Title: Media analysis of the representation of the LGBTI community in the Serbian media during 2020 Publisher: Labris – Lesbian Human Rights Organization Vojvode Milenka 7/12, Belgrade www.labris.org.rs @labris.org.rs Authors: Aleksandra Đorđević (printed media) Anesa Omeragić (dital media) Proofreading and editing: Milena Beran Layout and design: Ljiljana Đajić 1 TABLE OF CONTENT INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................... 3 METHODOLOGY ......................................................................................................... 6 REPORTING ANALYSIS .................................................................................................. 8 JANUARY ............................................................................................................. 8 FEBRUARY ........................................................................................................... 11 MARCH ............................................................................................................... 13 APRIL ................................................................................................................. 16 MAY .................................................................................................................. 17 JUNE ................................................................................................................. 20 JULY .................................................................................................................. 22 AUGUST .............................................................................................................. 25 SEPTEMBER .......................................................................................................... 25 OCTOBER ............................................................................................................ 28 NOVEMBER .......................................................................................................... 32 DECEMBER ........................................................................................................... 34 Medijska reprezentacija Ane Brnabić – ’’Ja nisam LGBT premijerka neGo premijerka koja je LGBT’’ ........ Error! Bookmark not defined. II Studija slučaja - LGBTI u medijima za vreme korone ............................................................... 42 III Studija slučaja – Vašingtonski sporazum ........................................................................ 44 ATTITUDES OF LGBTI COMMUNITY MEMBERS ...................................................................... 45 RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................................................................. 48 INTRODUCTION In Serbia, the visibility of the LGBTI community in the media has increased significantly in recent years. As the visibility of the LGBTI community has grown, so has the reporting of the problems facing this community. While in previous years (especially in the first decade of the 2000s) reporting mostly concerned the (non) holding of the Pride Parade, the media in Serbia in the previous year reported on various topics when it comes to the LGBTI community. Serbia has been facing a problem in the area of media freedom for several years, for which it has been criticized year by year by independent institutions and the European Union.1 The problem of media freedom is closely linked to the rule of law and democracy in a society. The situation caused by the corona virus pandemic has only worsened the already significantly weakened situation when it comes to these topics. Members of the LBGTI community, as a vulnerable group, also felt the effects of the pandemic significantly. Their position was further aggravated by the fact that they are often in an environment that does not accept them, and from which they could not "escape" during the pandemic. The poor state of LGBTI rights was also stated in the annual report of the State Department.2 This analysis aims to map news that mentions members of the LGBTI community and analyses how these topics have been presented to the Serbian public in the past year. LABRIS has done analyses of the media representation of the LGBTI community in the past. The last analysis was done for 20173. Meanwhile, other organisations also produced analyses.4 Accordingly, LABRIS will use this analysis to answer the question of how and in what way LGBTI topics and its members were presented to the Serbian public in the previous year. 1 Report of the European Commission, European Commission. Working document of the commission - Republic of Serbia Report for 2020, p. 38 - 39. The report is available at:https://www.mei.gov.rs/upload/documents/eu_dokumenta/godisnji_izvestaji_ek_o_napretku/serbia_report_ 2020_SR.pdf 2 State Department report on the situation of human rights in 2019: Numerous human rights challenges in Serbia (paragraf.rs) 3 http://www.labris.org.rs/sites/default/files/milimetar%20srpski%20web.pdf 4 The Gay Straight Alliance has done media monitoring for 2018, which is available at: https://www.dijalog.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Monitoring-medija-2018.pdf In recent years, the Novi Sad School of Journalism has conducted numerous analyzes in which hate speech was also reported in the Serbian media, in which members of the LGBTI community were also mentioned: https://novinarska-skola.org.rs/sr/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/publikacija-o-govoru-mr%C5%BEnje-srp.pdf ; Da se zna also made a report for 2018, which is available at: https://dasezna.lgbt/attachments/Podaci-a-ne- zvona-i-praporci2.pdf 3 The narrative of reporting on this topic in 2020 in Serbia was mostly neutral and the principles of journalistic ethics and non-discrimination were respected. However, reduced coverage of the LGBTI community in electronic media (on TV) has been observed, especially when it comes to national frequency television. Since television is still the most widespread medium in Serbia, the lack of reporting on these topics is worrying. On the other hand, the transmission of statements by certain MPs or church members in which members of the LGBTI community are insulted and belittled, and their way of life is called “sinful” or guilty of a pandemic caused by the COVID-19 virus, contributes to the creation of negative and homophobic attitudes in society. This publication presents individual analyses of media reporting divided by months, topics, and type of media (digital, which include TV and Internet portals, and traditional, which includes daily and monthly newspapers). Finally, LABRIS provides guidelines for journalists, editors, and regulators regarding information on this topic. Briefly about the year behind us Several topics dominated during 2020 in the press, electronic media, and internet portals. Although the year began with reports from around the world about the corona virus, the same virus quickly spread to Serbia and led to the imposition of a state of emergency on March 155 which lasted until May 66 2020. This led to a postponement of the elections, to some extent the course of the pandemic influenced the homogenization of the population, and it also had certain implications in how the government was represented in public.7 Then, on May 6, the campaign for the elections continued, which after the postponement were finally held on June 21. In its annual report, the Novi Sad School of Journalism pointed out that members of the LGBTI community were almost no topic in the ongoing political campaign. There were topics that spoke about gender equality and it mostly came from right-wing parties such as the list Movement “I Live for Serbia“ by Dr. Jovana Stojković, which promoted women on the right in a new way. However, we also had positive comments from Socialist Party of Serbia’s (SPS) member, Boris Milicevic, while it was the SPS United Serbia coalition partner Dragan Markovic Palma who repeated his already well- known views.8 After the election, which was won by the ruling Serbian Progressive Party, the summer was seemingly peaceful and the proclamation of a new government awaiting 5 https://www.srbija.gov.rs/vest/451323/proglaseno-vanredno-stanje-na-teritoriji-citave-srbije.php 6 https://www.srbija.gov.rs/vest/464097/skupstina-srbije-ukinula-vanredno-stanje.php 7 For more on the media representation of political parties and actors, see the report of the non-governmental organization CRTA. The report is available at: https://crta.rs/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Parlamentarni-izbori- 2020_Crta_Zavrsni-izvestaj.pdf Accessed: 18.4.2020 8 https://novinarska-skola.org.rs/sr/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/publikacija-o-govoru-mr%C5%BEnje-srp.pdf the post of prime minister was awaited9, the summer was seemingly peaceful and the proclamation of a new government was awaited, in which the prime minister's position, according to numerous media speculations, was not guaranteed to Ana Brnabić.10 At the end of August, the delegations of Belgrade and Pristina went to Washington to meet with US President Donald Trump. On that occasion, on September 4, an agreement was signed which apparently resolved numerous bilateral issues, but also involved Serbia and Kosovo in some world issues.11 Point 13 of the Washington Agreement obliges the members to work together to decriminalize all 69 countries where homosexuality is punished. After that, a new government was announced in which Ana Brnabić confirmed her mandate as Prime Minister for the second time.12 The end of the year