Monthly Monitoring Highlights April: femicides, genocide denials and hatred aimed towards journalists

Throughout the month of April, the RDN monitoring team has detected a range of hateful narratives and discourse. This month, we have seen hatred based on gender, ethnicity, and hatred against journalists. Femicide in Kosovo In Kosovo, two femicides took place in the month of April over a period of less than a week. At …

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TROLL OF THE MONTH: Ninoslav Cmolić, Head of the Criminal Police Directorate, Serbia

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. Ninoslav Cmolić, the Head of the Criminal Police Directorate, was …

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WHEN MEDICAL STUDENTS APOLOGISE – THE IMPACT OF THE ANTI-GENDER MOVEMENT IN THE PUBLIC SPHERE

How the anti-gender movement, supported by American and Russian Christian organisations, incite fear and hatred in the public discourse under the pretense of defending “family values” In April 2024, the Macedonian Medical Student Association (MMSA) announced on Facebook that the Faculty of Medicine of the Ss. Cyril and Methodius University (UKIM) in Skopje will host …

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RESPONSE TO THE SREBRENICA RESOLUTION: GENOCIDE DENIAL AND HATE SPEECH

The National Assembly of RS adopted conclusions that deny genocide. Denying the genocide in Srebrenica, relativizing war crimes, and using insulting messages and hate speech are the messages that have been coming from the Bosnian entity Republika Srpska (RS) recently. An announcement that the draft Resolution on the genocide committed in Srebrenica will be on …

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A RECURRING PHENOMENON: HATE SPEECH SURGES AGAINST ETHNIC GROUPS IN NORTH MACEDONIA BEFORE ELECTIONS

According to the Code of Ethics of Journalists, “Freedom of the media is an inalienable right,” is one of the fundamental principles of journalism. Every journalist should be fully aware that “the fundamental duty of journalists is to respect the truth and the right of the public to be informed,” as per Article 16 of …

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WOMEN AND NATIONAL MINORITIES STILL THE MOST FREQUENT TARGETS OF HATE SPEECH – Results of media monitoring in the Western Balkans 

Reporting Diversity Conference 15-16 February 2024  Podgorica, Montenegro  Reporting Diversity Network organised a two-day conference on hateful and harmful narratives in the Western Balkans where the Network presented preliminary results of the media monitoring reports, which will be published in March.   The conference brought together over 40 media experts, activists, civil society representatives from …

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STRENGHTENING MEDIA CAMPAIGNING AND ADVOCACY SKILLS: Reporting Diversity Advanced Training

Podgorica, Montenegro; 13-16 February 2024  Reporting Diversity Network organised a three-day Reporting Diversity training for CSOs, grassroots activists, and human rights defenders in Podgorica, Montenegro. The training took place between 13-16 February 2024 and gathered 34 participants from across the Western Balkans.  The participants gained skills that will help them recognise hate speech and divisive …

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Monthly Monitoring Highlights March: ethnic hatred, sexism, hate towards journalists and political opponents

Throughout the month of March, the RDN monitoring team has detected a range of hateful narratives and discourse. This month, we have seen hatred based on ethnicity, gender and hatred towards journalists and political opponents. Ethnic hatred in Bosnia and Herzegovina Klix.ba, the most read web portal in Bosnia and Herzegovina reported on an incident …

TROLL OF THE MONTH: Daily paper “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. March Troll is a tabloid Alo in Serbia. On March …

Monthly Monitoring Highlights February: sexism, gender-based violence, anti-migrant rhetoric, ethnic discrimination, and hatred towards journalists

Throughout February, the RDN monitoring team has detected a range of hateful narratives and discourse. This month, we have seen hatred based on gender, ethnicity as well as the spread of anti-migrant rhetoric and hatred towards journalists. Sexism in Serbia In Serbia, on Insajder TV, actress Ljubinka Klarić was a guest on the show Treća …

LOOK ON THE RIGHT: “ANTI-GENDER” POLITICS AND HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUE IN THE WESTERN BALKANS

In 2015, a report by the Mediacenter Foundation found that ‘anti-gender’ politics was very much alive in Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, lobbying, organising mass protests or public referendums. Nine years on, it is still a major concern. ‘Anti-gender’ politics is one of the most powerful political options, mobilising citizens from different social and economic backgrounds, …