6' CLOSER TO MAINSTREAMING: ACCESSOF MINORITIES TO THE MEDIA

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6. CLOSER TO MAINSTREAMING ACCESSOF MINORITIES
TO THE MEDIA

• Dr Beata Klimkiewicz
• Jagiellonian University
• Kraków, Poland

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INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS

• universal equality of access to the media is not
  reflected in the media landscapes, where
  experience and interests of minorities are often
  marginalised
• the reservation of frequencies and time slots in
  the public media
• tax policies designed to increase minority
  ownership
• employment policies designed to stimulate active
  recruitment, retention and advancement of
  minorities
• strict limits on hate speech

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COUNCIL OF EUROPE THE FRAMEWORK CONVENTION FOR
THE PROTECTION OF NATIONAL MINORITIES (FCNM) -
1995

• Article 9
• 1. (...)The Parties shall ensure (...) that
  persons belonging to a national minority are not
  discriminated against in their access to the
  media.
• 3. In the legal framework of sound radio and
  television broadcasting, (the Parties) shall
  ensure, (...) that persons belonging to national
  minorities are granted the possibility of
  creating and using their own media.
• 4. (...) the Parties shall adopt adequate
  measures in order to facilitate access to the
  media for persons belonging to national
  minorities and in order to promote tolerance and
  permit cultural pluralism

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THE FRAMEWORK CONVENTION

• Article 6 The Parties shall encourage a spirit
  of tolerance and intercultural dialogue and take
  effective measures to promote mutual respect and
  understanding and co-operation among all persons
  living on their territory, irrespective of those
  persons ethnic, cultural, linguistic or
  religious identity, in particular in the fields
  of education, culture and the media.

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EUROPEAN CHARTER OF REGIONAL AND MINORITY
LANGUAGES ARTICLE 11

• 1. The Parties undertake, for the users of the
  regional or minority languages (...)
• a) to the extent that radio and television carry
  out a public service mission
• to ensure the creation of at least one radio
  station and one television channel in the
  regional or minority languages or.........
• c) to encourage and/or facilitate the creation of
  at least one television channel in the regional
  or minority languages ...
• e) to encourage and/or facilitate the creation
  and/or maintenance of at least one newspaper in
  the regional or minority languages
• f) to cover the additional costs of those media
  which use regional or minority languages,
  wherever the law provides for financial
  assistance in general for the media...

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ARTICLE 11

• 2. The Parties undertake to guarantee freedom of
  direct reception of radio and television
  broadcasts from neighbouring countries in (...) a
  regional or minority language (...). They further
  undertake to ensure that no restrictions will be
  placed on the freedom of expression and free
  circulation of information in the written press
  in (...) a regional or minority language.......
• 3. The Parties undertake to ensure that the
  interests of the users of regional and minority
  languages are represented (...) within such
  bodies as may be established in accordance with
  responsibility for guaranteeing the freedom and
  pluralism of the media.

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UNESCO DECLARATION ON CULTURAL DIVERSITY (2001)

• encouraging digital literacy,
• promoting linguistic diversity in cyberspace,
• encouraging the production, safeguarding and
  dissemination of diversified contents in the
  media and global information networks,
• promoting the role of public radio and television
  services in the development of audiovisual
  productions of good quality.
• Article II 82 of the Treaty establishing a
  Constitution for Europe (2004) The Union shall
  respect cultural, religious and linguistic
  diversity

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MEDIA DIVERSITY

• a broad principle to which appeal can be made on
  behalf both of neglected minorities and of
  consumer choice, or against monopoly and other
  distinctions
• an environment, that includes representations of
  multiple groups
• an emphasis on accepting and respecting
  differences by recognizing that no group is
  intrinsically superior to the other

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EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL DIVERSITY

• EXTERNAL - existence of independent and
  autonomous minority and community media
• INTERNAL - minority and community representations
  in the mainstream media contents

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ETHNIC DIVERSITY AND NATIONAL MINORITIES IN
CENTRAL EUROPE

• no multinational democracy
• no recognition of strong political autonomy for a
  national minority
• rich ethnic and religious diversity
• small size of minority groups
• weak political involvement of minorities
• lack of multinational and multilingual political
  arrangements

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CHANGING REGULATORY POLICIES

• political and economic transformation of 1989 and
  its consequences
• the period of democratic consolidation
• redefinition of policies towards national and
  religious minorities
• media sphere as one of policy areas

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REGULATORY FRAMEWORKS

• publication of a periodical press in minority
  languages is guaranteed through the financial
  support from the state budget
• (external diversity concerns print press)
• appropriate access to the public broadcasting
  institutions and programming is guaranteed to
  minorities
• (internal diversity concerns public broadcasting)

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LEGAL FRAMEWORK

• special laws f. i. Czech Republic The 2001 Act
  on Rights of Members of National Minorities (Art.
  13)
• no special legal provisions (f. i. Slovakia)
• legal measures regulating public broadcasting
  provisions on access and participation of
  minorities

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PUBLIC BROADCASTING LEGAL MEASURES

• Act on the Czech Television (1991) the duty of
  the public broadcaster is
• .to provide objective, verified, universal and
  well-balanced information, to freely create
  opinions and develop cultural identity of the
  Czech nation and national and ethnic minorities
  in the Czech Republic
• The Polish Broadcasting Act (1992)
• programmes of public broadcasting should take
  into consideration needs of national minorities
  and ethnic groups

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EXTERNAL DIVERSITY MEASURES
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PATTERNS OF EXTERNAL DIVERSITY IMPLEMENTATION

• reflective external diversity ethnic and
  cultural structure of a population is
  proportionally reflected in the existence of
  independent and autonomous minority newspapers
  and periodicals
• open external diversity different communities
  are equally represented in the existence of
  minority newspapers and periodicals

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MODEL OF REFLECTIVE EXTERNAL DIVERSITY SLOVAKIA
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MIXED MODEL CZECH REPUBLIC
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MODEL OF OPEN EXTERNAL DIVERSITY POLAND

• each national/ethnic minority to be provided at
  least with one newspaper or periodical
• several newspapers and periodicals (f.i.
  Belorussian - 6, German 4, Ukrainian 7,
  Jewish 4)
• one or two periodicals (f.i. Slovak, Lithuanian,
  Ruthenian, Roma, Tartar, Armenian)

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PATTERNS OF INTERNAL DIVERSITY IMPLEMENTATION

• programming concerning minority issues or
  multicultural programming prepared by majority
  journalists for a majority audience
• minority programming prepared by minority
  journalists for minority audiences
• magazine U siebie (At home), Mr Kowalski meets Mr
  Schmidt
• Hungarian broadcasting unit (Slovak Radio)

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MINORITY AUDIENCES

• media from abroad have a little significance for
  minority viewers
• minority programming produced by minority
  journalists is perceived by minority audiences as
  more diverse than programmes about minorities
  produced for a majority
• the most important function of minority
  programming is a symbolic one to present
  minority cultures, their images and issues for a
  majority
• an ideal minority programming should reach three
  goals
• o      to inform
• o      to develop and shape a minority culture
• o      to educate

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CONCLUSIONS

• media pluralism and equal access to the media are
  the guarantees of cultural diversity
• small in number, or widely dispersed, minorities
  may not constitute a viable economic base for a
  medium dedicated to servicing their needs
• crucial role willingness and effectiveness of
  national governments in implementing
  international standards concerning diversity in
  the media and access of minorities to the media
• international standards not fait accompli but a
  process in construction, which is and can be
  enriched by national experiences