Media Discriminates Against Minorities, Says Study
Minorities in Estonia, as a rule, are not given a say in news articles about themselves - to the point where the views of some locals appear only in translations of foreign media reports, according to a nine-month study conducted by university students.
A major finding of the study was that representatives of minority groups are used as sources in less than 10 percent of the news articles in which they are the subject.
“The study also found that although most articles are neutral in tone, they often place minorities in a negative context. Also, there continues to be a common trend of politically incorrect naming of minorities,” said Raivo Vetik, a professor at Tallinn University.
Vetik is the Estonian coordinator of an “In Other Words,” a media monitoring project co-financed by the European Commission and conducted also in five other EU countries (Italy, France, Portugal, Spain and Romania).
During the course of the study, from July 2011 to March 2012, students from Tallinn University's Institute of Governance and Political Science monitored major daily newspapers and the news website Delfi for media coverage of eight minority groups in Estonia - Russians, Roma, Jews, Muslims, blacks, Asians, sexual minorities, and disabled persons.
The findings of the study will be introduced Thursday at Raekoja plats 14, beginning at 9:00. Foreign experts Myria Georgiou of the London School of Economics and French journalist Claire Frachon will introduce the findings of similar studies in other EU countries.
Speakers also include Jevgenija Garanzha, editor in chief of Den Za Dnjom; Priit Hõbemägi of Tallinn University, the founder of Ethnoweb Natalja Kitam, ERR's media ethics ombudsman Tarmu Tammerk, and representatives of Estonian Gay Youth and the Chamber of Disabled People.
Ott Tammik