Troll of the Month: Žana Mihaljević
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 18 May 2026, the Montenegrin media outlet Vijesti published …
Monthly Monitoring Highlights – April
During the month of April, the RDN monitoring team identified a range of hateful narratives and discourse driven by hatred towards people with disabilities, political opponents and journalists, alongside sexism, xenophobia and misogyny. Sexism and misogyny in Albania and North Macedonia On 20 April 2026, Klan TV aired an episode of “Shije Shtëpie” featuring a …
Why women in Bosnia and Herzegovina are still afraid of having property in their name
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, women have equal rights to property, at least on paper. In practice, many renounce it. Not because they must, but because they believe they should. This is confirmed by the long-term experience of Lana Jajčević, a legal advisor at the United Women’s Foundation from Banja Luka, who has been working with …
HATE SPEECH ON TELEVISION: Screens of Dangerous Narratives
This and previous year, the Agency for Audiovisual Media Services (AMU) has imposed four fines of €500 each, along with several issued warnings on television broadcasters in Montenegro on the accounts of hate speech. In addition to Pink, Adria and Prva TV, dangerous narratives were also spread by the national public broadcaster Radio and Television …
Not Just a Statistic: Media Responsibility in Reporting on Victims of Sexual Violence
Content warning: This article discusses sexual violence, abuse, and the treatment of victims in media coverage. Some readers may find this distressing. “If you or someone you know were sexually assaulted, would you please stand. If you or that person you know was assaulted by someone they knew, would you please raise your hand. And if you or that …
Livestock Woes Lost in Headlines Over Former Pageant Queen
Cattle roaming freely on the streets and highway near Kriva Palanka in North Macedonia have now even crossed the border into Bulgaria. The local problem, which seems to have slipped through the cracks of institutions for years, has now become an international issue. The issue of abandoned livestock has brought light to the declining trend …
Media targeting of a woman of Bosnian origin in the Epstein affair
The published documents contain no incriminating facts against the woman from Bosnia and Herzegovina who is mentioned, nor are they in the public interest When an event becomes known internationally in which a person of Bosnian and Herzegovinian origin is one of the main actors, media outlets in Bosnia and Herzegovina often rush to publish …
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 …
Troll of the Month: Dragan Koprivica and Mitar Šušić
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. TV Prva, a commercial television channel in Montenegro, invited guests Dragan …
Monthly Monitoring Highlights: a range of harmful narratives, including those targeting journalists
Throughout March, the RDN monitoring team identified a range of harmful narratives, including those targeting journalists, gender-based harassment, as well as misogynistic, homophobic, transphobic, and Islamophobic discourse. Across the region, these patterns were further reinforced by sensationalist and unethical media reporting, contributing to a hostile environment for journalists, activists, and marginalised groups, and undermining democratic dialogue and accountability. …
Troll of the Month: Tabloid Informer
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 night of the 26th of March, a lifeless …
TV Herceg-Bosne on the “Sarajevo–Tehran connection” – Bias, Manipulation, Incitement
A TV report violating fundamental journalistic principles symbolically shows Sarajevo and Bosnia and Herzegovina as potential security threats to Europe TV report titled “The Sarajevo–Tehran Axis: An Islamist Viper in the Heart of Europe,” by journalist Jurica Gudelj aired on Radiotelevision Herceg-Bosne has sparked numerous reactions in the Bosnian-Herzegovinian public, as media professionals and analysts …
