Material for specialized media EURASIA-Net project - EURAC

IV. The role of media in promoting minorities and their rights
IV.1 How can the media contribute to the promotion of minority
rights?
The media’s point of view:
Journalists are interested in subjects which are of obvious relevance to their
audience. The information has to be controversial, sensational, original, important
for society, meaningful for the public and simpel. Journalists like to get as close as
possible to the source of information but find it difficult to access experts on
minority issues or representatives of minority groups.
The minorities’ point of view:
From the minorities’ side, the main drawback from communicating with the wider
public is the lack of communication instruments, the lack of financial sources, social
acceptance and specialized training. However, there are NGO’s, experts and
representative of minority organizations who have prepared guides and fact sheets
or press releases for public use. Minorities
are conscious of the importance of contacts
to media and want to communicate their
issues to a wider audience. There are
however barriers due to a lack of own
minority media and very little interest in
their issues on the side of the big national
media companies. There is also a mismatch
between what minorities might wish to see
covered and what journalists regard as
newsworthy. Minorities blame journalists very
often for their need to find “bad news” or for
the discriminatory way that they use words
and meanings instead of objective and
differentiated information.
Many journalists’ associations have
adopted guidelines or ethical codes.
There are many different codes but all
of them focus on the fundamental
aims of the journalistic mission: “The
journalist shall be aware of the
danger of discrimination being
furthered by the media and shall do
the utmost to avoid facilitating such
discrimination based on, …, race, sex,
sexual orientation, language, religion,
political and other opinions, and
national or social origins (Art. 7 of The
Code of Principles of the International
Federation of Journalists).”
Minority groups are encouraged to make their voice heard and to speak with one
voice by networking and media trainings. By enforcing new communication tools
such as the Internet a wider audience can be reached and the costs can be reduced.
48