Analysis of The News Concerning The Roma Minority in Bulgaria (original) (raw)
Related papers
The present article focuses on the stereotypes used by 20 print media when publishing on Roma people in Bulgaria. The study answers several research questions: To what extent hate speech matters in relation to the Roma can be found in the Bulgarian press and what type of hate speech cases is replaced with implicitly negative matters? What are the main topics concerning the presence of the Romain the national press and how are these topics distributed in the different printed media? What is the impact of the topical issues and events from the public agenda on the matters concerning the Rom a minority? What are the general trends when it comes to representing the Roma during an election campaign? The research uses a triangulation between the two types of content analysis methods: a standardised matrix for quantitative analysis and open-coding of the key words and traits. An extremely negative stereotyped image is observed focused mainly on their lifestyle compared to their personal traits. The stereotypes are interrelated within a meta-story that more or less sounds like that: The drunken swarthy offenders live in illegal ghetto houses and do not pay their utility bills. They live in large family clans that .fight each other depending on the interests of the big bosses.
THE COUNTER-JOURNALISM OF ROMA MINORITY BROADCASTS IN BULGARIA
Svetlana D. Hristova. 2015. ‘The Counter Journalism of Roma Minority Media in Bulgaria’ In: Ogunyemi, Ola (ed.). Journalism, Audiences and Diaspora. Palgrave Macmillan, p.152-167, DOI: 10.1057/9781137457233, https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9781137457226, 2015
INTRODUCTION This introduction synthesizes sociological research that traces the dynamics of the media image of the Roma people as constructed by ethnic minority broadcasts. The study covers a monitoring period of 12 years (1996–2007) and is based on video and audio archives, which have been thoroughly analyzed. The study discusses the dynamic, socially constructed representation of the Roma produced by community broadcasts versus the traditional representation of the Roma in the mainstream media. Two types of broadcasts have been analysed for the purposes of the study: (1) community radio broadcasts or TV shows that are strongly focused on Roma issues and created by journalists of Roma origin, and (2) intercultural programmes of an educational kind, which are produced by either ethnically mixed or entirely non–Roma editorial teams for the purpose of promoting interethnic tolerance. This second type of programmes is also referred to here as “culturally–oriented”, “interethnic”, “educational” or “ethnicity–oriented” programmes. The objective of this study is to outline the developments of the new image of the Roma people in a situation of social change related to the emergence of community broadcasts. The research addresses the question whether the community–oriented polemical broadcasts have contributed to altering and renewing the public stereotype–laden representation of the Roma in Bulgaria. A few quite rigid representations of „the Gypsies” thrive in everyday space, and the image generally held by society involves violence, crime, and illiteracy as characteristics of this minority; “the Gypsies” have been viewed as a privileged object of affirmative policies and as a problematic group in both social and economic terms, yet as being continuously defended under international human rights conventions. In line with all this, this text describes the role of specific mass media channels for creating a new vision of the ethnic group, a vision that is thoroughly distinct from the hetero–stereotypes generally assuming the group’s social failure. The modernized portrayal of the Roma, expressed by the community media under study, has been based on the good practices and role models coming from the ethnic group itself. The significance of the study stems from the following occurrences. First, with the launching of community and intercultural programmes, the journalists involved in them have eagerly defended the Roma, underscoring they differ from the popular stereotypes regarding the group; and with the development of these programmes, an assertive representation of Roma identity has been established and the hybrid identity of the minority journalist appeared as a sociological quest. Second, community and interethnic broadcasts do not target exclusively the Roma community: their target audience is mainstream society as the potential recipient of intercultural education. This means there is a need for additional empowerment, trust, and popularization of community and ethnicity–oriented broadcasts in order to create their own ways of mediating information and changing perceptions towards the Roma. The rule of thumb is that community broadcasts reflect the will of the community and are produced by group resources. The Bulgarian media space has allowed their existence only as external productions funded by international donors. As for intercultural programmes, they are focused on various ethnic groups with the aim of promoting tolerance, diversity and intercultural education; typically, they are produced by a multiethnic editorial team. The funding of the culture–oriented programmes is miscellaneous but primarily comes from public resources or from non–governmental fundraising. The study employed a set of sociological methods. In–depth interviews and focus groups were conducted with Roma journalists and researchers, and supplied expertise regarding the Roma presence in electronic broadcasts. The audio and TV scripts of the broadcasts were subjected to content analysis, with a focus on the intensity of the messages, the latent coding of speech, the personalities being represented, the degree of their public participation, positive or negative representations and so forth.
Selçuk İletişim, 2018
In this study news discourses dealing with the Roma minority in Bulgaria are analyzed. One of the most problematic issues facing Bulgaria in terms of the EU membership process was its attitude toward minorities. The government implemented several policies in this regard and was finally accepted as a member. The overall situation of the Roma minority has improved over time, but has the perceptions of society and the attitude of the media also changed with regard to minorities? This study is seeking answers to these questions. Media discourse plays an important role concerning the determination and maintenance of dominant ideas. Therefore this study mainly focuses on the news discourse related to the Roma minority. As a result it is observed that the news discourse maintains the current prejudices and ideologies about the Roma minority. In news items, the Roma minority are represented as marginal or different people who reside in illegal settlements, people who are more tolerant of violence, and people who need to be protected. ÖZET Bu çalışmada Bulgaristan'daki Roman azınlığı ile ilgili haber söylemleri analiz edilmiştir. Bulgaristan'ın AB üyelik sürecinde karşılaştığı en sorunlu konulardan birisi azınlıklara yönelik tutumu olmuştur. Bulgaristan hükümeti bu konuda çeşitli politikalar uygulamıştır ve sonunda AB'ye üye olarak kabul edilmiştir. Roman azınlığın ülkedeki genel durumu zamanla iyileşmiştir, ancak acaba toplumun algısı ve medyanın tutumu da azınlıklara yönelik olarak değişmiş midir? Bu çalışma bu sorulara cevap aramaktadır. Medya söylemi baskın fikirlerin belirlenmesi ve sürdürülmesinde önemli rol oynamaktadır. Dolayısıyla bu çalışma çoğunlukla Roman azınlığa ilişkin haber söylemine odaklanmaktadır. Sonuç olarak, haber söyleminin Roman azınlık hakkındaki mevcut önyargıları ve ideolojileri koruduğu gözlemlenmiştir. Haberlerde, Roman azınlığı yasadışı yerleşimlerde ikamet eden sıra dışı veya farklı insanlar, şiddete karşı daha hoşgörülü kişiler ve korunması gereken insanlar olarak temsil edilmiştir.
READERS' RESPONSE TO ARTICLES ON ETHNIC MINORITIES IN THE BULGARIAN AND THE BRITISH PRESS
INTRODUCTION An earlier research by the author on the language of journalists in articles on ethnic groups in Bulgaria and the UK from the beginning of the century (2001-2005) and from 2011 proves that journalists nowadays are more careful when talking about ethnic groups which in itself could foster the establishment of positive interethnic contacts and acceptance of those ethnically different in society. Readers' response sections in the electronic versions of newspapers, however, give us feedback on the peregrinations of a newspaper text from the journalist, through the newsroom, to the consciousness of its readers and make us aware of the public stand on the issues discussed. The corpus for this paper is comprised of 2000 readers' comments on articles in Bulgarian and British newspapers. As the Bulgarian printed media follow up on one and the same story to a much smaller degree than their British counterparts, the topics discussed are different. The Bulgarian publications debate the issues of broadcasting news in Turkish or Romany on the national television, the legalization of Roma " ghettoes " , and the misfortunate attempt of a Roma representative to act as the GP of a Roma neighbourhood without the necessary certificate. The publications from the British press mostly focus on the debate around the sacking of the producer of Midsomer Murders over his statement that Midsomer was the last bastion of Englishness, and on the TV series My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding, which claim to portray Gypsy life in the UK. The objective of this paper is to analyse the language used by both Bulgarian and British readers in their comments on articles about ethnic minority groups in order to assess the degree to which readers in both countries exhibit tolerance or intolerance to the ethnic others. In order to exclude any possible influence of the articles on the readers' opinion, I have analysed responses to press releases that tend to show ethnic minorities in a more or less neutral way. ANALYSIS Analysing the language used by the Bulgarian and the British readers, one could notice the big difference in expressions used, tone of speech, and message conveyed. Reading the comments posted by the Bulgarian bloggers on the news in Turkish or in Romany, one encounters a lot of derogative lexemes used to openly insult any possible readers of Turkish/Roma ethnic background. Some of the postings on the possible coming off air of the news in Turkish are initially directed either at the journalist who has published the article or at the people interviewed. Later on however, the tone becomes more generic and more heated especially after the involvement of some respondents of Turkish background.
2013
published in Hungarian with the title 'Szélre tolva. Kutatási zárójelentés a roma közösségek többségi médiaképéről, 2011'. This working paper discusses results of a content analysis of the coverage of Roma by the mainstream media in 2011. The analysis is a continuation of the authors two decades' long cooperation uncovering and analysing the ways in which mainstream media represents Hungary's Roma communities and contributes to the reproduction of public stereotypes about this ethnic group. The research based on which the report was drafted analysed a wide range of media including largest political dailies, weekly papers, tabloid dailies, internet news portals, and TV news programs. Special attention was paid to the thorough analysis of the visual images published in newspapers and TV news programs.
The notion of “Roma” appears to be one of the most complex notions used in today’s public policies. Under the label of “Roma” the “Roma issues” are mostly seen as issues of minority rights, social exclusion and equality. The numerous debates among academics and policy makers what should be called “Roma” and what not have led to various policy results. Employing the Critical Frame Analysis Approach, the current thesis analyzes the framing of the “Roma” category in the National Roma Integration Strategies in Bulgaria, to find out what is the Roma problem represented to be. “Roma” is formulated mostly as a socio-economic issue: an implication that further reinforces the discrimination against Roma instead of helping them.
This working paper discusses results of a content analysis of the coverage of Roma by the mainstream media in 2011. The analysis is a continuation of the authors' two decades’ long cooperation uncovering and analysing the ways in which mainstream media represents Hungary’s Roma communities and contributes to the reproduction of public stereotypes about this ethnic group. The research based on which the report was drafted analysed a wide range of media including largest political dailies, weekly papers, tabloid dailies, internet news portals, and TV news programs. Special attention was paid to the thorough analysis of the visual images published in newspapers and TV news programs.
Media construction of deviance - othering of Roma minority in television news discourse
Social Pathology and Prevention
How was the Roma minority represented in the main evening news program Události of Czech Television, the public service media, between 2000 and 2015? This article focuses on the visual representation of Roma and the key signs used in television news reports. It presents findings from analysis based on quantitative content analysis and semiotic analysis. Visual representation of the Roma on television news is dominated by images of groups, children and young adults and shots of the environment and places where they live including clutter and ramshackled houses. On the contrary, representations of Roma as authorities are missing. Analysis revealed a long-term repeated thematization of Roma otherness. Although the voice-over is correct, the visual signs used in reports connote negative meanings and stereotypes. Through such visuals Roma are constructed as culturally different. Thus news accentuated and reproduced negative attitudes that a large part of the Czech majority maintains towards Roma.