News
Monthly Highlights February: sensationalistic reporting, ethnic hate, attacks on journalists and sexual exploitation alongside media manipulation and targeting of CSOs
During February, the RDN monitoring team detected a range of hateful narratives and discourse fuelled by sensationalistic reporting, ethnic hate, sexual exploitation and violence against journalists alongside media manipulation and targeting of CSOs. Sensational reporting in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo targeting victims of gender-based violence In the month of February, a woman and her …
Anti-abortion Campaign Gets Positive Coverage in BiH Media
Critical reviews of the “40 Days for Life” initiative and its real impact on women is absent in the media. Last week, the Parish of St. Matthew in Mostar announced that “Mostar, and thus Bosnia and Herzegovina, is included in the ‘40 Days for Life’ international initiative”. The activities of the campaign will be carried …
Regional media reporting on months-long student-led protests in Serbia
Novi Sad train station canopy collapsed on November 1st, 2024, killing fifteen people, and severely injuring two more. This ignited a nationwide, student-led movement in Serbia, demanding justice for victims and the rule of law. Since the protests began, RDN has closely followed how Serbian media have covered them. As students are currently marching from …
Troll of the Month: High-level officials Edi Rama and Erion Veliaj
The Balkan Troll of the Month is an individual, a group of individuals or a media outlet that spreads hate speech 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 February 11, 2025, Prime Minister Edi Rama accused …
REGIONAL MEDIA MONITORING: Ethnicity and gender identity remain the main targets of hate speech as political targeting is on the rise
Reporting Diversity Network has been continuously conducting media monitoring of hate speech on a regional level for almost four years. Our latest set of reports show findings from May 2022 until December 2023. Gender identity and ethnicity remain the most targeted identities, as more than half of all recorded cases across the region referred to …
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 …
Monthly Monitoring Highlights January: Gender-based violence, media targeting, ethnic discrimination, homophobia and anti-LGBTIQ+ narratives alongside genocide denial
During January, the RDN monitoring team detected a range of hateful narratives and discourse fueled by ethnic hate, anti-LGBTIQ+ rhetoric, gender-based violence, and genocide denial alongside harmful media targeting and reporting. Gender-based violence in Albania The reality show Big Brother VIP Albania has become a highly influential program in Albania, shaping public opinion and societal …
CIN-CG: MEDIA REPORTING ON THE CETINJE TRAGEDY
Rubbing Salt in the Wound Following the mass murder in Cetinje this January, several Montenegrin online media outlets have published articles regarding the case which spread hate speech, discrimination, and disinformation, while regional tabloid media often violated ethical standards. Most Montenegrin media reported on the tragedy in Cetinje professionally, with some even disabling comments under …
Troll of the Month: Serbian Tabloids
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. Three months ago, a concrete canopy collapsed at the main …
Monthly Monitoring Highlights December: Hatred towards journalists, ethnic hatred, anti-LGBTIQ+ rhetoric, the politicisation of sexual harassment cases alongside sexism and hateful targeting
During December, the RDN monitoring team detected a range of hateful narratives and discourse fuelled by hatred towards journalists, anti-LGBTIQ+ rhetoric, sexism and ethnic hatred. Hatred towards journalists in Kosovo The founder of the online portal “Nacionale,” Berat Buzhala, received a death threat on his Facebook profile with the account name “Valon Karanezi.” “If I …
Troll of the Year 2024: Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama
The Balkan Troll of the Month is an individual, a group of individuals or a media outlet that spread hate based on gender, ethnicity, religion or other diversity categories, across the Western Balkan region. In December, RDN combined votes from the Western Balkan countries with input from a public voting process to select the Troll …