Promoting fair portrayal of Roma and Sinti by the media: Challenges and perspectives

The overall goal of the online roundtable is to discuss the:

• portrayal of Roma and Sinti in and by the media
• adequacy of existing legal and policy frameworks
• role of self-regulatory mechanisms in countering prejudices and biased portrayal, particularly of Roma and Sinti people
• improving access of Roma and Sinti to the media
• role of media and information technologies in strengthening societal dialogue and mutual understanding

The event will focus on promoting fair portrayal of Roma and Sinti by the media.  

Organizers

As part of the tasking established by the OSCE Action Plan with regard to Roma and the media, the ODIHR Contact Point for Roma and Sinti Issues, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media and the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities are joint organisers of this event.  

Topics

The discussions will touch upon the adequacy of and gaps in the existing legal and policy frameworks with regard to mass-media and audio-visual. They will also focus on the role of self-regulatory mechanisms, in particular those relating to the written press. In addition, participants will consider the measures needed to counter prejudices and biased portrayal in general, and to promote quality and ethical journalism.

Given the emergence and global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the roundtable will also discuss the portrayal of Roma during the pandemic. It will also share information about how the media contributed to spreading prejudice, bias and fake information, and what are the means to address this matter.

Background

The portrayal of Roma and Sinti in mass-media has been identified as one of the priorities under the 2003 OSCE Action Plan on Improving the Situation of Roma and Sinti (OSCE Action Plan).