Czech Govt Agency for Social Inclusion and ROMEA to discuss media's portrayal of Roma with journalists

The Czech Government Agency for Social Inclusion and the ROMEA civic association are holding a round table on the topic of "Portraying Romani people in the media" at the Journalists’ Syndicate (Syndikátu novinářů, Pressroom, Senovážné náměstí 23, Praha 1) on 8 April 2013 from 11:00 – 13:00. The event is being held under the auspices of Czech Government Human Rights Commissioner Monika Šimůnková.

"The media play an essential role in how the public is informed about opportunities to resolve the problem of social exclusion, as well as in how socially vulnerable citizens are received by the public. I welcome this meeting as an opportunity for a mutual exchange of experiences and an opportunity to support the elimination of a certain one-sided, stereotyping approach which is still linked to this issue, as the results of the research we will present there will demonstrate," said Czech Government Human Rights Commissioner Monika Šimůnková, who will give the introductory remarks.

"According to a survey by the Center for Public Opinion Research (Centrum pro výzkum veřejného mínění – CVVM) from May of last year, more than 80 % of Czechs view coexistence between the majority society and the Romani minority negatively. Half of them spoke of relations as ‘very bad’. We want to find an answer to the questions of whether the media play a role in this, how great of a role they play, and how they influence (or fail to influence) public opinion. Naturally, we will also consider how we can aid our journalist colleagues so as to reduce the amount of stereotypes published, whether through illustrative photographs or through the kind of information reported about Romani people," said Jarmila Balážová, the chair of ROMEA, o. s.

The Czech Government Agency for Social Inclusion will present the conclusions and findings of its own "Analysis of the portrayal of Romani people in the Czech media from the start of July 2011 to the end of May 2012" (Analýza mediálního zobrazení Romů v českých médiích od začátku července 2011 do konce května 2012).

ROMEA, o. s. will then offer the professional media services of both organizations for sources of illustrative photographs, video footage, contacts to individuals and organizations, opportunities to participate in reportage, as well as an overview of repeated stereotypes.  

This round table is the first in a series of three organized as part of the "Improving Reporting about Romani People in the Media" project (Zlepšení informování o Romech v médiích) supported by the Open Society Fund Prague through its Human Rights program.