In February 2011, in Crimea's printed mass media there were registered 45 cases of using 'hate speech' as a factor of intolerable attitude to representatives of other ethnic groups and 25 cases of using 'the language issue' as one of the factors for inflaming interethnic hostility
In February 2011, in Crimea’s printed mass media there were registered 45 cases of using ‘hate speech’ as a factor of intolerable attitude to representatives of other ethnic groups and 25 cases of using ‘the language issue’ as one of the factors for inflaming interethnic hostility. Such are the results of monitoring 29 peninsula-wide and local printed mass media. The monitoring is carried out by “Evpatoriya Center of Regional Development” NGO within the framework of the project “The Crimean Mass Media. “Hate Speech” under the support of the Civil Society Impact Enhancement Program of the International Renaissance Foundation.
The level of condemnation of ‘hate speech’ on the part of journalists and politicians (8 cases) increased in Crimea’s printed publications in February.
Journalists’ articles and editorial materials, anecdotes and expressions of politicians usually contain ‘hate speech’. In February, most often Ukrainians were the object of intolerant attitude.
The most common types of ‘hate speech’ in February were the following:
– creation of a negative image of an ethnic group (related not to specific accusations, but it is rather conveyed by the tone of a text or its part);
– accusations of this or that ethnic group or its representatives of nationalism, chauvinism, or extremism;
– mentioning an ethnic group or its representatives in a humiliating or offending context (or just during mentioning an ethnonym).
Compared to January this year, staff writers of Crimean newspapers most often touched ‘the language issue’. In particular, the number of cases of scornful attitude to the state language increased.
Such newspapers as “Krymskoye Vremya” (Crimean Time), “Krymskaya Pravda” (Crimean Truth), “Komsomolskaya Pravda v Ukraine – Krym” (Komsomol Truth in Ukraine – Crimea) were the ones that more often than other Crimea’s printed mass media used and promoted ‘hate speech’ in their February articles.
Contact information: Evpatoriya Center of Regional Development, Arkadiy Sharapov, 097 161 52 34, ecrr@ukr.net
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The goal of the Civil Society Impact Enhancement Program is to promote development of a system to protect the rights of public and municipal service consumers and to support NGO policy capacity building.
