Serbia
Unveiling Injustice – Securitizing misogyny in Serbian tabloids from below: The case of I.M.
In September 2022, the news about the release of a serial rapist I.M., who spent 15 years in prison, caught headlines in Serbia. Various media outlets disseminated details of his criminal history, and physical appearance, and urged caution to women. The public responded by widely sharing articles and information on social media, intensifying what resembled …
TROLL OF THE MONTH: Serbian Ombudsman Zoran Pašalić
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 Balkans region. On the 24th of November, at the start of the …
STUCK IN THE MIDDLE WITH MEDIA
What to read? What to watch? Who to listens to? Who to believe? Can I trust my own judgement? Gaza. Haiti. Iran. Israel. Kosovo. Myanmar. Nagorno-Karabakh. Niger. Sudan. Ukraine. Wherever there is conflict there are conflicting narratives. And if you are not in the midst of it you rely entirely on such media outlets as …
TROLL OF THE MONTH: Tabloid Alo
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 Balkans region. Alo! is a popular daily tabloid newspaper published in Serbia, …
RDN’s request for moderation of the comments under the Serbian portal N1 post
User-generated comments below articles of famous media outlets in the Western Balkans can become a way of spreading harmful narratives. Even when the media content is produced in line with all professional standards, the comment sections, when left unmoderated, can still disturb the general public. Simultaneously, the media have the power and the responsibility to …
Monthly Monitoring Highlights – discrimination and sensational reporting
Throughout the month of August, the RDN monitoring team has detected a range of hateful narratives and discourse. This month we have seen hatred based on gender, disabilities, sexuality, and ethnicity; as well as sensationalism in the media. Gender discrimination in Serbia Ivana Parlić, a Member of Parliament coming from the People’s Party recently took …
Monthly Monitoring Highlights – genocide denial and hatred based on gender
Throughout the month of July, the RDN monitoring team has detected a range of hateful narratives and discourse. This month, we have seen hatred based on ethnicity and gender along with the unsettling occurrence of genocide denial, coinciding with the commemoration of the Srebrenica genocide. Genocide denial in Bosnia and Herzegovina July 11th marks Srebrenica …
Press Council accepted our complaints!
The fight for a better media environment is long and difficult, but small wins along the way keep us motivated. After two mass shootings befell Serbia in just a few days in May, Media Diversity Institute Western Balkans warned of the harmful effects of unprofessional and sensationalist media coverage. A few hours after the shooting …
Monthly Monitoring Highlights – homophobia and other hateful narratives
Throughout the month of June, the RDN monitoring team has detected a range of hateful narratives and discourse. This month, we have seen hatred against LGBTQ+ individuals alongside religious, ethnic and gender discrimination, but also attacks on journalists and media due to ethnic intolerance. Anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric in Bosnia and Herzegovina and North Macedonia This month, …