Monitoring hate speech and empowering change in Western Balkans media
The Reporting Diversity Network (RDN) debunks stereotypical, discriminatory, and hateful discourses in the Western Balkans. RDN is a group of civil society and media organisations established with the goal of effectively influencing media representation of diversity, primarily in the realm of ethnicity, religion, and gender.
The network aims to activate the role of civil society in countering divisive narratives and replacing them with positive discourse that contributes to good neighbourly relations and respect for social diversity. By empowering regional organisations to work together, RDN seeks to build a more inclusive media landscape across the region.
RDN’s key activities include systematic monitoring of traditional and online media to identify hate speech and harmful narratives, as well as publishing complaints and counter-narratives through articles, campaigns, reports to (self) regulatory bodies and social media platforms, and direct engagement with editors and journalists. The network also provides useful resources for media workers, delivers training programmes, and has an e-course available for civil society and media representatives. RDN also supports grassroots initiatives through sub-granting across the region.
The Reporting Diversity Network brings together 20 civil society and media organisations across 6 Western Balkan countries and has been actively working to reduce hate speech and discrimination in the media since 2020.
Timeframe: March 2023 – March 2027
Region/Countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia
Lead Partner: Media Diversity Institute Western Balkans (MDI WB)
Partners:
Albanian Woman in Audiovisual (AWA)
Association for the Advancement of Journalistic Practices INNOVATIVE MEDIA
Centar za istraživačko novinarstvo Crne Gore
Fondacija za razvoj Medija i civilnog drustva – MediaCentar
Media Diversity Institute Global (MDI Global)
Website: https://www.reportingdiversity.org/
Funding: Reporting Diversity Network – The New Agenda project is co-funded by the European Union and the “SMART Balkans – Civil Society for Shared Society in the Western Balkans” regional project implemented by the Centar za promociju civilnog društva (CPCD), Center for Research and Policy Making (CRPM) and Institute for Democracy and Mediation (IDM) and financially supported by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (NMFA).
