School of Journalism

Project activities of the organization are focused on: 1) increasing the professional capacities in the media sector; 2) monitoring and analysis of media content; and 3) education of the various target groups about media literacy and advocacy that will contribute to the democratization and development of civil society and the promotion of European values. Since 2006, NSSJ has been implementing professional development seminars for teachers and professors about Media Literacy accredited by the Institute for Advancement of Education and Upbringing, Republic of Serbia. This program has the task to educate teachers and professors for the application of mass media content in the classroom and within extracurricular activities (school media), as well as advance their selective and critical thinking of media content and develop the art of communication within mass culture. The seminar has been attended by more than 1.200 teachers so far. In 2017, NSSJ launched a new platform FakeNews Tragač (FakeNews Tracer) which is dedicated to fake and manipulative information deconstruction. The FakeNews Tracer editorial board has 10 members including the editor. By March 2022, The FakeNews Tracer has debunked more than 500 disinformation in Serbian media and published many more than 150 research and analysis on various topics. This online platform also includes an online course for the general public through which they can step by step become familiarized with the basic tools for fake news deconstruction. Media content monitoring implemented by NSSJ is completely different from regular press clipping that is done by many agencies which is focused only on gathering and classification media content by topics and persons. The NSSJ monitoring is a process far more complicated than that: here we do in-depth analysis and critical deconstruction of media outputs. Novi Sad School of Journalism implemented many projects of this kind, based on scientific methods and techniques of external evaluation (quantitative and qualitative analysis of media content). These projects were aimed at the improvement of professional standards in media, which is certainly the best way to see the extent to which media provide an accurate, reliable, comprehensive, and balanced picture of relevant events, but also how transparent public institutions are. Most of these monitoring results have been published in print or in electronic publications, presented in scientific and professional conferences, public meetings, and forums. It is important to emphasize that some of these results were the basis for the development of a curriculum for the education of journalists and other professional staff involved in projects. All electronic publications can be found on our website www.novinarska-skola.org.rs. For all of these activities, NSSJ offers knowledge and skills that promote communication, which excludes ethnic, religious, sexual, or racial discrimination. NSSJ has established excellent cooperation with many local, provincial, national, and foreign media, educational institutions, and both governmental and non-governmental organizations. In 2013 the NSSJ won the ERSTE Foundation special jury award for Social Integration. The Award for Social Integration honors outstanding social projects that show high quality, innovation, and sustainability. NSSJ won an award for a project entitled “A Day in your shoes” which aims at the professionalization of media reporting about people with disabilities. Currently, in the NSSJ we have 10 permanently employed people, and more than 30 external associates.