25 October 2021

KOMF participated in the panel discussion on “Media Education / Inappropriate Content for Children”, organized by the Independent Media Commission – IMC, Department of Journalism – UP, Faculty of Philology at the University of Prishtina.

The roundtable was moderated by Prof. Alban Zeneli from the Department of Journalism at UP. In the discussion panel were participants: Mrs. Vioelta Hyseni Kelmendi – Member of the IMC, Faruk Rexhaj – Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the IMC, Mr. Muhamet Jahiri – Head of the Department of Journalism, Mrs. Remzie Shahini Hoxhaj – Professor in the Department of Journalism, Donejta Kelmendi – Executive Director of KOMF, Vjollca Shala – Vice President of SBASHK and Jeton Demi – Chairman of the Parents’ Council in Pristina.

The purpose of the roundtable was that in the framework of the Global Week for EMI, actors could present their views on media education and discuss the progress made in this area. c The participants in the discussion panel presented to the audience in the main points their views on media education, followed by an interactive discussion by the participants and questions and answers for the panel.

Donjeta Kelmendi said that the reporting of cases of vulnerable children in the media remains concerning, where we have cases where the legal basis and ethics are not respected during reporting.

At the end of the discussions of this roundtable, the participants drew some conclusions regarding the protection of children from inappropriate media content:

• Initiate a general awareness campaign for child protection in the media;
• Planning and initiating an information campaign for parents regarding children’s rights and their protection in the media;
• Realization of the request that the subject of “Media Education” be included as a compulsory subject in the school curriculum;
• Public Television (RTK) should provide more program space with content about media education in the children’s section, with a special focus on protecting children from harmful program content;
• The Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation as well as the Municipal Directorates of Education should be active in organizing workshops, seminars, trainings for child protection in the media.

KOMF, IMC and the Department of Journalism will continue to cooperate in order to improve reporting in cases involving children and protecting their best interests.