If one analyses the media in Europe today it becomes evident that there has been a rise and acceptance of xenophobic, racist and anti-religion narratives. This has evidently run parallel to – and quite possibly has been one of the effects of – the surge of right-wing extremism movements and of ultra-nationalist groups in many parts of the region. Some media outlets have been echoing such narratives, thus reinforcing them. Media and journalists face a serious challenge in tackling these discourses of prejudice, intolerance and hostility towards the other and otherness.

This video playlist shows the results of media monitoring undertaken in July 2018 in France, Germany, Belgium, Greece  as part of the Get The Trolls Out project.

This report, authored by David Feldman and Ben Gidley, explores whether there is a connection between antisemitism and immigration in the UK. The study was launched because of a rising assumption of this connection: "There is a persistent claim that new migrants to Europe, and specifically migrants from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA migrants), carry antisemitism with them. This assertion is made to different degrees in different countries and can take different forms. Nevertheless, in Europe, the association of rising antisemitism with migrants from the MENA is widespread and needs to be evaluated."

Drawing on a review of existing quantitative and qualitative data and new qualitative research, the researchers explore whether antisemitism in the UK has risen due to an increase in immigration, specifically from the MENA region. Their conclusion, summed up: "We draw the conclusion that the rise in recorded antisemitic incidents and crimes in the UK should not be linked to the arrival of MENA migrants."

The report highlights that there has been a rise in antisemitism in the UK over the last few years. On this topic, they discuss the role of the media in depth. "Politicians and news media can have an impact on both the incidence of antisemitism and also on whether people perceive and/or report antisemitism". When discussing recommendations, based on their research, Feldman and Gidley write: "Politicians, policy makers and journalists should promote a balanced, evidence based discussion of the relationship between immigration and antisemitism."

If you want to read the "Antisemitism and Immigration in Western Europe Today: Is there a connection?" report, you can click here, or you can scroll down to the bottom of this page and download the handbook as a pdf file.

This is the third and final video is a series where we talked to Dr. Verica Rupar, Associate Professor at the School of Communication Studies, Auckland University. Here, Dr. Rupar gives suggestions for improving the diversity of stories we hear in the media. Journalism in the mainstream media is, according to many, in crisis. However, at the same time, it is a great time for journalism, as on the fringes, new forms of journalism are emerging. Dr. Rupar discusses some of these new journalism methods, such as the use of social media to tell stories. 

In the second video of three discussing media monitoring, Dr. Verica Rupar, Associate Professor at the School of Communication Studies, Auckland University, talks about self-monitoring of the media. Dr. Rupar sees self-monitoring initiatives as vital, as they allow news agencies to work better. In this sense, self-monitoring is equally important to outside, independent media monitoring. Self-monitoring includes reacting on audience comments, such as through letter to the editor and social media reactions, and then formulating a response. 

This video is the first of three in a series where we talked to Dr. Verica Rupar, Associate Professor at the School of Communication Studies, Auckland University. In this instalment, we discuss the question; does media monitoring matter? Dr. Rupar explains that as global citizens we spend an average of 15 full years consuming media, meaning that monitoring this big element in our lives is essential. With each media organisation having its own set of internal policies and sets of norms, media monitoring offers accountability. 

This Linguistic Self-Defence Guide explains hate speech by using examples of hate speech targeted at the LGBT community, Roma people, Jewish people, and hate speech based on age and gender.

This linguistic self-defence guide was produced for the project #YouthAgainst Hate, supported by OSCE Mission in Serbia, as part of the project "CVE in Serbia: Early warning and prevention".

The guide is available in Serbian. If you want to read it please feel free to download it at the bottom of this page at the "download attachments" section.

This report provides a comparative overview of legal and policy responses to ‘hate speech’ in six EU countries: Austria, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland and the United Kingdom. The report finds hate speech to be a significant problem across all countries. Despite some examples of good practice, legal and regulatory frameworks in these countries are failing to adequately address these problems.

This research was carried out as part of “Media Against Hate”, a Europe-wide campaign initiated by the European Federation of Journalists and a coalition of civil society organisations, including the Media Diversity Institute, ARTICLE 19, the Croatian Journalists Association, Community Media Forum Europe, Community Medien Institut and Cooperazione per lo Sviluppo dei Paesi Emergenti.

If you want to read the report, you can download it at the bottom of the page at the "download attachments" section.

Encountering anti-religious hate speech online can be a stressful and painful experience. There are times when you will not want to challenge the person or organisation spreading the hatred and will want to simply report them. Here are some suggestions on how to do that.

Regulatory bodies

In most countries, there is some form of media regulatory body you can complain to (for example, IPSO (Independent Press Standards Organisation) in the UK). Large and more responsible media companies, like the BBC, will also have their own complaints systems and policies.

Social media networks

Most social media networks have rules that ban hate speech. You can find them in Facebook’s community standards, Twitter’s rules section and Instagram’s community guidelines.