Zprávy o Nich nebo o Nás
News about Them or Us

Discourse on Roma in the News of Czech Television

Author(s): Renáta Sedláková
Subject(s): Social Sciences, Media studies, Ethnic Minorities Studies
Published by: Univerzita Palackého v Olomouci
Keywords: Roma; majority; minority; media; Czech Television
Summary/Abstract: What would we know about the Roma if we knew them only from news of the public service media -Czech television? The book provides findings from quantitative content analysis, discursive and semiotic analysis of the main news program Události. The study is based on the assumption that media representation of "the others" also tells about the majority's ideas of itself. The author points to key features that contribute to the representation of Roma as culturally different. She illustrates that mainstream television news is ethnocentric and mainly reports on the actions of majority members, even in news that verbally or visually refers to the Romani minority. Such an approach attributes Romani's passive position as recipients of social assistance or objects of political measures by the majority. The optics of the minority is omitted in the programme, and Romani represented in positions of authority are an exception in the reports. The construction of the news as stories about "Us" and "Them" confirms the symbolic otherness of both ethnic groups. Repeatedly used visual footage triggers negative connotations and circulates stereotypes long present in the Czech majority mainstream culture. However, the news media are key agents in the social construction of reality and can contribute not only to inclusion but also to social exclusion and discrimination against members of social groups.

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