Influencers have a significant influence on young people, but youngsters think carefully about whether to trust them. Today, more than 40 students from three high schools in Belgrade gained a new perspective on the media through a media literacy workshop at the EU Info Center. Despite being born in the digital age, these young students learned about how the media conveys messages to them and how to distinguish between the messages sent by the influencers they follow on social networks. The media shapes its messages to attract as many viewers, listeners, and followers as possible, and to generate more clicks on their news. However, media content that lacks verified information, educational value, or entertainment that is not sensational should not be trusted, as students from the Third Belgrade High School, Law and Business School, and Artimedia High School learned. “Media literacy nurtures critical thinking skills. It encourages you to question what you see, hear, and read and to dig deeper, asking, ‘Is this information reliable?’”, stated by Manuel Munteanu, the head of Information, Communication, and Media, and deputy head of the political section of the EU Delegation in Serbia.
How Young People Can (Not) Trust the Media
