Monthly Highlights November: Hate speech, Threats and Sensationalism
During November, the RDN monitoring team identified a range of hateful narratives and discourse driven by hateful and harmful political speech, hate speech against journalists and sensationalistic reporting. Hateful and harmful speech in Albanian parliament During the parliamentary session debating the newly adopted Gender Equality Law, opposition leader Sali Berisha made a series of homophobic …
The daughter belongs to someone else’s family
Stories behind the disparity in property ownership at the expense of women Inheritance of property by women in North Macedonia is so rare that over time it has become a customary practice that is seldom questioned. Like many traditions, this one too is rooted in inequality, upheld only by our socially constrained perceptions of what …
Troll of the Month: TV Klan Kosova
The Balkan Troll of the Month is an individual, a group of individuals or a media outlet that spreads hate based on gender, ethnicity, religion, or other diversity categories. The Balkan Troll is selected based on hate speech incidents identified across the Western Balkan region. On the evening of November 5, 25-year-old Daorsa Spahija from …
ARE WE READY FOR A LEADER WHO DOESN’T LOOK LIKE OUR MAJORITY?
The absence of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians in state-building positions. After months of political deadlock, on August 26, Dimal Basha was elected Speaker of the Kosovo Assembly. This followed nearly 60 failed attempts, until a Constitutional Court ruling on August 8 limited Vetëvendosje (VV) to prosposing each candidate only three times. After none of the three ministers proposed …
Breaking Words, Building Bridges: Regional Experts Warn Against Rising Polarisation in the Balkans
Hate speech in the Western Balkans is becoming more complex, layered, and increasingly used as a political weapon, according to new media monitoring reports presented at the regional conference Breaking Words, Building Bridges: Responses to Polarisation in the Western Balkans held in Belgrade, Serbia. The Reporting Diversity Network (RDN) showcased its third set of reports …
TROLL OF THE MONTH – SELECTION CRITERIA
The goal of the Reporting Diversity Network 2.0 monitoring is to identify and document the most significant cases (‘incidents’) of hate speech and divisive discourses in the Western Balkans media. Incidents are defined by the speaker regardless of where they occurred, but monitoring refers to their media coverage. They can originate in the Parliament, party …
The State(s), the Church(es), and the Nationalism
In the Western Balkans, the line between political power and religious authority is increasingly blurred. From Belgrade to Ppogorica to Skopje, churches do more than tend to faith. Religious leaders preserve historical narratives, shape national identity, and legitimise state power. Whether by glorifying convicted war criminals or framing geopolitical struggles as spiritual battles, religious leaders …
THE “UNALTERED” LITERATURE OF KOSOVAR SCHOOLS
LITERATURE IN SCHOOLS REPRODUCES DEROGATORY AND RACIST LANGUAGE WITHOUT CRITICAL EXAMINATION. The teacher reads aloud: “I thought I had come to the door of the magjyp” (a derogatory term for the Egyptian, Roma, and Ashkali communities), while the class listens in silence. Somewhere in the penultimate row, an Ashkali boy lowers his gaze. After this …
Monthly Highlights October: ethnic hatred, sensationalism, unprofessional reporting, sexism, and political motivations
During October, the RDN monitoring team identified a range of hateful narratives and discourse driven by ethnic hatred, sensationalism, unprofessional reporting, sexism, and political motivations. Ethnic hatred and violence in Montenegro Between 25 and 28 October 2025, a series of violent and xenophobic incidents unfolded in Montenegro following an attack in Podgorica’s Zabjelo neighborhood. Late …
Troll of the Month: Media platforms across Albania
The Balkan Troll of the Month is an individual, a group of individuals or a media outlet that spreads hate based on gender, ethnicity, religion, or other diversity categories. The Balkan Troll is selected based on hate speech incidents identified across the Western Balkan region. On 6 October 2025, Judge Astrit Kalaja was shot and …
