Media should be better equipped to cover Serbia’s violence 2023

Since the beginning of the year, 19 women have been murdered in Serbia as a result of two mass shootings and femicides, which have been exacerbated by the media’s lack of professionalism in disseminating inappropriate and disturbing articles to increase website views and social media post likes.

Milo aji from the Center for Modern Skills told EURACTIV that it is essential to reduce the level of violence and the widening of social divisions.

Certain media outlets must cease promoting panic, dread, and violence, as well as tendentiously presenting false news.

The promotion of the code by journalist associations and independent professional organizations is one method. He explains that a coterie cannot take precedence over professionalism and established norms.

The media is crucial, but all other institutions are also essential.

“It is essential for the society we desire to have benevolence and a clear direction. It seems to me that there is no such thing, that we wander and are unable to concur on the type of society we desire, the values we promote, and the boundaries we adhere to, as aji concludes.

Director of the feminist cultural center BeFem, Jelena Vinji, told EURACTIV that her team authored the Feminist Media Declaration.

“Encouraging adherence to the journalistic code and punishing those who violate it. “It is crucial to continuously enhance the skills of journalists through a variety of educational programs in order to increase gender sensitivity in reporting and eliminate discriminatory and misogynistic media content,” she says.

Vinji adds that the change of narrative in society is accomplished through advocacy and trust in science and facts, as opposed to the authoritative propagation of unscientific attitudes and prejudices that have found a home in the educational system and digital spaces.

The director of BeFem stated, “We need politicians and actors who advocate for social justice and the well-being of all because political will and systemic intervention are essential to changing the existing paradigm.”

As she emphasizes, conservative groups and individuals are publicly persecuting and assaulting women who speak out against gender and institutional violence and who describe experiences of harassment or abuse.

Vinji concludes, “We cannot expect anything as long as those who openly advocate hatred and violence against those who are different continue to speak in the public and media spheres.”

Recent amendments to the audiovisual media law in Albania prohibit discriminatory content on television, radio, and online media. The law prohibits displaying victim shaming, violence against women, and abusive or discriminatory language in any medium.