When I was in high school, I wrote extensively and was published in both online media, such as blogs, as well as traditional outlets, like magazines, collections of essays and poetry. Having taken a gap year in-between high school and college, I’ve had the time to reflect on my earlier work and on the purpose of my writing, becoming interested in media as a concept rather than a form of my own self-expression. 

I interviewed the lead editor of Radio Youth Educational Forum (Radio YEF), Bojan Shashevski, on the topic of his work and while we were talking, he mentioned the term “medium of the community”. At first, I thought he was creatively describing the platform he worked for, but when I looked up the term, I was surprised by the definition. In today’s world, where we can’t be sure if the information that we’re receiving from our media is unbiased and factual, community media is an interesting alternative to private-owned or state-owned media. 

What is Radio YEF?

One such community medium is Radio YEF – an alternative online medium, focusing on topics relevant to youth and marginalized groups, as explained by Shashevski. Their primary focus is the written medium, but they also have radio programs. He emphasizes the role of Radio YEF as a medium of the community meant to serve the interests of the people and lead to positive change through providing information and calling for action so as to motivate citizens and the government to solve collective problems. 

According to Shashevski, twelve years ago a group of young people gathered in a cramped up, dusty basement in Kapishtec, Skopje. Their goal? Creating a space for young people’s self-expression, a medium which caters primarily to young people and reports on topics like youth culture (youth festivals, art), events (workshops, projects, opportunities), activism, human rights, ecology, science, etc. They didn’t have much professional experience, but with time their skills and knowledge developed and professional journalists started working for Radio YEF. The medium now employs five journalists, two radio technicians and a coordinator, as stated by their website. They encourage young people to write to them and contribute articles or opinion pieces. They also offer internships and some previous interns have even started working full time for Radio YEF. 

Examples of Radio YEF’s influential work

About 400 children from the Macedonian villages of Lojane and Vaksince attended classes at “Rilindja” school, Lipkovo municipality. Their school yard was located just a hundred meters from the Lojane chrome, antimony and arsenic mine dump, which ceased operations in 1979. Since then, the carcinogenic substances from the former mine and arsenic dump had been left in the open, unprotected and polluting everything around them. Mr. Shashevski conducted his own research in the area and elaborated on this issue in his award-winning 2021 article on Radio YEF, which influenced a 2023 public call to find a concessionaire to remove arsenic and other waste mineral resources from the former “Lojane” mine. 

Another example is the State Student Dormitory “Stiv Naumov” situation. Anonymous students had called Radio YEF, explaining the miserable conditions in the Skopje dormitory. Water from the toilet bowls spilling onto the tiles, leaking sewage pipes, large periods of time with no water in certain buildings, problems with heating, especially during night. The covering of these issues by Radio YEF had contributed to the announcing of reconstruction and renovation plans by the governing bodies of various dormitories and an increase in the quality of the dormitory food. 

Radio YEF has also focused on issues like the lack of transport to schools for students from rural areas, ecological actions against environmentally harmful initiatives in local communities, poverty-stricken communities unable to afford medical care, national LGBTQ+ rights violations and others. Radio YEF also covers topics of cultural significance, particularly independent, alternative and activist art.

What should be the role of a medium in society?

In Mr. Shashevski’s opinion, a medium should have multiple roles in society. It should be informative (informing about current occurrences or noteworthy newly acquired information), educational (educating about science, society, culture and other topics), entertaining and contributing to the culture/art in society (attracting consumers to the medium and providing fun). A medium should also be guided by ethical principles in their work. Radio YEF makes certain that they follow the codex of journalists – a set of ethical principles for journalists including honesty and objectivity in reporting. 

He notes that formal education, especially middle and high school, is often based on gaining knowledge, but not necessarily on gaining skills. Nowadays, anyone can search up anything on the internet and acquire new knowledge with one click. He believes education should be supplemented by developing people’s curiosity and passion, ability to articulate valid opinions, social skills and conscience, media literacy, critical thinking and other life competences. This is what he and his colleagues are trying to provide for young people tuning into Radio YEF. 

According to Mr. Shashevski, considering recent events, the youth here has lost interest in going outside to do change-inducing work like volunteering, going to events and workshops, participating in projects and local actions and in cultural events like festivals and concerts. Many organizations focused on youth seem to be losing their clientele. He states that this is due to the lack of a youth voice in this sector and the current apathy of youth to represent their opinions and perspectives. 

Mr. Shashevski’s view is that mediums should venture to inspire people to do something for others, not just for their individual gain. His view is that from a young age, people should be taught not to work solely for one’s own interests, but also to think of the interests of one’s peers and society. Mediums help by providing the support and education that youth often lack getting from other sources. 

Radio YEF as a platform and its individual journalists have been awarded numerous accolades. Some of the awards include: the 2020 “Jean Monet” award for the best journalistic story and the first place of the regional award from the European Union for Investigative Journalism. Community media can be very well-respected within their fields, despite oftentimes having very humble beginnings, without the funding from the state or providing corporations/ wealthy individuals. And this is, ultimately, my reason for writing this article. I want to showcase a real example of a solid medium of the community that I have personally followed for a long time. 

Bisera Gjurovska

Sources: 

Bojan Shashevski, Lead Editor at Radio Youth Educational Forum

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