Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves: The Portrayal of Romani People in ...

apportioned blame related to the mention of the Roma ethnicity on other occasions. 75
In other cases, the German Press Council accepted the explanation provided by the editors according to which
the ethnic denomination of the culprits was not made by the newspaper, but by the police. 76
The biased approach of the German Press Council as of the Press Councils in other countries is further
demonstrated by the fact that they have not banned the used of names which are considered as derogatory by
those intended such as the name “Zigeuner”. In a written answer to an email inquiry the German Press Council
stated that the simple use of the word “Zigeuner” as a description of Sinti and Roma would not be considered
as derogatory, but the whole context of the report taken into account. 77 Accordingly, the same would be valid
for the use of the word “Nigger”. In an earlier email, the Press Council admitted that the Zentralverband
Deutscher Sinti und Roma considers this term as derogatory.
In an article on “Discrimination and Political Correctness” the president of the Swiss Press Council supported
the position of a Swiss publisher, Dieter Zimmer, saying according to whom the placing under taboo of the
word “Gypsy” led to a situation where it has become almost impossible to name an individual of this group 78
and stated that it was “real luck that Jewish people had the self-confidence not to request a politically correct
renaming” despite the fact “that they had experienced even stronger stigmatisation than Gypsies on the basis
of this word”. 79
If we look at this, we may conclude that the self-regulatory role of the press councils is completely inefficient
when it comes to discriminatory reporting on ethnic minorities and Romani people in particular. The reason for
this is that those who have to judge about the accuracy of the reporting probably share the same racist
stereotypes as those who wrote or published the reports.
To put it in the words of Rachel Morris: “Those who watch the press, whether regulators or commentators, are
little better.” 80 Quoting Philomena Essed she added: “When ... racism is transmitted in routine practices that
seem ‘normal’, at least for the dominant group, this can only mean that racism is often not recognized, not
acknowledged – let alone problematized – by the dominant group” 81
However, there is also reason for hope: On 11 July 2005, the French Media Supervisory Body, Conseil
SupÇrieur de l’Audiovisuel, issued a warning to the French TV broadcaster France 5 stating that the feature:
“Delinquency: The Road of the Roma” which was broadcast on 11 February 2005 was indeed in breach of the
French legislation regarding racist and discriminatory broadcasting. More particularly it made the criticism that
the very title of the feature created an amalgam between a particular community and a specific form of
organised crime. On this basis it concluded that the feature was likely to reinforce racist prejudices. 82
Conclusion
At the beginning I quoted Jaromir Konecny because I believe he neatly summarised the role of the media and
75 More cases can be found on the website of the German Press Council, at: http://www.presserat.de/
76 Zentralrat Deutscher Sinti und Roma: Stellungnahme zum Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Umsetzung europÖischer
Antidiskriminierungsrichtlinien, BT-Drs. 15/4538, Anhårung im Deutschen Bundestag – Ausschuss fÉr Familie, Senioren, Frauen
und Jugend - am 7. MÖrz 2005
77 Ella Wassink, 18 August 2005
78 Accordingly, Zimmer explained that a person can only be either “Sinti or Roma” if belonging to any of the two groups and that it
would require another ending if the person is a women. He also said that the use of the correct word would not undo
discrimination.
79 Peter Studer: “Zwischen Diskriminierung und Political Correctness”, in: medienheft ? 29.05.2002
80 Rachel Morris: Gypsies, Travellers and the Media: Press regulation and racism in the UK, in: Communications Law, Vol. 5, No.
6, 2000
81 Philomena Essed: Understanding Everyday Racism, California 1991, p. 10, quoted according to: Rachel Morris: Gypsies,
Travellers and the Media: Press regulation and racism in the UK, in: Communications Law, Vol. 5, No. 6, 2000
82 çmission C dans l'air : France 5 mise en garde, Decision taken on 11 July 2005, published on 1 September 2005, at:
http://www.csa.fr/actualite/decisions/decisions_detail.php?id=29702