II CONTENT OF THE COVERAGE

2. CONFLICT- RELATED REPORTING

Almost one third of the articles are directly devoted to conflict reporting: events that provoke, sustain, or perpetuate conflict.

Domination of conflict issues is obvious in countries with recent violent ethnic confrontation. It is more obvious in Kosovo, where it amounts to almost 80 percent than in Macedonia where it amounts to 45 percent of the articles. But an additional one fifth of the articles there deal with various conflict-motivated policy issues (22 percent) and various conflicts in the region (11 percent) making the overall conflict reporting more frequent.

Conflict coverage gets high visibility in countries geographically or historically close to violent ethnic conflicts. More than half of the articles in Serbia is directly conflict-related, and in neighbouring Montenegro about one third. In Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia, most conflict reporting investigates the past and is primarily presented as "truth revealing" coverage. In Croatia, all conflict-motivated reporting follows this pattern, and there is almost no coverage of reconciliation initiatives.

Conflict reporting differs in countries without recent violent ethnic confrontation. In Bulgaria, coverage never focuses on conflict but one fifth of minority news coverage focuses on their criminal activity. In Hungary, direct conflict-related reporting is also rare at 7 percent, but it is very frequent in Romania, at 37 percent.

Within three remaining topics -- ethnic issues in the region, everyday life and minority policy -- the most frequent individual issues are also potential conflicts or individual incidents.

The most extensively covered regional events are those in Kosovo and Macedonia, where crime takes up to one fifth of the coverage.
Considering all these various forms, conflict reporting dominates up to two thirds of the analysed content.

3. HIGHLY POLITICISED COVERAGE

Ethnic differences are presented as ethnic-political in almost 90 percent of the related articles.

Ethnic diversity is generally interpreted as a potential source of political problems and divisions. Stories about sport, culture, business, and everyday life -- that would provide for more positive and tolerant coverage of ethnic differences -- are all within the remaining 10 percent. Even within this part, almost half of the articles refer to crime in minority groups.

Ethnic issues is normally placed in political sections of the newspapers with over 40 percent on political pages, nearly one sixth on society pages, more than a quarter in international politics and slightly less than 5 percent on the front page. The ratio is even more striking in articles worthy of the front page: almost 80 percent are related to domestic political events and an additional 13 percent to international politics. In more stable and democratic environments, ethnic minority reporting is more diversified and more inclusive, where discrimination is less visible. Quite often sport and criminal pages are more relevant for research than political sections or front pages. In the Southeast European press, ethnic differences remain a highly politicised issue.

III PRESENTATION OF ETHNIC ACTORS

1. SELECTION OF MINORITIES

The region covered is ethnically very diverse. Out of 90 groups listed for analysis, thirty groups are noted as mentioned in the press, but only 10 attraced substantial coverage. At the same time, around a fifth of the articles had more than one actor. Sometimes they were from different ethnic groups and sometimes from the same, but with different social roles and positions in the article, and there are more actors than stories or topics.

Albanians are the most extensively covered minority in the region at almost 40 percent followed by Serbians and then Roma. The first two were directly involved in recent ethnic conflict, but Roma attracts the majority of discriminatory coverage throughout the region.

Ethnic actors deserve media attention when they are from minority groups in a conflict relationship with the majority.

Some ethnic groups receive much discriminatory reporting in more than one country. Over one fourth of Roma coverage has some discriminatory features (27 percent). Serbs and Albanians, as groups that are frequently reported on, are the target of discriminatory coverage in several countries at 17 percent and 15 percent, respectively.

Some minorities are often discriminated against only where they constitute a large minority, like Hungarians in Romania (almost one quarter) or Turks in Bulgaria (close to 10 percent). Some other groups are discriminated against only in certain countries: as with Jews in Hungary, or Croatia. Discriminatory coverage about Jews from these two countries constitutes one third of the articles carried about them in the region.

2. SOCIAL ROLES

Even when not openly discriminatory, coverage often depersonalises and socially devalues ethnic minorities. In various forms this is present in up to 60 percent of stories. This percentage corresponds to the amount of articles where others define ethnically -connected people, and where they are mostly only generalised and not quoted or paraphrased. This image problem appears to be a consequence of journalists' work, and not a real picture of minorities.

Ethnic actors appear mostly in various political roles (37 percent), as ethnic minority (29 percent) and in military roles (15 percent). Within the remaining 20 percent, most frequently they are victims as displaced peoples, returning refugees, or possibly in some professional role. The prevailing collective image of minorities leave whole ethnic groups appearing like single actors in mainly political or active military roles.

Ethnic groups seen as a whole is common at almost one half.

Individualised actors are mostly politicians and state officials. Criminals are counted as receiving double the attention of issue experts. Incident witnesses and anonymous participants of events are also occasionally individualised, but rarely ever is artists or celebrities at less than 1 percent.

IV DISCRIMINATORY COVERAGE

1. MEDIA FORMAT

The development of tabloids - has generally results in depolitization of the press coverage including ethnic minorities. Where analysed papers differ clearly as "broadsheet" and "tabloid", as in Romania and Hungary, the amount of coverage in the former gets up to three times more than in the latter.

Where similar-format newspapers dominate the market, as with semi-tabloids like those in Croatia and Bulgaria, the difference is much less and usually within 10 percent. Where both newspapers are of similar format, but in opposing political positions, the differences is between 10 and 20 percent.

There are cases when the amount of discriminatory headlines, even completely discriminatory articles, is higher in the tabloid press.

The highest ratio is in Bota sot - of 25 articles, 19 have discriminatory headlines and 15 discriminatory content. There are also highly circulated broadsheets with very discriminatory content. Adevarul carried 15 discriminatory headlines and 26 discriminatory stories out of 81 articles. Nepsabadsag had 25 discriminatory headlines in 123 articles.

Discriminatory headlines are equally frequent in semi-tabloids, like in Vecernji list where 17 out of 51 articles have discriminatory headlines, or in Trud with 12 discriminatory headlines in 60 articles.

2. VISIBLE DISCRIMINATORY COVERAGE

Almost a fifth of the analysed coverage contains some visible discriminatory features and most of these are seen immediately in the headline.

More than 15 percent of the stories are titled discriminatorily or for sensationalism, which can spark prejudices. In all of the studied cases, article content is not entirely truthful, and this weighs into the role of journalists in their responsibility to fairness. An additional 3 percent of the articles are discriminatory in general approach, or presentation. This group includes only openly and clearly identifiable intimidating content.

 

Many more items are potentially discriminatory, as up to 40 percent of the articles is interpretative with evaluation, prognostication or mobilisational content.

Such a high proportion of interpretative over descriptive writing offers room for judgment about actors and events, even when the facts is still not completely known in developing stories.

The amount of evaluative approaches corresponds to the distribution of story types and 40 percent fall into various interpretative genres. Varied informative stories account for another 45 percent with briefs and shorts taking up the last 15 percent. Feature articles total a third of the interpretative stories. These are stories that are not only, or necessarily, affected by events, but also by editors' decisions about the importance and timing in certain issues.

Interpretative articles double that of letters to the editor, but they vary across the region. Editorials are more frequent in Albania and Romania, but letters to the editor is more common in Serbia and Hungary.

3. LESS VISIBLE FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION

Many less obvious forms of discrimination are also directly produced by inadequate journalistic practices.

Unprofessional, inconsiderate routines foster ethnic stereotypes and contribute to prejudices. This conduct supports and encourages beliefs that ethnic members are less active and socially less important.

In up to two thirds of the articles, ethnic actors are presented only in general terms. The absence of individual actors depersonalises ethnic members and stimulates their image as undifferentiated others.

In two thirds of the articles, people from other backgrounds define ethnic actors, and almost by the same percent these ethnic actors are neither quoted nor paraphrased. The press therefore intensifies their social passivity by not allowing them to self-define their actions. It follows information about their activities comes from other sources.

Minority actors are seldom seen in the newspapers. More than half of the articles about them have no visual material, and when they do it is limited to photographs in 40 percent of the cases. Those photographs are not always relevant to the text.

Nearly 85 percent of the articles do not treat events as individual occurrences. Too often they are generalised as typical for larger groups, even whole ethnic minorities.

Coverage is often conflicting, incidental and highly-politicised, so negative and conflict features are universalised and easily projected from the individual level to entire ethnic groups.

V MINORITY WITHIN MINORITIES

Women, already marginalised, are further discriminated against as members of ethnic communities.

As the majority of actors are described in terms of their social groups (such as Roma children, Kosovo non-Albanians, Albaninan politicial factors, Jewish community, Hungarians in Transylvania, Turkish business community etc.) there gender is not specified (62 percent).

When actors are individualised, women make up less than 3 percent of all of them: three and half times less than men at 35 percent.

Some social roles, however, connected with more power, transgress this rigid exclusion. Close to one third of the women serve in political, or government jobs (20 percent politicians and 10 percent state officials), making this their most significant individual social role.

The majority of women appear in roles that comply with the dominant patriarchal pattern - women are mostly victims and witnesses of events (40 percent).
Women have a defining role in two thirds of the articles and in half of the stories they are quoted or paraphrased. Women often attract more media attention, however, in the more socially insignificant roles of witness, or person on the street opinionating on some question. This does not threaten the status quo as persons speaking from the lower end seldom undermine power relations.
Patriarchal structure of discrimination is, infects, most visible in disproportionate social roles assigned to men and women in South East Europe -male actors is mostly politicians and fighters female-witnesses and victims.

MAJOR CONCLUSIONS

Comparative content analysis of mainstream Southeast European press revealed both differences and common features in ethnic minority coverage.
• Differences between countries confirm that current political conditions and the quality of inter-ethnic relations affect reporting in obvious, but not necessarily equal ways.
• Similarities indicate that press coverage reflects the prevalent understanding of minority-majority relations, usually based on deep-rooted patterns of perceived otherness.
• Also, they point out some similar journalistic practices that contribute to poor diversity and toward intolerance through the press.

Therefore, major research findings demonstrate that:

1. Ethnic minorities coverage are related to political stability and the quality of inter-ethnic relations in each country.
• Politicised and conflict-related coverage increases under conditions of political instability and disharmony in ethnic relations.
• As conditions stabilise, both the amount of coverage and level of intolerance toward ethnic differences decreases.
• Increased invisibility and ignorance of ethnic actors or issues may also follow conflict resolution.
• In the absence of conflict, attention of the press quite often turns more toward ethnic communities in other countries - that is to say the minority there that is of the same ethnicity as their country's main group - rather than domestic minorities issues in their own country.

2. Widespread, deeply-rooted stereotypes and prejudices that govern common understanding of minority-majority relations is reflected in the press. They form patterns of perceived otherness that are often common throughout the region. These patterns influence the general approach to ethnic diversity and affect images of major ethnic groups regardless of political conditions.
• Ethnic diversity is generally a political issue. Difference are mostly comprehended and interpreted as politically significant: either as a threat to national unity or as a sign of difference, which could prompt political conflict. This reflects in ethnic distance between groups and toward mistrust of minorities.
• The common image of a minority group is one of a non-differentiated whole: presented through collective groups rather than individuals, whose members are mostly male and behave in similar ways. This complies with a stereotypical view that they are all the same, and that ethnic origin is crucial in the behaviour of minority members.
• Almost without exception, there is an ethnic group in each country that attracts most of its discriminatory reporting. It are always a significant group -- either large, or with a long history of tensions with the majority, and often commonly discriminated against in the region.

3. Media standards and journalistic practices that contribute to poor diversity and intolerance are often common throughout the region. This kind of behaviour by journalists supports and encourages beliefs that ethnic members is less active and socially less important .
• Varied and competing newspaper formats prompt higher media standards that also affect minority coverage. Compared to broadsheets, tabloids clearly depoliticise coverage as they have less content, is less analytical, and carry less interpretative reporting. Tabloids introduce more simplified, sensational and some discriminatory coverage. Minority issues require a cautious and tolerant understanding of differences and most tabloids are not likely to provide that.



Inadequate journalism standards contribute directly to a depersonalised and passive image of ethnic peoples. Quite often they are not quoted or visually presented, nor do they get a chance to self-interpret their activities. Additionally, gender structure of ethnic groups reveals multiple discrimination -- women, already marginalised, are further discriminated against when from ethnic communities.

Journalism, more sensitive to ethnic diversity, would provide better room for excluded groups in Southeast European societies.