Analyses

“Patriotic” hate speech: Hate towards NGOs (3)

на 17. 07. 2014 | | mk
   

“The “patriotic” hate speech is based on unfounded accusations and contrived concern for the people, the state and its institutions. Basically, it is an attack which directly spreads hatred against critics of the government and indirectly fosters love for the politicians in power, who are being identified with the state and/or the nation. “

(The first part of the analysis can be found here, and the second part 

“Patriotic” hate speech: Hate towards NGOs and activists (2)

на 27. 06. 2014 | | mk

There are numerous examples of “patriotic” speech in the media-political party smear campaign against the “sorosoids“, intending to incite hatred towards NGOs and activists who openly criticize the authorities.

(Second part of the analysis: Hate towards the internal “enemies”) Written by: Zarko Trajanoski, MA in Human Rights   “The person who uses media for mass communication must be aware that it is he/she who bears the responsibility when calling for protests or another type of mass action against another party in the event of violence and cannot be protected with the right to freedom of expression.” (Roberto Belichanec “Black Book“)   The first part of this analysis indicates that the “patriotic” hate speech is often used as an instrument by

“Patriotic” hate speech: Hate towards the internal “enemies” (1)

на 12. 06. 2014 | | mk
  Author: Zarko Trajanoski, MA in Human Rights   “It is extremely important for the media to be careful not to become sources of hate speech and not to contribute to its further spread.” (Announcement of the Broadcasting Council, March 6, 2013)  “Patriotic” hate speech is recognizable by the intention of inciting, encouraging or justifying hatred towards internal and external “enemies.” At the core of this hate speech is the division to “We” (“patriots”) and “Them” (non-patriots) that are labeled with various stigmatizing names. “Patriotic” hate speech is often used as an instrument of psychological violence against critics of the current government, by pro-government politicians, journalists or columnists. In the first part of this analysis we will focus on several

How facts backfire

на 16. 10. 2013 | | mk

Researchers discover a surprising threat to democracy: our brains

  Author: Joe Keohane for Boston.com (Boston Globe Newspaper web site). Published with permission of the author.     It’s one of the great assumptions underlying modern democracy that an informed citizenry is preferable to an uninformed one. “Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government,” Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1789. This notion, carried down through the years, underlies everything from humble political pamphlets to presidential debates to the very notion of a free press. Mankind may be crooked timber, as Kant put it, uniquely susceptible to ignorance and misinformation, but it’s an article of faith that knowledge is the best remedy. If people are

Macedonian Media Keep Silent on the UN General Assembly, with Exception of Gruevski’s Speech

на 1. 10. 2013 | | mk
The media must serve as window to the world, not allowing that citizens of Macedonia remain enclosed within narrow petty interests, completely outside of the global development mainstream.    By: Prof. Mirjana Najchevska, PHD, human rights expert A characteristic of the contemporary organization of society is interlinking between states, their mutual interdependence and, of course, common standards they attempt to develop within the framework of international structures. The opportunity for

How can the voice of the voiceless be heard?

на 30. 09. 2013 | | mk, sq
An ethical duty of journalists is not only to report on public protests, but to also present the demands of the protestors. Very few media presented the demands of the protestors, as opposed to the number of media presenting the minister’s statements that the protest held before the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy was a “mistake”.   “Thank you all for the support, especially the media helping us raise our voice! We have no interpreters, and that is why we are writing this!” (Public meeting of the deaf and hard of hearing of Macedonia)   Written by: Zarko Trajanoski MA in Human Rights The recent peaceful protest of a group of people with disabilities was an excellent opportunity to

Macedonia: “When censorship is being introduced”

на 23. 07. 2013 | | mk, sq
Written by Žarko Trajanoski, MA in Human Rights “Practice indicates that responsible and ethical journalism is never the result of state legislation and regulations, but of the voluntary compliance with the code created by the media community itself.” (Guide on Ethics in Journalism) We need to particularly address media manipulations on the topic of “Media Law”. Was there a public presentation of the Media law in 2011? On December 6, 2011, Sitel TV’s web-portal posted the newscast “Public presentation of the new Media Law“. The title of the newscast suggested that there was some kind of a “new media law” which was publicly presented. However, the newscast also included the following statement of minister Mile Janakieski (it has not been

Why are media ignoring the problems of people with disabilities? (2)

на 14. 05. 2013 | | mk, sq
By Žarko Trajanovski, MA, human rights expert This is the second part of the analysis on the trend in the media to ignore the problems of people with disabilities.   “Let the voice of the voiceless be heard…” (Journalist Ethics Code) In our previous analysis with the same title, we noted that the use of respectful terms for people with disabilities is a special ethical challenge, because disrespectful language can

Macedonia: Unethical Journalism – copy-paste of unconfirmed information

на 7. 05. 2013 | | mk, sq
By Žarko Trajanovski, MA in human rights „A journalist should: Test the accuracy of information from all sources and exercise care to avoid inadvertent error“.
(Code of ethics for journalists) On Labour Day, several journalists couldn’t bother to check the veracity of information they published. As if they forgot that “testing the information and their veracity are moral imperatives of journalism” (Manual on Journalistic ethics). On May 1, the following

Why are media ignoring the problems of people with disabilities? (1)

на 24. 04. 2013 | | mk, sq
By Žarko Trajanovski, MA, human rights expert
Polling place n. 2842 during local elections in Centar Municipality, 21.04.2013 | Photo: Metamorphosis “Words are important! Journalists should know which term they should use to denote a community. The best test of this is whether the community wants to be denoted with such a term? If the term is derogatory, it must not be used regardless of the arguments that may seem