The first of the series of trainings for tackling hate speech in the media took place on October 7, 2015 at the Stone Bridge hotel in Skopje. These trainings organized by the Metamorphosis Foundation and the OSCE Mission to Skopje are primarily intended for editors, journalists and news portals administrators. The trainings aim to strengthen the capacity of online media personnel in Macedonia to recognize and tackle hate speech and speech inciting violence and hate crimes, and to promote the professional journalistic standards in synergy with the Media Fact-Checking Service.
The training was attended by 23 media representatives from various cities, and covered the following topics:
- Introduction to the topic of hate speech
- Legal frameworks related to hate speech
- Efforts of OSCE’s Mission to Skopje in this area
- Participation in the community aimed at combating hate speech
- Identifying hate speech according to the methodology of the Media Fact Checking Service
- Societal responsibility of the media (news portals)
- Development of internal mechanisms for self-regulation within a single media: Developing a policy on hate speech, registration, restrictions on user generated content, comments on social media, notice and take down mechanism
In the session for discussions, the media representatives stated that these trainings will help them in their everyday work, and that the trainings are also useful for all the other news portals and media providing them with an opportunity to enhance their knowledge. The next trainings will take place on the following dates and locations:
- October 14 (Wednesday) in Struga, Drim Hotel
- October 20 (Tuesday) in Strumica, Sirius Hotel
The expenses for the one-day trainings will be covered by the organizers. For participants coming from other places, travel expenses in the amount of a return bus ticket will also be covered.
(The draft agenda is provided below.)
The number of participants is limited. The admission of candidates/representatives of news portals and other media to courses with capacity limits will be on a first-come, first-served basis. In cases when additional candidates apply for the selected training, they will be able to participate in the following trainings of the cycle, or will be invited to participate at the following events of similar type.
All interested applicants are encouraged to complete and submit the online form no later than October 12, 12.00h. Applicants will then be contacted by the Metamorphosis team to confirm their participation. For further information, please contact the associate Adrijana Selmani via e-mail: adrijana@metamorphosis.org.mk or phone 02/3109 325.
Draft-agenda for the “Capacity-building Training Courses on Tackling Hate Speech”
Purpose: Strengthen the capacities of editors and administrators of news portals and other media for identifying and tackling hate speech and speech inciting violence, through a series of three regional trainings intended for 20-25 representatives per region.
Participants may bring a laptop and smartphone which would be helpful for their participation in the training.
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