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PREVENTION THROUGH AWARENESS

STUDY ON THE COVERAGE OF THE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE IN BULGARIAN AND NORWEGIAN MEDIA

The document is a part of the Prevention Through Awareness project ACF/349, www.ptainfo.eu, with the financial support of the Operator of the Active Citizens Fund Bulgaria under Financial Mechanism of the European Economic Area.

Sofia, 2020 PREVENTION THROUGH AWARENESS STUDY ON THE COVERAGE OF THE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE IN BULGARIAN AND NORWEGIAN MEDIA

First edition

Team: Gard Paulsen, M-BRAIN AS, Norway Hege Opedal, M-BRAIN AS, Norway Georgi Auad, Perceptica Ltd., Bulgaria Stefan Stefanov, Perceptica Ltd., Bulgaria Boyan Ivanovich, Intelday Foundation, Bulgaria Katya Blagoeva, Intelday Foundation, Bulgaria

Prevention Through Awareness Project ACF/349 www.ptainfo.eu

Photographer Mlada Vigerova, freepik.com

Sofia, 2020 Table of contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ��3

METHODOLOGY ��4

BULGARIA - FINDINGS ��10 Attitude towards violence ��10 Type of Gender-based and domestic violence ��10 What motivates gender-based and domestic violence ��11 Where gender-based and domestic violence takes place �� 12 Victims �� 12 Perpetrators �� 14

STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS ��15

ANALYSIS OF MEDIA OUTLETS ��18 Authors ��18 Article Length ��18 Media Scope �� 19 Media Ranking ��20

CASE STUDIES �� 24 CASE STUDY 1 – Sotirya Murder ��24 CASE STUDY 2 – Refugees rape a girl ��26 CASE STUDY 3 – Man beats his wife to death ��27 CASE STUDY 4 – Boy kills his father while defending his mother from him ��29

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY �� 30

NORWAY - FINDINGS ��31 Attitude towards violence �� 31 Type of Gender-based and domestic violence ��32 What motivates gender-based and domestic violence ��32 Where gender-based and domestic violence takes place ��33 Victims ��34 Perpetrators ��35

STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS ��37

ANALYSIS OF MEDIA OUTLETS �� 38 Authors ��38 Article Length ��39 Media Scope ��39 Media Ranking ��40

CASE STUDIES �� 42 CASE STUDY 1 – Kindergarten assistant charged with child-rape ��42

1 CASE STUDY 2 – Child abuse in kindergarten ��44 CASE STUDY 3 – Janne Jemtland’s murder ��46 CASE STUDY 4 – Norwegian celebrity Julio Kopseng sentenced for rapes ��48

LEGAL FRAMEWORK regarding covarage of gender-based and domestic violence in media ��49 Bulgaria ��49 Norway ��57

Annex 1 �� 64 Methodology ��64 Lexicon Table �� 66

2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Gender-based and domestic violence Some political players and public figures (GBDV) is an issue which finds it place in Bulgaria also serve to reinforce that in media headlines on a daily basis. A view while simultaneously going as total of 7,475 articles on the topic were far as normalizing violence. In promot- published by online news outlets over ing ‘traditional values’ and suggesting the course of a year (or about 20 articles women’s behaviour sometimes provokes per day on average). Nevertheless, the sexual assault they send a completely vast majority of stories fail to name the inappropriate message and do so from phenomenon with its correct term, while the headlines of popular, sensationalist instead just describing the actual acts of media. violence. It could be argued that, while the topic is well-known to media, they Still, there are voices (albeit a minority) rarely discuss its essence and the wider that try and analyse the issue and offer issue at hand. a glimpse at the bigger picture of GBDV in Bulgaria. On a positive note, this most This is reflected in the way as much as often than not, includes the two major 43% of media coverage on GBDV trivial- public TV channels in the country as well izes an otherwise hugely important and as a handful of other popular outlets. serious problem. A significant portion NGOs and psychological experts seem of Bulgarian media, including some of like the best spokespeople for the issue the most popular outlets in the country, as they are the ones that contribute to only cover stories if they are scandalous higher-quality journalism on the topic. or eye- catching enough. What is more, they go into unnecessary details about Finally, GBDV seems to be prevalent in the acts and often reveal details that pretty much every region and major city could actually be harmful for victims. in Bulgaria. Major national cases are discussed by media in every corner of the In doing so, media employ a vocabulary country, alongside smaller, local stories. that is very far from the appropriate for Regional outlets are often the ones that the situation, when addressing both are closest to local communities and, victims and perpetrators, as well as the thus, offer an important insight into their acts themselves – in an attempt to make problems and worries. them more ‘interesting’ for the wider public. However, what is perceived as The same topic is monitored also in interesting for readers is rarely in the Norway by making a comparative analy- public interest. In this particular case, it sis on the way media in the two countries only serves to downgrade an important approach one and the same problem. It issue and dumb down people’s feelings is interesting to track whether Norwegian and understanding for it by bombarding journalists use sensational or trivializing them with constant gruesome details. language like their Bulgarian colleagues, This could explain why physical and when covering cases of gender-based sexual violence are practically the only and domestic violence. forms of GBDV recognized by media in the country.

3 METHODOLOGY

The study aims to analyse the way on the data available in those fields. Bulgarian online news media report on gender-based and domestic violence Each item was reviewed by analysts, with (GBDV) in Bulgaria. To this end, Perceptica the chief analyst responsible for quality collected and the analysed, using both control and compliance, also making quantitative and qualitative approaches, sure the coding practices were unified all relevant articles published in the amongst different analysts. period between November 2018 and November 2019. The analysis was performed on the basis of the annotation matrix available on For the purposes of the study, a relevant the next page. Each item was assigned article is one that mentions any form a value according to the type of GBDV of domestic or gender-based violence mentioned and the article’s overall (be it by naming it explicitly as such or attitude towards violence. All other fields not) that occurred in Bulgaria or had any in the annotation matrix depended on direct connection to the country. whether the article mentioned any of them, like the profile of the perpetrator, The articles were collected using Percep- or victim, any relevant stakeholder, a tica’s in-house media collection system notable story, etc. via a search string that incorporated all mentions of GBDV in online news media The data obtained from the annotation based in Bulgaria. As the search string was then used as basis for the analysis was designed to be inclusive and collect outlined in the present study. All quan- articles that mention GBDV which did not titative and qualitative information was occur in the country or that are otherwise summed up and presented visually in irrelevant, the media analysis team pro- graphs that accompany the text and ceeded to filter out any such coverage. back up the conclusions made by the authors. Additionally, only articles coming from actual media outlets were considered. Items coming from so-called ‘aggrega- Annotation Matrix tors’ – websites that simply re-publish the content from other sources, were Article length excluded from the analysis. Articles were split into three groups depending on their length. Articles com- As result, out of 14,972 items collected prising of up to 750 symbols (spaces in- via Perceptica’s system, 7,475 (about cluded) were categorized as short, those 50%) were found to be relevant and went with between 750 and 1,500 symbols through thorough analysis. – as medium-sized, and those with over 1,500 – as long. Each item featured the following fields: article headline, article body, date and Stakeholders time of publication, media source, scope This section dealt with the people, offi- of media source (regional or national), cials, and institutions whose views media author name (if applicable), URL link to tend to focus on when discussing GBDV. article. Any further analysis was based The analysis of each article lists the involved stakeholders according to their 4 role in the coverage: control over the victim. Often, when a sexual assault occurs, the other types of Main Stakeholder abuse mentioned above occur as well. The expert, institution, official, etc. whose view is presented as the main one in the 4. Economic abuse article. This could be the opinion that Economic abuse involves using money features in the headline or one that is to undermine a person ’s rights, e.g. with- covered by the biggest portion of the holding money, questioning what they article. do with their money, denying medical aid, destroying property in the home Other stakeholder whenever there is a disagreement. Another stakeholder that is mentioned in the article and plays some role in the 5. Cyber violence story that unfolds or has their opinion Any cases of internet-related abuse. highlighted by the media outlet. Most often than not it will be named as such in articles. Type of Gender based Violence This category highlights all forms of 6. Other GBDV that were explicitly or implicitly Any other type of violence or GBDV dis- mentioned in the articles. The types of cussed as a whole. violence include:

1. Physical violence What motivated violence Physical violence occurs when someone This category looks into the motives uses or threatens to use physical harm to behind the act of violence whether ex- attack another person. Examples include plicitly mentioned or only implied. kicking, slapping, restraint (preventing someone from leaving), punching, 1. Jealousy choking, striking with an object or striking Mostly between spouses and partners. with a weapon. 2. Homophobia 2. Psychological/Emotional violence Against members or perceived members Emotional violence may involve intimi- of the LGBTQ community. dating, insulting, humiliating, restricting who someone talks to or spends time 3. Religion with, isolating her/him from friends and In cases, when religion norms have been family or other expressions of extreme the reason for gender-based violence. A jealousy. woman’s faith may be used to keep her from finding help or leaving an abusive Emotional abuse involves objectification, relationship. i.e. viewing someone as an object that you own rather than as a human being In the Christian faith, passages from with feelings and basic human rights. the bible may be used out of context to glorify suffering, show that women 3. Sexual violence belong to men and must obey them, and Sexual violence may involve rape, un- condemn divorce. wanted sexual touching or being forced into humiliating sexual activities. Force or 4. Social/Traditional Norms the threat of force is often used to gain When social norms and traditions are

5 behind cases of violence. When society 2. Parent justifies the behaviour of male abusers Mother or father, including step or foster aimed at establishing control over women ones. in the family and supports harmful traditional practices such as battering and 3. Other family members corporal punishment. Could also include Any family member who is not a parent harmful practices like female genital (including step or foster) or spouse/inti- mutilation. mate partner of the victim.

5. Substance abuse 4. Community/Society Whenever the main reason for the vi- Closely related to violence motivated by olence is thought to be some form of societal norms or rules. Such cases are substance abuse (be it alcohol or drugs) usually clearly stated in the article. on behalf of the perpetrator or possibly the victim as well. 5. State institutions and authorities When it is authorities or their represen- 6. Other tatives (police officers, jailers, teachers, Any other motivation for violence. etc.) that are behind the violence. Also, when it perpetuates gender-based violence through the enactment of dis- Where it takes place criminatory laws and policies or through The place where the acts of violence the discriminatory application of the law. discussed in the article have occurred. To the extent that it is the State’s recog- They have been grouped in the following nized role to sanction certain norms that categories: protect individual life and dignity and maintain collective peace, it is the State’s 1. At home obligation to develop and implement In the victim’s own home. measures that redress gender violence.

2. In institutions In other words, refraining from taking In jails, police stations, schools, or any action against violence, is also a form of other public institution. violence on the state’s behalf.

3. In offices/workplaces 6. Other Cases of gender-based violence at work. Any other type of perpetrator Includes sexual harassment.

4. Other public spaces Gender of the perpetrator In the street, in parks, and any other open The gender of perpetrators is an public space. important aspect of GBDV.

1. Male Who the perpetrator is 2. Female This aspect of GBDV deals with the type 3. Other of perpetrator:

1. Intimate partner Ethnicity of the perpetrator Could be a spouse, a fiancé, or a partner As media often assume a different the victim is living with, etc. approach towards members of

6 minorities, the annotation also takes into be) and that fact is clearly stated in the account whether the perpetrator is part article. of the majority or a minority ethnic group. Attitude to gender-based violence 1. From the majority The most important category part of From the majority nationality/ethnic the annotation. This is considered the group for the given country (Bulgarian main indicator of the respective arti- for Bulgaria, Norwegian for Norway) cle’s quality (whether it is a good or bad example of how journalists should cover 2. From a minority such topics). On one end of the scale, When the perpetrator comes from a mi- the analysis places articles that turn the nority ethnic group (whatever that might spotlight not only to the immediate cases be) and that fact is clearly stated in the of violence, but also to the long-lasting article. effects that it has on readers.

The next group of articles assume a clear Who the victim is anti-violence stance, but do not go into This section aims to establish some of a deeper analysis or more complicated the main characteristics of victims, in- topics. cluding age and gender: The third group consists of purely neutral 1. Adult woman articles that closely resemble crime Over the age of 18 reports.

2. Adult man The sub-par examples include articles Over the age of 18 that trivialise gender-based and domestic violence, that use vulgar/slang ex- 3. Child pressions, that are blatantly going after Be it male or female scandalous/salacious cases, and that indirectly strike fear or even panic into 4. LGBTQ person their readers and the public at large.

5. Other The last group, located on the opposite Any other possible victim. end of the scale to that of good examples, features articles that represent gender-based and domestic violence Ethnicity of the victim as something good and necessary for Once again, ethnicity is an important society. factor determining media attitudes to victims. 1. Against and also turning attention to its long-lasting effects 1. From the majority Quality articles that feature deeper From the majority nationality/ethnic analysis of the topic or offer a different group for the given country (Bulgarian perspective to it. for Bulgaria, Norwegian for Norway) 2. Strictly against 2. From a minority Articles that are clearly against gen- When the perpetrator comes from a mi- der-based violence, but do not offer nority ethnic group (whatever that might meaningful analysis of the topic or any

7 insight into the reasons behind it. for their actions. 3. Neutral 3. Neutral Strictly informative articles that do not Strictly informative articles that do not judge the perpetrator take a stance for or against violence. Many of them are just press releases 4. Condemning from the police and similar. Strictly condemning the perpetrator and offering no input as for the actual reasons 4. Trivializing (not motives) for his actions. No serious Articles using colloquial, sensationalist, analysis, just straightforward article derogatory, or discriminatory/ decrying the act and gender-based vio- stereotypical language, particularly in lence in general. headlines. Choose this option for any articles presenting cases of violence as 5. Calling for lynching /severe interesting, offering further details, and punishment presenting it as some sort of a drama, Articles that not only condemn the act, action, or horror. but also call for severe consequences for the perpetrator. Those might range from 5. It is normal/ok overly strict jail time sentences to death Articles arguing that gender-based vi- penalty or calling for people to take the olence is okay or even needed in some matter into their own hands and lynch cases. Also include texts explaining it the perpetrator. was not that big of a deal.

Attitude towards the victim Attitude towards perpetrator This category looks into whether the This category looks into whether the media shows sympathy or understanding media outlet sympathises with perpetra- for the victims or it claims that they just tors in any way, whether it tries to look had it coming. for the reasons behind their actions, or sticks to plainly condemning them, or 1. Sympathetic even asking for some severe form of Focusing on the feelings of the victim punishment and how much he or she has suffered as result, both in the short and long term. 1. The act was justified In cases where the article or stakeholder 2. Neutral/Informative describes the act of violence as justified No prevailing attitude towards the victim, and needed. Such articles also most with media instead focusing on just re- often than not describe violence as laying the events, as described by the normal/ok. police or another institution.

2. Condemning, but also explaining 3. They had it coming the reasons for their actions Articles that allege that the victim had Articles that are otherwise critical of it coming or was in any way responsible domestic violence but also offer some for the violence. Such texts might even sort of explanation for the perpetrator’s condemn violence in general, but also actions, possibly a deeper analysis as to go out of their way to point out that the why they acted this way, also pointing to victim had nevertheless done something some systemic or institutional reasons wrong and might be viewed as having to

8 share the blame with the perpetrator. describing groups of people that are not necessarily derogatory, but are Topic used to reinforce stereotypes against This section lists the main topics of the ethnic, sexual, and other minorities. publication whenever it discusses a Most often than not, in the case of popular story that would have a large Bulgaria, this would include Roma number of media mentions. This helps people, migrants, and LGBT people. outline the stories that attracted a signif- The word “gay”, for example is normal icant amount of media attention over the in itself, but not when used in the ex- analysed period. pression “gay murder”.

Inappropriate words/phrases The findings in this section of the Here, analysts were tasked with listing analysis were summed up in a Lexicon all words and phrases that should not of inappropriate terms used in media belong to that you feel do not belong coverage on GBDV in Bulgaria. The to an article on such a sensitive topic as Lexicon is attached as an annex to this GBDV. Special emphasis was put on such report. words and phrases used in headlines.

Some groups of such words/phrases include:

1. Sensationalist – typical of yellow journalism. Using shocking and provocative headlines and wording to sell. Particularly inappropriate when dealing with serious topics, such as gender- based violence. Sensation- alism tends to dumb the audience’s feelings and offer a perspective that hides the actual underlying problems instead of spotlighting them.

2. Derogatory – straight out derogatory adjectives or nouns (or such evoking negative associations), most often targeting perpetrators. They serve a similar role as sensationalist wording in dumbing readers’ senses and focusing not on what is actually important, but on what would provoke anger. This also includes articles that outright call people paedophiles, drug addicts, etc., without any actual evidence to support that claim. Journalism ought to present facts and not diagnose people.

3. Discriminatory/stereotypical – terms

9 87 of them came with a strong position BULGARIA against violence, but did not go into any meaningful analysis of the topic.

FINDINGS Actual high-quality pieces of journalism accounted for 5% of the overall volume Attitude towards violence of coverage on the topic. This share Bulgarian media predominantly viewed could be seen as representative of the gender-based and domestic violence overall level of journalism in Bulgaria, (GBDV) as a phenomenon solely through pertaining to GBDV at the very least. the reports published by the police or other state institutions. This led to about half of all articles being neutral towards the topic, since they only presented the facts behind the story without going into any analysis or stressing on any of the involved people’s feelings or experiences.

The next most prevailing ategory (that of articles trivializing GBDV) unveils a serious issue with the way media treat an otherwise important problem. A signifi- Type of Gender-based and domestic cant portion of outlets tend to turn their violence attention to the shocking side of stories, Media tend to view GBDV as a pretty- often going into details that by no means much physical phenomenon, with very contribute to an informed public discus- little attention given to any other aspects, sion on GBDV. such as emotional abuse or economic violence, for example. The only other While part of the public might find such type of violence that receives any an approach amusing, content like this is significant amount of coverage is sexual not in the public interest. The fact that as violence (31%). much as 43% of all articles on the topic fall on the trivializing side of the spec- Cyber abuse, in particular remains a vir- trum draws a rather negative picture of tually unknown phenomenon as far as Bulgaria’s online news environment. media coverage of GBDV is concerned. Just 20 articles over the course of an One positive trend could be seen in the entire year highlighted this problem or almost total lack of articles that justify even mentioned it in any meaningful way. GBDV and see as normal and natural. Only a handful of authors and outlets The type of violence discussed inarticles could be seen as leaning towards such also shapes up the predominant view a worldview and this could only be towards GBDV as expressed by authors. said about a portion of their coverage. The main criteria here is the share of Nevertheless, the very presence of such trivialising articles which tends to be par- articles is a sign of inherent problems in ticularly high regarding physical (60%), the media sector. economic (69%), and sexual violence (42%). On the other hand, articles dealing All of this leaves a pretty small portion of with emotional abuse (20%) and GBDV coverage to articles against GBDV. Just in general (12%) tend to offer the highest 10 share of high-quality analysis. (54% of the coverage citing motives), with the typical perpetrator being abusive One important factor in this respect is when sober, but even more abusive that journalists need to be familiar with while under the influence. Jealousy was the existence of psychological or emo- another leading motive (42% of the cov- tional abuse as a phenomenon in order erage) where the perpetrator was often to mention it in their articles. This, in an ex-husband who still harasses his effect, pre-determines the rather high (in victim. An ex-husband breaking in the comparison with other forms of violence) victim’s home was a frequent scenario. share of high-quality coverage. Another leading type of perpetrator motivated by jealousy were controlling men who possibly have abandonment issues. Experts sometimes gave insight into the victim, but when it came to jealous perpetrators they were not delved into further. Cases of homophobia noted a 3% share of the coverage and covered violence in public where LGTBTQ people were assaulted, because of appearing “gay”.

What motivates gender-based and domestic violence Outlets rarely went into details as to the motives behind the GDBV. When they did a leading cause was substance abuse

11 The most prevalent motives did not note often sexual with the perpetrator initially significant share of high-quality articles/ unknown and subject to an investigation. analyses on them, but were rather mostly covered in a trivializing matter using sensationalist or straight up inappropriate language, which diluted the media conversation.

When it came to violence due to Social/ Traditional Norms or Homophobia despite it being generally covered less, the trivialization of the coverage was fought almost toe to toe with high quality articles aiming to raise awareness.

Where gender-based and domestic The coverage of sexual violence was violence takes place prevalent at public spaces with cyber 62% of articles mentioning the place cases pertaining to cases of online where GBDV takes place cited the vic- sexual exploitation of children. Emotional tim’s home. 34% of coverage cited public and physical violence reported cases spaces and 2% cited institutions or the were often at home and the perpetrator workspace. As expected, the perpe- was an intimate partner. Frequently the trators of violence at home were often emotional abuse continued for a long family members with the physical type time before eventually involving physical being dominated by husbands or fathers, assault. The general case involved a while the sexual type was usually done victim enduring abuse for a long time by other family members or close family before a fatal end. Often neighbors or friends. Children appeared to be espe- people from the community were aware cially vulnerable to sexual violence at of the ongoing abuse, but preferred to home. Public spaces violence was often stay aside and did not think of reporting related to home violence as the cases it to the competent authorities. Victims were usually couples who just happened also did not file complaints and the to have a fight in public this time. Unlike ones who did, often cancelled them, at home, in public these fights rarely which removed the legal possibility of resulted in murder. Reported violence prosecuting the abuser. in more sparsely populated areas was Victims The available data shows that media and readers should be well familiar with the fact that women and children suffer a disproportionately high amount of domestic and gender-based violence. This is reflected in media coverage where some 93% of articles refer to violence against one of those two groups (and women in particular).

While men tend to be the victim in a relatively small number of articles, there

12 seems to be a growing understanding to 5 times higher than the share of sym- that they, too, might be on the receiving pathetic articles towards adult males. end of violence. However, those attitudes are combined with a 1%-2% of articles that suggest that the women or children had it coming.

When it comes to women, those are mostly cases where media view their behaviour as ‘promiscuous’ leading directly to them suffering som e form of sexual violence. The view that women had provoked their partners by emotionally harassing them is not widely held on news media.

Most victims in the ‘Other’ category are members of the LGBTQ community. Cases of violence against them tend to be underreported and mostly appear in specialized or not that popular outlets. This helps explain the fact that media coverage of violence against that community evokes mostly sympathy towards As for children, they are sometimes seen the victims. as having deserved some form of physical violence on the behalf of parents. This mostly involves cases where children were behaving improperly or had done something bad. A minority of media sees such cases as justifying some sort of physical punishment.

As a whole, media find it hardest to em- pathize with adult male victims. Cases of men suffering violence are mostly reported in a neutral, informative style with no particular focus on their suffering, but also without alleging they might have deserved what had happened to them.

Over 10% of media articles on violence In cases where the ethnicity of the victim against women and children show un- is mentioned 39% of articles citing a derstanding towards the victim. This is 4 Bulgarian victim have been sympathetic,

13 while 2 % claimed they had it coming. 35% of cases involved an intimate partner That type of coverage was exclusively as the perpetrator, 34% cited another caused by an event where a female person unrelated to the victim. 17% of singer attacked another woman in a perpetrators were other family members, club with outlets explaining the singer 12% was a parent and 2% were state insti- was provoked. Notably when the outlets tutions and authorities. where sympathetic towards the Bul- garian victim the perpetrator was often explicitly pointed out as a member of a minority group.

Minority victims noted 27% of articles being sympathetic towards them, where the perpetrator was usually another member of a minority. Overall, the bulk of these cases cited as the perpetrator a relative of the victim. No articles expressed the opinion that the victim had it coming in those cases.

Overall, all victim groups were at highest In the cases of a male perpetrator the risk at home, showing that the problem condemning articles number was slight- of violence is often tied to the family unit. ly higher, than when the perpetrator was female. On the other hand, more articles Adult men and women noted the highest explained the reasons for the perpetra- share of domestic violence cases. Both tor’s actions when the perpetrator was were featured in a small fraction of vio- female. Coverage calling for lynching lence suffered at institutions and women was scarce, with more such articles were the group suffering the most - vio being aimed at male perpetrators. lence at the workplace compared to the rest.

Men were rarely mentioned to be victims in public spaces while children appear to be at highest risk of violence in such situations. Children were also reported to suffer violence at institutions the most, often at school or a different context where the child should be supervised by a care taker. A significant difference was discovered Perpetrators when covering stories of Bulgarian vs In 94% of articles the perpetrator was minority perpetrators. Outlets were a lot male, while 7% cited a female perpetra- keener to condemn minority perpetrator. While the victims of male perpetrators and even call for lynching. Bulgarian tors were all victim groups, female per- perpetrators even noted some articles petrators were mostly reported in cases stating their act was justified, within a involving violence against children. story of an ex-policeman charged for rape who was given an outlet by media

14 to claim the sex was consensual. STAKEHOLDER Another institution member, this time an officer, was also showed in a light of ANALYSIS being justified for assaulting his daughter for allegedly stealing money from him. One important aspect of media coverage Within the coverage his other daughter on GBDV concerns the stakeholders on is quoted saying he only resorts to do- the issue that media perceive to be the mestic violence with the intent of prop- most important. This importance could erly raising his children. When the per- most easily be determined by looking at petrator of violence was a member of an the amount of time those stakeholders institution outlets often insisted to have been treated as the main spokes- explain the reasoning behind the actions persons in a particular story. This serves and rarely condemned them without this to show whose opinion media are most added context. In the cases where a likely to seek whenever they discuss parent was the perpetrator a lot more GBDV. outlets called for lynching as such stories showed to be more likely to shake the readers.

Intimate partners, parents and other Quite naturally, representatives of the perpetrators provoked a relatively police and the prosecution are the ones similar share of articles condemning the quoted in the vast majority of articles. deed. Notably within the family unit if the This has to do with the fact that GBDV violence was done by a family member is most often reported about whenever different than parent or intimate partner, a serious crime has been committed. outlets demonstrated a tendency to Only rarely do outlets focus on the issue explain the reason behind the actions without being prompted by a serios case more often. of domestic or gender-based violence. Courts are also mentioned as stakeholders in a vast number of articles, but not nearly as much as prosecutors. The explanation behind this is two-fold. On one hand, the prosecution has two roles in the whole process – one in investigating the crime, and another – in participating in court proceedings as the main accuser. On the other hand, media tend to focus on more extreme views and 15 on making sure each perceived criminal outside of major cities. gets a maximum sentence. Since the prosecution is the one calling for more The Stakeholder Map presented on these severe punishment, it is only natural for pages aims at providing information it to receive more attention from media. on both the popularity of stakeholders and their perceived effect upon media Elsewhere, outlets also tend to offer coverage. Their location on the vertical more opportunities to victims and their axes is connected to the number of times relatives to share their views on the issue. they have been treated as stakeholders Alleged perpetrators and their relatives by media. The analysis has also taken are also treated as stakeholders in some into account of whether the respective cases. person or institution was treated as the main stakeholder in the story or as one of Authorities, both national and local, secondary importance. also weigh in on the topic quite often. Central authorities, mostly represented The horizontal axis represents the pre- by ministers and MPs, mostly discuss dominant attitude of media coverage legislative initiatives aimed at reducing in which the respective stakeholder domestic violence and providing support appeared. This measure aims to draw a to victims. Local authorities (mayors, correlation between the stakeholders local administration), on the other and the overall values they stand for hand, discuss actual cases of violence whenever media cover their opinion on in their region. The opinion of mayors, GBDV. While that correlation is nowhere in particular, is sought out by media near perfect, it does come to suggest whenever the case concerns a small which stakeholders might represent the town or village. This is so since mayors best and most balanced voices on what are seen as the only source of authority is a complex issue.

16 As evident from the map, NGOs are the stakeholders that tended to normalize ones that provide insight into GBDV and violence. talk about it in a non-trivial way. Dozens of different non-governmental organiza- Some prime examples for stakeholders tions were identified as stakeholders in whose views often featured in content the course of the analysis, with most of that trivializes or normalizes content them being engaged in the protection come in the form of perpetrators (and of children and women. They mostly their relatives) and neighbours (of the appeared in media coverage with their victim). Most often than not both groups campaigns trying to raise awareness would downplay violence and treat it as about GBDV. something ordinary and part of everyday life (“the couple had regular quarrels”, Psychology experts also showed a lot “she was treating her husband badly and of understanding for victims and the deserved it”, etc.). What is more, they overarching issues surrounding GBDV often offered first-hand accounts of the in Bulgaria. However, media only rarely story that included details that have no sought out their opinion on the topic. place in media articles. Exposing victims’ sexual or otherwise personal life is far Medical professionals (doctors, nurses) from helpful. and Bulgaria’s Ombudsman also participated took a stance against violence, but The Bulgarian Orthodox Church was their views were not that popular with another example for a stakeholder that media as well. Medical professionals, in downplays violence. Most notably, the particular, tried to shed more light on the organization stood against a child pro- suffering of victims. tection strategy that, in their opinion, would belittle family values and diminish Most government institutions appeared parents’ role in bringing up their children. mostly in neutral, strictly informative articles. There was one notable Public figures quoted in articles dealing difference between the role of police in with domestic and gender-based vio- general and its specialized unit fighting lence were also less than helpful in their organized crime. The unit’s director Yavor approach. The most notable example Kolev seemed a lot more knowledgeable was the case of boxer Kubrat Pulev who on issues of GBDV and cybercrime in participated in a high-profile case of particular. sexual assault during his stay in the USA. Bulgarian media tended to stick to his While central authorities (parliament, version of the story which alleged that government, state agencies) fell into the woman he kissed without consent that middle-ground, the opinions within had spent the whole night with his team that group actually differed vastly. While and, hence, was ‘evidently’ seeking his social ministers tried to find an approach attention. to tackling the issue of GBDV, some far-right representatives in government (such as Vice PM Valeri Simeonov) often stood in the way of important legislative amendments to that end. As a whole, the presence of far-right politicians in the government coalition moved central authorities closer to the group of

17 and sexual assault, in particular. Never- ANALYSIS OF theless, nearly 37% of articles penned by female journalists still featured inappro- MEDIA OUTLETS priate or sensationalist language. They mostly came in ‘yellow’ outlets whose Authors teams tend to be dominated by women. Just over 8% of all articles published by online news outlets during the analysed Over half of the articles written by both period had an actual author listed. This male and female journalists remained meant that the vast majority of news strictly informative. This pretty much cor- coverage was, in essence, unsigned. This responds to the overall level of neutral was particularly the case with informa- coverage identified as part of the overall tive articles, just copying information news coverage corpora. from police bulletins. However, a significant portion of trivializing content was On the other hand, articles treating GBDV also either unsigned or simply listed the as normal or as justified were never editorial team of the outlet as standing signed by a journalist. This might suggest behind the piece. that medica outlets publishing such largely opinion pieces either stand behind those articles with their entire editorial team, or are fully aware that their attitude might be deemed inappropriate and try to make them as anonymous as possible.

Analysis and high-quality articles, on the other hand, tended to come with an actual journalist’s name attached to them. This lent them more credibility and usually meant the author would avoid using any inappropriate language. Article Length Apart from other factors, there was also a As a whole, female authors tended to be heavy correlation between article length slightly more active in covering gender- and the views expressed by the author based and domestic violence than their in it. As could be expected, short pieces male colleagues. Two of the analysis on of up to 750 symbols (space included) the topic were also penned by a team tended to stick to official information and, consisting of both male and female thus, almost 60% of them were neutral. journalists. No less than 40% of them, however, also featured trivializing words and Female authors were more likely than expressions, mostly within the headline their male counterparts to produce which presented an otherwise concisely high-quality content on GBDV. They told story as shocking and/or disturbing. were also less likely to trivialize violence 18 Long articles with over 1,500 symbols, on often go into stories that would be over- the other hand, tended to be the most looked by major mainstream media. They opinionated. High- quali ty analy sis and tend to offer a better understanding of opini ons expr essly decr ying viole nce the problems of local communities, no needed more space and more words to matter how small they are. Local outlets explain what is a complex situation. This operate in all major cities in Bulgaria, but group also featured most of the articles also in some of the smallest ones with a that treated GBDV as normal and which population around 10,000 people. often included vast amounts of otherwise irrelevant content to justify their stance.

Regional media sources tend to be stricter and more informative in their coverage. Although many of them One problem with the fact that high-qual- resort to trivializing language, the ity content comes in a long form has phenomenon is not as predominant as to do with the view that shorter articles it is when considering national media. tend to be more impactful, especially Also, regional outlets are almost never when accompanied by an eye- catching willing to describe GBDV as necessary or headline. This is particularly the case normal, unlike national sources. with media items shard on Social Media where users mostly notice the headline The regional media map provides insight and are not always even willing to read into the territorial coverage of local the entire article. This works towards outlets discussing the issue of GBDV. shaping a worldview that GBDV is pre- As indicated by the table on the right, dominantly dominated by scandals and provincial capitals (in bold) tend to host shocking headlines. the most significant volume of coverage. However, there are outlets dealing with Media Scope the issue in smaller population centres The media landscape in terms of GBDV such as Pavlikeni (North-Central Bul- coverage was definitely dominated garia), Dupnitsa (South-West), Kazanlak by national media which accounted (Central), Asenovgrad (South-East) etc. for some 62% of all articles published over the analysed period. This is to be As a whole, the map points to the fact expected, given the sheer number of that the issue is well-known throughout national outlets and the fact that they the country and local outlets do cover tend to cover every major news across it in some form or other. Some notable the country. omissions in that respect include the towns of Vidin (North-West) and However, this also means that they tend Kyustendil (South-West) which are both to miss smaller stories that do not involve provincial capitals, but local outlets lack cases of violence with extreme conse- any mention of GBDV over the analysed quences. Here come local outlets which period.

19 Number of Articles City on GBDV by Local Media Varna 470 Plovdiv 465 Blagoevgrad 343 Burgas 208 Vratsa 197 Pernik 98 Stara Zagora 69 Ruse 65 Pleven 59 Media Ranking Veliko Tar- The media ranking displayed bellow novo 56 aims to assess the predominant attitude Sliven 55 towards gender-based and domestic Haskovo 40 violence of the 15 leading news websites Pazardzhik 40 in Bulgaria. The outlets included are Dupnitsa 35 amongst the most popular ones in the country as determined by web analytics Dobrich 34 company SimilarWeb. 1 Razgrad 27 Kardzhali 25 Each website is represented in terms of Kazanlak 20 its coverage of GBDV over the analysed Lovech 19 period. The table provides information on Smolyan 17 the overall number of articles published Yambol 14 as well as their categorization according Shumen 10 to their attitude to violence. Color- Petrich 9 coding is also added to the table so as Dimitrovgrad 7 to make it easier to distinguish between high-quality articles, strictly informative Asenovgrad 6 content, and inappropriate coverage. Gabrovo 5 Panagyurishte 5 The media outlets are ranked according Pavlikeni 3 to their GBDV Index calculated by Samokov 3 the report team. The index takes into Karlovo 2 account the share of quality articles and Targovishte 2 the varying degrees of inappropriate Botevgrad 1 content. Special coefficients are used Montana 1 for each type of coverage, which is then Silistra 1 weighted and summed up.

The index represents the overall quality of GBDV-related articles published by each particular outlet. The higher the index, the better the content. Thus, an index of 0 would represent an outlet that

1 The exhaustive list of the 50 most popular Bulgarian websites as of August 2020 is available here 20 publishes solely articles that trivialize or bg (106). normalize violence. On the other hand, a score of 10 (the maximum) would be One positive could be seen in the fact given to the hypothetical news website that the news websites of the two main that publishes only high-quality articles TV channels in Bulgaria (bTV and Nova that go deeper into the problem. TV) have a relatively high index of 5.7. This suggests that they offer mostly informa- An index of 5.0 indicates a website that tive and higher quality content, while also mostly covers the topic from a neutral publishing the occasional sensationalist point of view or dedicates an equal headline. One major insight into their amount of coverage to quality and work is that they focus on the personal trivializing articles. Values above that stories of domestic violence victims who threshold suggest an inclination towards are provided with the voice they are so higher media standards, while values often denied in casual coverage of the below it speak of an outlet focused more topic. This trend is represented in the on the sensationalist side of things. In that positive examples for the two outlets. sense, reaching an index of more than 8, with even reputable outlets expected to The websites of pik.bg and blitz.bg hover around 7.5 as they would offer a are often viewed as sensationalist and mix of high-quality and neutral content. scandal-driven. This habit of trivializing An index of less than 4, on the other hand, important issues is also present when signifies a rather one-sided approach to discussing GBDV. Blitz.bg, in particular, the issue as it would suggest the outlet publishes almost exclusively trivializing actually publishes a lot more trivializing articles, without even once offering any content than it does informative articles. analysis or a different perspective to the topic. Pik.bg, on the other hand, is Finally, for each media outlet, the table the website with the highest number of also lists one example for a high-quality articles normalizing violence (3). This is piece and one for an inappropriate best showcased by coverage suggesting one. The final two columns include that women victims of sexual assault had a translation of the headline plus a actually been willing participants in sex hyperlink leading to the actual article acts that the media presented in its un- (in Bulgarian). The examples are useful necessary detailed accounts of events. in illustrating some of the worst aspects of GBDV media coverage in Bulgaria, What is more, a number of negative as well as some of the solutions to the examples listed in the table actually focus problem, as mentioned by journalists. on statements made by sexual offenders or their relatives. One prominent case The ranking shows that the majority of involved Bulgarian boxing superstar popular Bulgarian websites mostly cover Kubrat Pulev who assaulted a woman in the topic of gender-based and domestic the USA, only to later claim that she had violence in a neutral manner. Generally, provoked him with her own behaviour. outlets with fewer articles on the topic One other way in which media trivialized like dnevnik.bg (11), btvnovinite.bg (70), the issue came with the actual wording and vesti.bg (30) tend to offer higher used to describe events, particularly quality content. Most of the negative when it came to headlines. They examples, on the other hand, come from often used derogatory and borderline outlets with over 100 articles on GBDV pejorative terms to describe alleged like blitz.bg (176), pik.bg (143), and fakti. offenders be calling them ‘freaks’,

21 ‘mentally-ill’, ‘crazed’, etc. Raising awareness of the issue was the single most often mentioned approach Also, they tended to focus on the to the issue. A number of outlets and eye-catching ways of describing events experts proposed various ways of reme- as ‘brutal’, ‘gory’, ‘monstrous’, making dying existing situations by, for example, them sound as if taking from a Holly- introducing new institutions like the wood film and not from real life. This also 24-hour crisis centres that should protect served to numb readers’ senses when victims of domestic violence. Political reading of the next in line of violent acts. leaders and most notably social affairs ministers talked up possible legislative News websites also did very little to changes that would mostly focus on the preserve the identity of alleged victims punishment of perpetrators. and perpetrators. In some cases, they outright asked readers to take a Any other sweeping ideas for reforms look at the face of someone who was via the introduction of a Child Protec- suspected of a crime (but not proven tion Strategy, for example, were met guilty) or straight-up offering the name with conflicting views. Unfortunately, and location of a victim on the run from a lot of mainstream media preferred to her intimate partner. One notable trend give voice to far-right politicians who had them publish video accounts of saw any attempt of protecting children the actual acts of violence. A number of from domestic violence as infringing outlets showed a lack of any restraint by upon traditional family values. That view sharing mobile phone videos of violence became so predominant that authorities against children. decided to temporarily put on hold plans for adopting such a strategy. Positive examples mostly came in connection with projects or events As a whole, the outcry against the Child dedicated to raising awareness of GBDV. Strategy followed in the footsteps of The more eye-catching the campaign another campaign – against the Council (like leaving flowers on the stairs leading of Europe Convention on Preventing and to the National Assembly) the bigger the Combating Violence against Women chance that the topic would make it into and Domestic Violence (also known as mainstream media. the Istanbul Convention). Back in 2018, it also came under fire from conservative A number of outlets also tried to shed and far-right groups whose views were some light onto some inherent prob- spread by a number of mainstream lems that made it harder for victims to outlets. The view that the convention find safety or any sort of help. Such- in went against traditional values once vestigations are extremely important but again seemed so prevalent that authori- only rarely found its way into the biggest ties backed down from ratifying it. news websites. This mostly happened in connection with high-profile cases of violence, a problem in itself given that most cases remain severely underreported. There was hardly any universal recipe for dealing with GBDV presented by media. They mostly promoted the importance of victims being informed of their options and ways of seeking help.

22 Source Number of Articles Index Examples Overall High- GBV is Strictly Num- GBDV quality Neutral Trivialising normal/ Good example Bad Example against ber of Index articles ok articles Project envisages better recognition and complex de- dnevnik.bg 3 2 6 0 0 11 7.5 n/a fence for victims of domestic violence

Mentally-ill Living in fear: Is there anyone btvnovinite. man beat up 7 2 41 20 0 70 5.7 who could protect victims of bg elderly wom- domestic violence? an for BGN 20

Tervel Pulev: If a woman “I know I am a good moth- is sexually nova.bg 8 3 65 23 1 100 5.7 er”: The story of Tsvetelina, a pressed would victim of domestic violence she remain in our company until 6:00 AM? Teacher bru- Hate crime – a woman beat- tally beating vesti.bg 1 1 19 9 0 30 5.3 en in Sofia city centre children in school (video) Details emerge of What should we do if we dariknews. brutal murder 3 2 123 52 0 180 5.2 become victims of domestic bg of woman violence? committed by her son Monstrosity! 18-year-old Victims of domestic violence dnes.bg 3 2 29 19 0 53 5.2 raped and do not trust institutions killed elderly woman Just 12 years “Flower for Her” in mem- in jail for ory of victims of domestic Varna citizen dir.bg 1 2 30 15 0 48 5.2 violence laid down on stairs who brutally leading to National Assembly murdered his wife Kremena Albena Belyanova in letter Yet another to EU Commissioner: Every freak beat up woman in Bulgaria could be frognews.bg 4 2 18 18 0 42 5.1 and raped girl sexually assaulted, harassed, near Koprinka and degraded with no conse- village quences Angel Dzham- bazki: Child Strategy is an ideological The latest murdered woman threat for the 24chasa.bg 8 2 105 59 1 175 5.1 is a victim of us all traditional family and values, both in moral and in legal sense

23 Crazed ref- Flowers laid down on stairs ugee raped leading to National Assembly young girl in petel.bg 5 2 65 48 0 120 4.9 to commemorate victims of Sofia! He used domestic violence a glass bottle to… Look at the Murdered Darina’s moth- father who er calls for 24-hour crisis raped his novini.bg 3 0 64 53 0 120 4.7 centres for domestic violence 13-yar-old victims to be created daughter in Kazanlak Freak forces Domestic violence victim: upon his fakti.bg 3 2 44 57 0 106 4.4 It is really hard to get help mother, tries from the police to rape her Gory details about the How to tell if someone has marica.bg 2 0 16 42 0 60 3.8 ex-mayor who been mistreated at home beat up his young wife Ex-policeman accused of raping woman Relatives of people killed by in Blagoevgrad their intimate partners push finally decided pik.bg 3 1 40 96 3 143 3.7 for 24-hour crisis centres for to talk: We domestic violence victims had s*x twice – voluntary, tender, pas- sionate

Cyber-cops from Orga- nized Crime Unit cuffed blitz.bg 0 0 23 153 0 176 3.0 n/a 10 disgusting paedophiles who had their way with children

a 68-year-old man. This time the girl has CASE STUDIES been saved in time thanks to a prompt reaction of the mother of the child. CASE STUDY 1 – SOTIRYA MURDER Coverage: The majority of online outlets Case synopsis: An almost beaten to death approached the case in an emotional girl is found at the outskirts of the Sotirya matter often using titles such as “Brutal/ village in the middle of August. The girl Animalistic murder” “Make your blood dies in the hospital. A prime suspect is run cold” as well as “First photos of the a 21-year-old neighbour with a criminal perpetrator”. Outlets focused on citing past. Later outlets reveal the girl was not people such as neighbours reciting what only beaten, but also sexually assaulted. is already known – that the girl has been A second case of a sexually assaulted girl murdered and sexually assaulted. A few is noted at the end of the month, this time pieces quoted a psychiatrist speaking the suspects are an underaged boy and about the perpetrator, who deemed him 24 a psychopath. After the perpetrator got periodically released information on the caught media focused on his profile, state of the cases. Outlets also quoted reporting him as illiterate, unemployed, relatives of both the perpetrator and the anti-social and having a criminal history. victim in the first case. The perpetrator’s Outlets also mention he has resisted grandmother said he has already been arrest and thus got shot and suffered a to jail for sexual assault. This was not the broken leg. Often, he was called names case for the second one. Experts were such as “freak”, “monster”. After charges seldom quoted on the cases. A psychia- were pressed against the perpetrator trist who evaluated the perpetrator from there was a series of more informative the first case deemed him psychopathic, and less emotional articles on the case. while an expert from the murder police division said that this individual is a repeat offender with psychopathic -ten dencies, but not “mentally ill, as he knew what he was doing”. The murder case also provoked Nationalist political party VMRO to speak about the need of “chemical castration” for the perpetrators of rape crimes, and presented the issue to be one of minority/refugee crime.

FIRST PHOTOS OF THE MAN, WHO MURDERED A SEVEN-YEAR OLD GIRL IN SOTIRYA novinite.eu

Almost two weeks later another case of a sexually assaulted girl in the village is noted, this time the perpetrators are an underaged boy and a 68-year old man. All of the initial coverage mentioned both cases at the same time. The coverage type overlapped, only this time there was also an article, albeit a single one, with a statement from the State Agency for Child Protection on both cases. THE ILLITERATE IN SOTIRYA CONTINUE RAPING Outlets also often cited that the sexual CHILDREN! WHERE ARE THE AUTHORITIES?! assault happened in the “Roma part of istinata.net the village”. When it came to the second case there Stakeholders: The most active stake- were no experts quoted, but the State holder was the Sotirya Mayor Dimcho Agency for Child Protection came out Georgiev. He was quoted on the village with a statement. The statement was grieving in the murder case, while after published only by a single outlet and the second case he called for more sever spoke about administrative prevention punishments as well as constant police measures. The Agency called for all patrolling of the village. As expected, experts as well as the society to be in- another often cited stakeholder were the tolerant to any sort of violence against police and the prosecutor’s office which children.

25 assault, since they paid for the act.

Coverage: The fact that the perpetrators are refugees sparked up the conversa- SEVEN-YEAR OLD GIRL RAPED AND BEATEN TO tion and outlets paid significantly more DEATH IN SLIVEN VILLAGE attention to this case of sexual violence nova.bg as opposed to others where the perpetrators were from the majority. The Gender-based violence perspective: perpetrators being released to go free The media talk around both cases was under supervision by the court, since not one which informed the public of the they are under-aged, sparked a lot of essence of the crimes as an example of angry coverage to an issue that was gender-based violence. The first case already primarily covered from the point had outlets focus on the lack of educa- of view of refugee crime. Coverage of tion of the perpetrator and the fact that the issue went as bad as claiming that he had a criminal record, but was roaming migrants sexually assaulting girls and free. The second case was emphasized women is an issue “imported from the to have been in the “Roma part of the EU”. Even the more informational report- village” and the presented issue at ing, still emphasized in its titles that the hand was minority crime. This way of issue is about migrant crime. Further- reporting led to a large-scale trivializa- more, there were also articles inquiring tion of the events and what the victims what was a girl from such a centre doing went through. When it came to preven- out so late, as the event was reported to tion or measures to combat crimes, there have happened late at night. The way the were no special measures relevant to story was covered did not show any the gender-based nature of the issue, compassion for the victim, as the few but rather general anti-violent crime articles which spoke about her at all measures such as an increase police cited her being warned not to meet with presence and stricter laws about repeat refugees and the fact that she did not offenders were cited. respect curfew and was out past 22:00, which is the latest time she needs to be back at the center by.

AN INCREASED POLICE PRESENCE IN SOTIRYA, AFTER TWO CHILDREN GET RAPED bgdnes.bg

CASE STUDY 2 – Refugees rape a girl

Case synopsis: Two underaged Afghan refugees were charged with sexual assault on a girl from a Family like Accommodation Centre for children. AFGHANS BRUTALLY RAPED AN ORPHAN IN SOFIA The perpetrators were released under fakti.bg supervision due to their age. Later at trial they were detained behind bars, Stakeholders: The main stakeholders while claiming it was not a case of sexual were the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which

26 released information about the case and the crime. Even though the crime itself the Agency for Social Assistance which was presented as a recurring problem, started a check at the children centre for the problem, similarly to the Sotirya the conditions there. The main take of cases, was framed as one of minority the check was that the centre has good crime, and not one of gender-based vio- conditions and the only preventive mea- lence. Calls for heavy punishments were sures needed to avoid further cases like as far as the conversation went. In fact, this would be to put more effort into en- the only debate that did get started by forcing the evening curfew and the inter- this event was the one related to the lack nal rules of conduct. Some outlets also of control at institutions housing orphans quoted people living nearby the centre, when it comes to the children following who said that they believe the centre is rules and coming home on time. There understaffed and this is why it could not was lack of empathy towards the victim manage the teenagers there, who often as the few articles that did address her The case did not spark any expert or posed questions such as “What was she other conversation addressing the nature doing out at this time?”, which left the of the crime and more specific measures impression that she is deemed to carry to combat such events. a part of the blame for what happened to her.

CASE STUDY 3 – Man beats his wife to death

Case synopsis: A 40-year old woman is beaten to death at her home by her 41- year old husband in the city of Varna. It is revealed by people close to the couple that their marriage was not working out and they were in the process of divorcing. After yet another family scandal, the man beat the woman severely. After that he THE AFGHAN RAPISTS ARE FREE called his mother to come and pick her blitz.bg things up so they can leave the home. Gender-based violence perspective: Both left the house without checking This case is another example of cov- up on the still alive woman. The woman erage which did not feature any effort to is found dead by the police after not present the situation as an example of picking up her phone. She had a history of gender- based violence, which in turn filed charges for domestic abuse against led to no tangible conversation on the her aggressive husband over the years, topic about causes, prevention and the husband had been warned via police general awareness. The fact that the protocols. After such signals however the perpetrators were refugees morphed woman had always communicated to the the conversation with the general an- police that their relations have gotten ti-refugee rhetoric, which further left better. The couple had their divorce trial no chance for proper conversation. set up for two days after the incident. The absence of stakeholder NGOs or experts in the conversation was Coverage: Being a case where both the further proof for the unwillingness to perpetrator and the victim are from the have a public discussion on the nature of majority, in this case outlets cover the

27 case as entirely a domestic violence stakeholders who spoke in more detail one. The man is almost always called a about the problem of domestic abuse “murderer” or “domestic abuser” in the were noted. One was a lawyer who said title of the article. Coverage focused on more severe punishments for domestic the especially violent nature of the violence have been introduced in the crime. It is also emphasized that the legislation just days after this murder victim would have lived had the abuser and he pointed out that the victim had called an ambulance for her instead of never taken the issue to court, which was calling his mother and leaving the a mistake. According to the lawyer the woman to die. In a misguided attempt to complaints to the police are insufficient show compassion or perhaps just to and the warnings the abuser received garner clicks, many outlets showed a are not an effective tool to deal with the tendency to trivialize the situation by situation. using inappropriate language such as “shocking details”, “horror”, “monster”, “exclusive story”, “chilling” and describing the victim’s experience as “dying in hellish pain”. A subject of debate A LAWYER AND A VICTIM OF DOMESTIC was the role of the perpetrator’s mother VIOLENCE: FAMILY STRAINS ARE and whether she is deemed to be TENDENTIOUSLY FALLING APART complicit as she has visited the home .bgonair.bg while the victim was severely beaten, Galina Lacheva, an activist and victim of but still alive. The majority of outlets domestic violence herself, spoke about make her complicit, but when experts the case as well and pointed out that spoke about it, they emphasized that it is clearly complaints against abusers do unclear whether she actually saw or not work and could not be used to knew about the victim. combat domestic violence. She emphasized the need for prevention and the fact that society has to take a stand as currently violence within the family unit is normalized. According to her people also do not recognize educational or economic violence at all and victims rarely have their voice heard.

MAN BEAT HIS WIFE TO DEATH briag.bg

Stakeholders: Aside from the usual main stakeholders such as the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Prosecutor’s ANOTHER DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CASE WITH Office who share information about the FATAL END! MAN BEAT HIS WIFE TO DEATH IN VARNA case as it moves forward, two key flashnews.bg 28 The Animus Association, an NGO con- during a scandal between his parents. It cerned with gender-based violence is to be noted that after it was revealed prevention and gender equality, also the son has acted in self-defense, media spoke about the problem. A lawyer from interest halted and only a few outlets Animus pointed out that, if the Istanbul reported on that new information to Convention was ratified the abuser could being with. Overall, the nature of the have been persecuted even after the case pertaining to domestic abuse was victim withdrew her complaints. not something media showed interest in, thus the only sympathy to be found was Gender-based violence perspective: towards the father, who turned out to be Being a case of physical violence this an abuser. Information pertaining to the was recognized as an issue of domestic mother was not published. violence by the majority of outlets. News sites as well as stakeholders actively expressed being strictly against gender-based violence (in this particular case where it is physical, the issue of recognizing other types of violence still A TEENAGER KILLED HIS FATHER IN VARNA stands). The fact that the victim was almanews.bg divorcing the man, yet still lived under the same roof was mentioned, but never Much like other news related to violence delved further into. This could suggest resulting in death outlets often used an economic dimension to the violence inappropriate titles such as “horror”, as well, but nothing could be concluded “shocking” and “bloody New Year”. The as this angle has not been of interest to family being Russian did not appear to media or the authorities. be of particular interest in reporting as only a few outlets noted they are foreign. CASE STUDY 4 – Boy kills his father while defending his mother from him Stakeholders: This case pertaining to domestic violence did not attract the Case synopsis: A 17-year old boy stabs attention of stakeholders outside of the his father and kills him in self-defence, directly involved Prosecutor’s Office, the when the father attacks both him and his Ministry of Internal Affairs and the boy’s mother. Furniture and items have been lawyer. The lawyer emphasized that the found trashed around the house, which boy’s mother was in immediate danger led the police to believe the violence when the boy confronted his father and had escalated to such a point that the subsequently killed him. He also added boy had no way out. It was revealed that that both the mother and the boy were the father systematically abused both victims of systemic domestic abuse. The his wife and his son. The family is foreign, Prosecutor’s Office and the Ministry of hailing from Russia and living in Bulgaria. Internal Affairs released updates on the investigation, with the last one being that Coverage: The bulk of articles stated a the version of the boy acting in self-de- teenager murdered his father after an fense is the main one they are looking argument between the two. This posi- into. tioned the father as a victim, with his son being the abuser. Later on, as more infor- The mayor of the Osenovo Village also mation appeared the reported version spoke about the case, saying he does changed to the son killing his father not know the family personally and that

29 they were not registered to reside there, as they are not obliged to. He recited the EXECUTIVE already available information that it appears the family had serious issues SUMMARY which led to the fatal event. Gender-based and domestic violence (GBDV) is a serious issue that Norwegian media recognize as such and discuss mostly in an appropriate manner. Out of all 7,179 relevant articles annotated in the course of the analysis, 2,972 (42%) were deemed to be of high quality and offered not just a review of events, but an analysis of the situation and what had led to it arising.

The sheer number of articles on the MURDER IN OSENOVO: SELF-DEFENSE AFTER A topic, on the other hand, suggests that FAMILY SCANDAL GBDV is also an issue that should not bnr.bg be underestimated. While the volume of The coverage did not feature any expert coverage could by no means be used to stakeholders who would shed more light conclude just how prevalent the issue is on the intricacies of the case and in fact in the country, it does come to show that all sorts of coverage stopped without a media, and in that sense the public, is in- definitive conclusion on what actually terested in it and wants to see problems happened. resolved (especially when those cases are high-profile or involve children). Gender-based violence perspective: A s the bulk of the coverage was about a In describing GBDV cases, media rarely teenager murdering his father, the issue resort to using any inappropriate lan- that this is a case of gender-based guage. The majority of them are also very violence with a father abusing both the careful not to normalize or trivialize the mother of his child and the child, were issue. Only a tiny fraction (less than 1%) facts left in the background which neither of articles went into unnecessary details media, nor stakeholders delved further of the events or tried to sensationalize into. what is essentially an act of violence. The vocabulary used was more or less formal and, in many cases, included terms and phrases that speak of a good understanding of the issue on the part of the journalists. TRAGEDY IN VARNA. A SON MURDERED HIS FATHER ON NEW YEAR’S EVE The main stakeholders involved in media novavest.bg coverage also refrained from making inappropriate statements, even in the most contentious of cases. While the likes of the police and judicial representatives remained more or less neutral and stuck to strictly informative statements, a number of other stakeholders offered an 30 actual analysis of the situation, putting forth ways of dealing with the issue in NORWAY the long term. Those included different NGOs, crisis centres supporting victims, psychologists, local authorities, and even some church institutions. FINDINGS Attitude towards violence Sexual and physical violence are the two Norwegian’s media coverage of types of GBDV which media tend to cover. gender- based and domestic violence Other types of violence (psychological, (GBDV) was characterized by the almost economic, and cyber) barely account complete lack of content that trivializes for 10% of the overall conversation. That or normalizes violence. In fact, just 25 out said, there seems to be an increasing of all 8,107 relevant articles reinforced understanding that GBDV is not some an inappropriate worldview of GBDV. sort of phenomenon detached from Of them, a mere four pieces argued in major socio-economic developments in some way or another that violence was the country and from the actions of state somehow okay or was justified in that institutions and agencies. particular case. While the blame for violence does also Furthermore, Norwegian media outlets belong to the immediate perpetrators were evidently refraining from using (97% of whom are male according to sensationalist or trivializing language media coverage), it should in many cases whenever describing GBDV cases. be shared by institutions whose actions This contributed towards the almost and inactions often aggravated already complete absence of inappropriate existing problems. Flaws in social norms terms and phrases used to describe and expectations (particularly for women events, victims, or perpetrators. Obscene and girls) also served to deepen existing language and attempts to present stories problems in society – a fact recognized as some sort of crime or sex novels was by a somewhat substantial part of media evidently not a part of the mainstream coverage on GBDV. journalist standard in the country.

About 45% of the relevant coverage was neutral or strictly informative in character. Most often than not it just followed events from the perspective of an institution such as the police or any part of 31 the judicial system. Those articles did not is most probably familiar with the topic employ any inappropriate language, but and therefore prone to analysing it in also refrained from showing an actual detail. stance against GBDV.

Nevertheless, the vast majority of articles (55%) did take a stand against violence, be it by showing the author’s negative opinion of it or by offering high-quality analysis into the situations and the reasons for it. Norway could be distin- guished for the extremely high share of such analyses which comprise of no less than 37% of the entire media conversation on GBDV. This shows a better understanding of the issue at hand and the need to address it properly in media context.

Type of Gender-based and domestic violence As far as media coverage was concerned, sexual (53% of coverage) and physical violence (38%) were by far the This is hardly the case with cyber most prevalent types of GBDV. It could violence which is still predominantly be argued that those are the two forms reported on via police reports, with very of violence that are easiest to recognize little place for actual analysis. It has the and interpret by media. They also make lowest share of high-quality articles for a narrative-driven stories where (25%) amongst all types of GBDV. outlets follow the entire case through its different stages – crime, investigation, prosecution, court proceedings. Thus, the same story often appears in media in different stages, driving up the number of mentions.

Although seemingly widespread, given the amount of coverage dedicated to it, Sexual violence, in particular, prompts media to go deeper into the causes and effects of the issue. Over half of all articles on this particular topic are of high quality. What motivates gender-based and domestic violence On the other hand, Cyber (4%), Psycho- Only rarely did Norwegian media go into logical (4%), and Economic (1%) violence detail as to what exactly motivated a par- remain rather unnoticeable, especially in ticular act of violence they reported on. comparison with other forms of GBDV. Out of those cases, the most prevalent The very mention of psychological or motive was substance abuse (28%). Most emotional violence suggests the author often than not this included drug abuse

32 which led to acts of physical harm. Only a tiny fraction (less than 5% in each respective category) of articles tried to take a trivializing approach towards GBDV caused by homophobia or social norms. Not a single author tried and fully justify or normalize any of the views that provoked violence. Acts motivated by homophobia and social norms also left little place for neutral or purely informative coverage.

Where gender-based and domestic Jealousy was also mentioned in a violence takes place significant share (24%) of articles The vast majority (78%) of cases of GBDV discussing motives. Once again, it mostly reported by Norwegian media take place provoked physical violence between at home. This is especially the case with partners. Jealousy and Substance abuse physical and emotional violence where were also the two motives that media over 80% of mentions describe act that rarely accompanies by thorough analysis. transpired in the victim’s home. This Coverage of cases where partners share drops to below 60% for economic harmed their significant other out of and cyber violence. As a whole, homes jealousy was deemed of high quality in are the place where victims should feel no more than 10% of cases (43% for safest and where it is generally hardest Substance abuse). A more open and for violence to be uncovered. widespread discussion on the reasons behind such acts might be warranted in society. The other motives for GBDV mentioned by media led to high-quality coverage in no less than 75% of cases. In their vast majority, Norwegian news outlets are evidently aware of the issues surrounding violence motivated by social/traditional norms (20% of the conversation), Religious views (14%), and Homophobia (14%).

Exactly the opposite could be said about GBDV in public spaces. Violence occurring in the street, in parks, etc. is much more evident to the public and with a higher chance of making media headlines, especially in the case of sexual and physical assault.

Around 6% of cases took place in public institutions. Most often this concerned

33 kindergartens and schools, with other not covering it as vigorously. institutions, such as hospitals, prisons, etc. also recording a handful of mentions. A number of prominent cases of sexual violence in kindergartens came to reinforce a view that children were often not safe in such establishments, particularly when in the company of male teachers. On the other hand, the prevalence of those cases is often overestimated due to the sheer media interest in what were a very few such occurrences.

Nevertheless, media tended to be most sympathetic with LGBT victims, leaving very little strictly informative/neutral articles on the matter. This comes to confirm the observation that journalists do not hide their attitudes towards homophobia- driven violence, be it Very few of the cases of sexual violence, condoning or in rare occasions – covered by outlets, took place at work- somewhat approving. places. This could suggest that the issue of workplace sexual harassment is either not very common or that it is being kept under wraps by corporate bodies before any of the stories reach media.

Victims Children and adult women together accounted for over 97% of all GBDV victims discussed by Norwegian media. As a whole, cases involving children were slightly more predominant (51%) than those with women (46%). Over 60% of the coverage was also On the other hand, adult men were rarely sympathetic to women and children on the receiving end of domestic or victims of GBDV. Men, however, do gender- based violence with just 158 not receive the same treatment, with articles (2%) naming them as victims. media choosing to remain neutral on the Representatives of the LGBT community majority of cases where men suffered featured even less prominently some form of violence. Men (alongside appearing as victims in just 64 articles LGBT people) are also disproportionately (less than 1%). Again, this could be prone regarded as having deserved explained either with homophobic crime whatever violence befell upon them. being relatively rare, or with media simply While this is the case with just 2.1% of

34 articles concerning male victims and most frequently – in kindergartens which 2.3% of LGBT ones this is significantly account for some of the most high-pro- higher than the share for women (1.3%) file cases discussed by Norwegian and children (1%). The very presence of media. Children also evidently suffered such articles is a worrying sign, but, on a domestic violence in public spaces positive note, articles assigning some of owing to cases of parents mistreating the blame to victims account to just 1.2%. their kids in public.

Less than 3% of all articles on GBDV in Norway mention in any way the ethnic origin of the victims. Mostly they do it whenever the victim comes from a minority group. As a whole, representatives of minorities are treated in a more neutral, strictly informative way. Only a small fraction of articles naming them as victims also claim they had deserved what had happened to them.

Violence against the LGBT community, or at least the violence covered by media, seems to take place exclusively in public spaces. It is unclear whether such a phenomenon is also present in any other lo- cations, as no article has mentioned it exclusively.

Perpetrators The profile of perpetrators was somewhat diverse, with intimate Media had a significantly more nuanced partners, predictably, accounting for the view on Norwegian victims, not only highest share of GBDV cases covered by in sympathising with them, but also media (37%). Relatives, such as parents in assigning them part of the blame. (20%) and other family members (10%) However, it has to be noted that that also accounted for a significant portion assumption is based on a very narrow set of cases. of articles that actually mention that the victim was ethnically Norwegian.

Adult men are the group of victims that have the highest share of GBDV taking place at the workplace or in institutions such as prisons. Just slightly over 60% of cases take place in the victim’s home, given that the average for all groups is 78%.

A significant portion of cases involving children also take place in institutions,

35 Perhaps the most interesting part of against male perpetrators, with over 22% coverage concerned articles which of articles calling for a harsher punish- treated societal norms (2%) or state ment. Media was also more inclined to institutions (6%) as being responsible for take a stance against perpetrators from violence of some kind. This is an important a minority background. In the meantime, step in discussing the causes of violence ethnic Norwegians who committed acts that also offers a better understanding of violence were mostly presented in a of the overall societal and institutional neutral, informative manner. issues that lie in its base.

While GBDV is often seen as an interper- sonal issue, reframing the dialogue so to stress on the responsibility of the state or society as a whole suggests a higher level of journalistic professionalism.

Over 50% of the coverage related to stories where a family member (other than a parent or partner) was responsible The ‘Other’ category mostly consists of for GBDV called for a severe punishment perpetrators who the victim meets at of the perpetrator. Media outlets were work or school, as well as people who not nearly as harsh towards parents or bare no relation to the victim whatsoever. other, unrelated perpetrators.

As a whole, media coverage of GBDV often found the punishment for perpetrators was not strict enough and called for harsher penalties. This was particularly the case with sexual violence against children and murder. This view was echoed by the likes of the Attorney General who often sought stricter penalties in trials.

Only a tiny fraction of articles actually tried to offer the viewpoint of the perpetrator and examine the events that led While journalists sometimes touched on them to committing violence. the state’s responsibility for GBDV, they Media outlets were particularly harsh also rarely called for any form of drastic

36 action that needed to be taken to resolve towards GBDV. Social services, and the issue. Instead, articles mostly dis- the Norwegian Child Welfare Services cussed the matter in a neutral manner, (Barnevernet) especially, also appeared focusing on actual analysis of the situa- in numerous articles -particularly ones. tion and not calling for state employees to be fired, for example. The Stakeholder Map presented on these pages aims at providing information on both the popularity of stakeholders STAKEHOLDER and their perceived effect upon media coverage. Their location on the vertical ANALYSIS axes is connected to the number of times they have been treated as stakeholders Most often than not media coverage by media. The analysis has also taken would focus on information on GBDV into account of whether the respective cases as presented by the police or person or institution was treated as the within court proceedings. Thus, those main stakeholder in the story or as one of two institutions appeared as the main secondary importance. stakeholders that shaped up the conversation around the issue in the Norwegian The horizontal axis represents the pre- public sphere. dominant attitude of media coverage in which the respective stakeholder appeared.

This measure aims to draw a correlation between the stakeholders and the overall values they stand for whenever media cover their opinion on GBDV. While that correlation is nowhere near perfect, it does come to suggest which stakeholders might represent the best and most balanced voices on what is a complex issue. The informal sector was also well represented in media coverage with On a positive note, not a single stake- NGOs and crisis centres (offering support holder participated predominantly in to victims) receiving a significant amount coverage that normalized or trivialized of attention. There were more than violence. a dozen different non-governmental organizations treated as the main Stakeholders such as the police, courts, stakeholders in media coverage. Most and the Attorney General were accom- notably this included the Stine Sofie panied by mostly neutral coverage. Part Foundation which got involved in some of the police, however, in the form of the of the high-profile cases recorded over Kripos Criminal Investigation Service, ac- the analysed period, tually appeared to take an actual stance against violence. Politicians also featured prominently in the discussion, alongside local and The coverage of the issue was all but national authorities which are more or guaranteed to be of high quality when- less the ones that determine the policy ever media gave voice to psychologists,

37 NGOs, crisis centres, and local authorities. the article is more serious in nature and Public figures, such as Nobel Peace Prize the journalists behind it had no reason to winner Denis Mukwege (among others), hide their names. also offered an in-depth, well-founded look into the issue. Perhaps surprisingly, the majority of articles (58%) on GBDV were written by men. Further 41% came from female authors with a further fraction of a percentage accounting for articles ANALYSIS OF penned by a team consisting of both MEDIA OUTLETS male and female co- authors.

Authors Around 40% of articles on GBDV published by Norwegian media news outlets during the analysed period had an actual author listed. This meant that a significant portion of news coverage was signed by an actual journalist. This percentage is somewhat higher than that characteristic of other countries. As a whole, the presence of an author’s name is a sign that 38 Coverage by such teams offered the best Long articles with over 1,500 symbols, on quality as well over 60% of them were of the other hand, tended to be the most high quality and went on to analyse the opinionated. High-quality analysis and issue and the underlying reasons that opinions expressly decrying violence led to it arising. needed more space and more words to explain what is a complex situation. Thus, over 50% of long texts offered a high-quality analysis of the situation.

Another interesting finding related to the coverage in Norway, in particular, was the size of each group of articles. Short articles accounted to just 15.7% of the relevant coverage, while well over half (58%) of all articles were considered long. Usually, the split between the three groups is fairly even.

Female authors generally tended to come up with more analytical pieces, while male ones often simply stuck to the information provided by the police or other official sources.

Very few of the articles containing an author’s name actually exposed views that trivialised or normalised violence. As already mentioned, such views were mostly laid out in anonymous articles.

Article Length As a general rule, longer articles tend to Media Scope offer a deeper analysis and better under- The last important distinction between standing of the topic they discuss. This GBDV coverage had to do with the scope also proved to be the matter with articles of the outlets that published the story. on GBDV. As could be expected, short pieces of up to 750 symbols (spaces included) preferred to stick to official information and, thus, almost 60% of them were neutral in nature. Once again, unlike other countries, in Norway, the vast majority of articles (71%) came from local outlets that covered a certain region or city.

While there was no significant difference in the way local and national media covered the issue, local news organiza-

39 tions tended to offer a unique look into The index represents the overall quality the problems of the community where of GBDV-related articles published by violence occurred. The fact that rumours each particular outlet. The higher the and events often spread very fast index, the better the content. Thus, an amongst the members of a small com- index of 0 would represent an outlet that munity did not, however, prevent media publishes solely articles that trivialize or from taking care to protect the identity of normalize violence. On the other hand, victims. They also refrained from going a score of 10 (the maximum) would be into unnecessary details that might have given to the hypothetical news website been harmful for relatives. that publishes only high-quality articles that go deeper into the problem. Media Ranking The media ranking displayed on the next An index of 5.0 indicates a website that page aims to assess the predominant mostly covers the topic from a neutral attitude towards gender-based and point of view or dedicates an equal domestic violence of 15 of the leading amount of coverage to quality and news websites in Norway. The outlets trivializing articles. Values above that included are amongst the most popular threshold suggest an inclination towards ones in the country as determined by higher media standards, while values web analytics company SimilarWeb. 2 below it speak of an outlet focused more on the sensationalist side of things. Only outlets with over 20 articles on the topic over the analysed period were As is evident from the ranking, each and considered for the ranking. This pretty every of the 15 Norwegian outlets falls much excludes media specialized within the positive end of the scale and is in sports and finance, a number of guaranteed to offer proper content that which are amongst the most popular avoids stigmatizing victims or brushing sources in the country. Each website up GBDV as not that important. is represented in terms of its coverage of GBDV over the analysed period. The The average score of 8.3 suggests table provides information on the overall mainstream Norwegian media are number of articles published as well as well- aware of the issue and have the their categorization according to their necessary journalistic tools to present it attitude to violence. Color-coding is also in a respectful manner. Depp, thoughtful added to the table so as to make it easier analysis of GBDV are by no means a to distinguish between high-quality rarity and, in fact, outnumber neutral, articles, strictly informative content, and informative articles in a number of inappropriate coverage. outlets.

The media outlets are ranked according to their GBDV Index calculated by the report team. The index takes into account the share of quality articles and the varying degrees of inappropriate content. Special coefficients are used for each type of coverage, which is then weighted and summed up.

2 The exhaustive list of the 50 most popular Norwegian websites as of August 2020 is available here - https://www.similarweb.com/top-websites/norway/ 40 Source Number of Articles Index High- GBV is Overall Strictly Trivialis- GBDV quality Neutral normal/ Number of against ing Index articles ok articles tb.no 14 0 14 0 0 28 9.0 dagbladet.no 41 5 40 1 0 87 8.9 nordlys.no 20 11 19 0 0 50 8.8 dt.no 10 6 7 1 0 24 8.8 adressa.no 29 7 41 0 0 77 8.4 nettavisen.no 33 8 50 0 0 91 8.4 aftenposten.no 49 15 79 0 0 143 8.3 bt.no 44 15 71 0 0 130 8.3 fvn.no 21 7 34 0 0 62 8.3 vg.no 58 31 91 0 0 180 8.3 h-avis.no 11 4 20 0 0 35 8.1 abcnyheter.no 32 14 58 0 0 104 8.1 ba.no 14 11 26 1 0 52 7.9 tv2.no 31 20 68 0 0 119 7.9 dagsavisen.no 5 4 27 0 0 36 7.1

41 Coverage: The news was reported by CASE STUDIES several national and local newspapers in an informative and neutral tone. Since CASE STUDY 1 – Kindergarten the arrested man has not been proven assistant charged with child-rape guilty at the time of the publications, most newspapers stuck to factual head- Case synopsis: On February 2, a 30-year- lines such as “Kindergarten employee old male kindergarten employee in charged with assaulting five-year-old”. Bergen was imprisoned for sexually The national union magazine Fagbladet assaulting a 5-year- old child. The police and several other national and local believe the child has been subjected to newspapers published interviews with one or more sexual abuses in January Bergen’s Workers Union and a male this year. The man was imprisoned for kindergarten employee - “Male kinder- four weeks with a letter and visitation garten employee arrested for rape of ban. He has been questioned by the kindergarten children (5): - It is important police, and his apartment has been not to be silent when abuse occurs in the searched. He has not previously been kindergarten, says the director”; “A new punished or mentioned in the police abuse case shakes Bergen’s kindergar- system. The kindergarten assistant has tens, creates fears of distrust between been questioned, but does not admit parents and male employees”. criminal guilt, according to the defender, lawyer Kaj Wigum. Cecilie Wallevik, an assistant lawyer for the victim, has released a statement by the child’s parents stating that the child is doing A NEW ABUSE CASE SHAKES KINDERGARTENS IN BERGEN: FEARS OF BREACH OF TRUST well. A couple of years ago, Bergen was ba.no shaken by several abuse cases in kindergartens. In October 2017, a male Stakeholders: The defence lawyer Kaj kindergarten assistant was sentenced to Wigum has said that the accused kin- ten years in prison for abusing seven dergarten employee is cooperating with kindergarten boys. the police and refuses any comments and has reminded the public in an interview for Bergensavisen that everyone is innocent until proven guilty.

The Court, as another stakeholder, has decided, for the sake of the investigation, to take the case behind closed doors as witnesses may be influenced by what has appeared in the media.

The police, Municipality of Bergen, the kindergarten owner, several professional bodies organized a meeting with employees and parents to give them access to facts on the case and avoid unnecessary worries, according to police MAN CHARGED WITH RAPING KINDERGARTEN communications adviser Gry Benedicte CHILDREN (5) Halseth. Municipality of Bergen has ba.no 42 had a dialogue with the kindergarten are given paid leave to participate in the owner and the police. The municipality working groups of male employees con- has also assisted with a psychological sisting of assistants, child and youth crisis team, which has made assistance workers, educational leaders and kin- available to all involved. Municipality dergarten boards. Meyer has said that of Bergen Communications Director for several male employees feel ashamed Kindergartens Trine Samuelsberg has of having chosen such a caring said that this might be one of the worst profession. cases in the region. The municipality wants all kindergartens to be a safe and positive place for children.

The Police lawyer Eli Valheim has said that a tip line was set up by the police where employees in the kindergarten KINDERGARTENS HAVE THE MOST IMPORTANT and relatives can call. She has added ROLE REPRESENTATIVES FROM THE STINE that the police received a lot of inquiries SOFIE FOUNDATION TRAVEL AROUND KINDER- from parents who wondered if more GARTENS WITH LECTURES ON VIOLENCE AND ABUSE, SCOPE, CONSEQUENCES AND GOOD, children are involved but she is unable to BAD AND ILLEGAL SECRETS. comment further on the case. bygbladet.no

One such employee is Daniel Lillestøl. In an article in magazine Fagbladed he commented that measures such as leaving the restroom door open when assisting a child and prohibiting substi- tutes to take children to the restroom help prevent abuse. However, he is afraid that if such cases persist no men will want to work in kindergartens. He added that children need male role models but there is an atmosphere of distrust between male employees and parents. MALE KINDERGARTEN EMPLOYEE ARRESTED FOR RAPE OF KINDERGARTEN CHILDREN (5): Gender-based violence perspective: - IT IS IMPORTANT NOT TO BE SILENT WHEN Although most news outlets made a ABUSE OCCURS IN THE KINDERGARTEN, SAYS DIRECTOR factual report of the case, a few media fagbladet.no focused on the history of child abuse in kindergartens in Bergen and Norway Another major stakeholder has been as a whole, while other media pub- the Norwegian Union of Municipal and lished articles on the ongoing efforts General Employees. The union has and future measures aimed at prevent- taken the initiative for annual national ing such crimes. Representatives from gatherings for men who work in kinder- the children’s rights Stine Sofie Foun- gartens. The Union’s Director Kristian dation had travelled around kindergar- Meyer has commented that Bergen’s tens with lectures on violence and abuse, city council has ensured that employees consequences and good, bad and

43 illegal secrets. The foundation has talked about it. The perpetrator lost his job at to children and parents about the role the kindergarten, where he had worked and authority of kindergarten employ- for several years. Furthermore, he will no ees and has trained the kindergartens’ longer have the right to work elsewhere staff. with children and young people.

Coverage: The news was covered by a lot of national and regional newspapers in Norway. Most of them, however, copied the same story without any additions. It is typical of Norwegian media that stories about sexual abuse are covered in a very objective manner, hiding personal information about the victim and the perpetrator. Only the age of the two has been disclosed. The language is very neutral, using official terms and lacking WE DO NOT GET TO LEARN HOW TO TALK emotional nuances or words that could ABOUT ABUSE. CALLS FOR KNOWLEDGE ON make the story sound sensational or HOW TO TALK TO CHILDREN ABOUT ABUSE. shocking. However, in numerous tv2.no headlines the case was described as a The Minister of Research and Higher “rape” because touching a child’s Education Iselin Nybø has commented genitalia can be considered equivalent that students should have enough com- to rape in Norway. It was also mentioned petence about child abuse when they that the case had been emotionally graduate for kindergarten employees. difficult for both the kindergarten staff However, both students and the Stine and the management. Sofies Foundation argued that the educational course at several colleges was not enough. The Nybø has agreed that there should be more cohesiveness and an even standard of education.

CASE STUDY 2 – Child abuse in kindergarten

Case synopsis: A man working in a kindergarten has been convicted by the District Court of Jæren, Norway, of sexu- KINDERGARTEN EMPLOYEE CONVICTED OF ally abusing a 5-year-old girl repeatedly. CHILD RAPE He has been sentenced to 2 years and 7 AFTENBLADET.NO months in prison and to pay NOK 130,000 to the girl in restitution. The court has Stakeholders: The main stakeholders also unanimously concluded that the were the court and the perpetrator’s man has produced and possessed colleagues at the kindergarten. The abusive materials. He touched the girl court paid a lot of attention to what the in question on numerous occasions, the girl said during the questioning, among last one of which was discovered when others, that she was touched by the man the girl herself talked to her mother “all the time”. District court judge Ingjerd

44 Fausk wrote in the verdict that the per- and had reacted to the fact that the girl petrator obviously did not think much sat abnormally often in his lap. about the reasons the child would have to lie about him touching her genitalia as her version of the abuse was much like his own, although he denied having HE IS ALSO CONVICTED OF GETTING ACCESS touched her that way. Furthermore, the TO PICTURES SHOWING SEXUAL ABUSE OF court pointed out that it was a question CHILDREN. HE HAS ADMITTED THAT HE HAS LOOKED FOR SUCH ONLINE. of numerous cases of abuse stretching p4.no through the child’s whole period in the kindergarten, which means that she has Gender-based violence perspective: not had another kind of experience there. The story described here is part of a large The fact that the man was a grown-up number of news items and analyses about that she and her parents were supposed child abuse and paedophilia in Norwe- to trust makes things even worse. The gian media. Unlike other similar pieces court added that the perpetrator used of news, here we do not see Barnevernet the situations when the child was most (The Norwegian Child Welfare Services) vulnerable – when they could not be among the stakeholders and do not read discovered by other people. any coverage about the importance of educating even young children in kin- The man’s colleagues said that during dergartens how to recognize and react the kindergarten year 2017-2018, the to sexual or physical abuse. The fact that man expressed his concerns that the the girl talked with her mother shows girl was too fond of him and required that she was reasonable enough to look so much attention that he could not for help or we could suppose that she pay attention to the other kids. His was informed about the risk. The victim colleagues told him that he was an adult herself is not described in a compassion- and had to introduce some limits in his ate manner, which is not surprising for communication with the child but he was Norwegian media. The fact that the court reluctant to do so. They thought that he focused a lot on her own version of the could be “extremely close in his physical incidents is symptomatic for the Norwe- contact with the abused child”. gian child protection system where there are specific methods of questioning not The kindergarten manager in the only designed for children but adapted municipality explained that it is impossible to each child that has supposedly suf- to prevent such cases completely but fered abuse. It was pretty clear from the they can be reduced if the feedback articles that this kind of abuse is strictly culture among professionals who condemned. work with children and young people improves, so that they can comment on The municipal manager of Jæren each other’s actions even when they do pointed out that it was important to not reach the level of abuse. report all cases of suspected abuse to the police without any tolerance to The accused man himself tried to point milder ones. This case was reported as out that it was normal that the kindergar- soon as possible. Two administrative ten staff members touch the children on managers in the municipality promised the back or the belly, even if they were that they would do everything they can naked. His colleagues and the kinder- to learn from this case and similar ones garten manager did not find that normal and practice professional care. It had

45 been discussed whether it would be the girl sat too much in the man’s lap. necessary to introduce an official list of rules on what is OK and what is not OK A positive reaction is also that as soon as to do to a child, but so far, they had not it became clear what the man had done, done it. all children, including children that had formerly gone to the same kindergarten, The kindergarten manager discussed were asked whether something had the prevention of child abuse by happened to them. They denied it. underlining the need for development of the abovementioned feedback culture. CASE STUDY 3 – Janne Jemtland’s Furthermore, it was added that a good murder guideline for appropriate treating of children is whether what is done would Case synopsis: A woman, Janne be suitable if the parents were in the Jemtland, 36, disappeared on 29 same room. December 2017. Her body was found in January, after her husband, Svein Jemtland, 47, gave information to the investigators where the body could be found. The investigation revealed that Janne Jemtland had been shot in the WE NEED TO ESTABLISH BETTER FEEDBACK head with a 9-mm pistol, and then left to CULTURE drown with a 38 kg car battery strapped JÆRBLADET to her body, in the river Glomma. Blood The municipal manager of Jæren stains were found close to and inside the pointed out that it was important to couple’s house, their vehicles, report all cases of suspected abuse Brumunddal’s centre, and on the to the police without any tolerance to steelwork of the Eid bridge over milder ones. This case was reported as Glomma. Svein Jemtland was arrested, soon as possible. Two administrative denied murdering his wife, but managers in the municipality promised confessed to dropping the body in the that they would do everything they can river, and, consequently, sentenced to to learn from this case and similar ones 18 years in prison. and practice professional care. It had been discussed whether it would be necessary to introduce an official list of rules on what is OK and what is not OK to do to a child, but so far, they had not done it.

The kindergarten manager underlined that they need to work further on analysing each other’s behaviour because kindergarten staff members work close to each other and the children, and sometimes it is difficult to see that a certain type of behaviour has crossed the limit. This becomes clear afterwards. In the current case, the perpetrator’s JANNE JEMTLAND’S MURDER SEEMS LIKE A colleagues had reacted to the fact that PURE EXECUTION vol.no 46 Coverage: The majority of online accident during a family fight. The publications approached the case in a string of articles ends after the sentence rather neutral manner, with some of them is pronounced on 10 December 2018. detailing the full story. Since the coverage Svein Jemtland is to serve 18 years in of the case is from November and prison, pay his sons NOK 400,000 each December 2018, while the murder (the children at the time are 11 and 13 happened almost a year prior, most years old), and with his lawyers claiming articles were focused on the court he intends to appeal. proceedings and the sentence. However, while most kept to retelling the story in Stakeholders: The most active stake- a neutral way, following the start of holder was state attorney Iris Storås. the trial, several publications cited the She was quoted on multiple occasions state attorney, including in their titles, in several articles for her efforts to prove who was negatively predisposed that Svein indeed shot his wife and did towards Svein Jemtland and demanded not just try to get rid of the body. the maximum possible sentence. Another important stakeholder were the police, namely National Criminal Investigation Service (Kripos). One article focuses solely on Iris Storås’s questioning of the medical examiner Audun Kolstad who states that, had Svein Jemtland not given hints to the police, the body could have remained unfound. The victim’s brother Terje Opheim is cited after the sentence, stating he is relieved that the court has believed the state attorney one hundred per cent. The main judge, Trond Christoffersen, also calls Svein Jemtland a “cold and calculating killer” in his sentence, thus focusing on the importance of the strict SVEIN JEMTLAND SENTENCED FOR THE sentence. MURDER OF JANNE JEMTLAND: “A COLD AND CALCULATING KILLER” vg.no

Such examples are “The murder of Janne Jemtland seems like an execution” or “A cold and calculating killer”. A single article also cites Janne Jemtland’s brother in its title – “More brutal than I had expected”. In most of the articles, the focus falls on speculations what had happened and how the investigation MEDICAL EXAMINER: - GOT MASSIVE INJURIES went. The state attorney, cited in many ON THE HEAD WHILE SHE WAS ALIVE of them, accuses Svein Jemtland in a nrk.no premeditated murder, while his lawyers Gender-based violence perspective: allege that Janne herself had pulled The media talk around the case was out the gun, and hurt herself in a freak not one which informed the public of

47 the essence of the crimes as an example titles stress on the fact that Kopseng is a of gender-based violence. Instead, it repeat offender – “State attorney wants focused more on the relationship and to sentence Julio Kopseng for two new what exactly happened between the rapes”, “Julio Kopseng sentenced for perpetrator and the victim. While a rape again”. One of the two new cases female friend claims Janne Jemtland include a woman, 33 at the time of the was considering a divorce, there were no trial, who was in a relationship with him further significant mentions of abuse or in 2006, and who claims that he forced violence at home. Since the majority of her into having sex and abused her five articles focus on the trial, the main per- times during that time. The other woman, spective remains whether Svein Jemt- 44 in 2018, claims her former colleague, land murdered his wife intentionally, or Kopseng drugged her on one occasion she did it herself during a late-night fight in 2012 and had involuntary sex with her. at their home. Both women accused Kopseng in 2015 and 2016, respectively, when his first CASE STUDY 4 – Norwegian celebrity trial had started to gain attention. Julio Kopseng sentenced for rapes Stakeholders: The main stakeholders Case synopsis: In 2018, Norwegian ce- were state attorney Ane Evang and the lebrity and TV dancer Julio Kopseng was police. One article claims that the police trialed for the rape of two women – in described Kopseng as Norway’s most 2006 and in 2012. Kopseng had already active rapist. The publications, many of been sentenced to 21 years in prison in which syndicated, mainly focus on the 2016, when he was trialed for aggravated victims’ claims, and only a few men- sexual assault against 19 women alto- tions the investigations, earlier cases, or gether. The two new cases included a further interviews. former girlfriend of the perpetrator, and another, older woman.

STATE ATTORNEY WANTS TO SENTENCE JULIO KOPSENG FOR TWO NEW RAPES adressa.no

Coverage: The case attracted media and public interest when Julio Kopseng (41) was trialed for a second time in November 2018 because of his (semi-) celebrity status. The majority of the outlets present the case neutrally or slightly negatively. The text bodies NO, I AM NEITHER PASSIVE NOR WEAK. TO STAY mostly include matter-of-fact informa- AND SAY THAT I WAS RAPED, MADE ME STRON- tion about either the ongoing, or the GER THAN EVER. previous trial. However, many of the Aftenposten

48 Gender-based violence perspective: The case was not covered in a manner LEGAL FRAMEWORK which would present the situation as an regarding coverage of example of gender-based violence. The gender-based and domestic main rhetoric and focus of all articles on violence in media the topic, no matter the outlet, was the fact that Julio Kopseng was indeed a Bulgaria repeat offender who had already- re ceived the maximum sentence of 21 General overview years, and could not be sentenced to any In general, regulations related to media longer, despite the new two cases. While coverage of gender-based and in almost all cases the two victims were domestic violence are often provided cited verbatim about the occasions when by the “soft law” (non-binding law, e.g. they were forced into having sex with guidelines or legal provisions binding Kopseng, no further information or dis- only in case the media has adopted cussion was started as to the conse- them – ethical codes). This rule applies quences of sexual assault, both in general to Bulgaria as well. The in-depth look and in the particular cases. There was no into the media law environment, which tangible conversation on the topic about provides for the coverage of gender- causes, prevention and general aware- based and domestic violence as well, ness. While one of the articles is an open can be analysed if not only the provisions interview with Marthe Steinmann, the related to ethical coverage of violence woman who was raped in 2006, it still cases are taken into account, but the sparked no further discussion. entire legal framework, which provides the general conditions of working environment of journalists in Bulgaria.

The Bulgarian Constitution enshrines the “universal human values of liberty, peace, humanism, equality, justice and tolerance”. It also gives prominent guarantees of freedom of speech and is an excellent basis for further development on a legislative level of this fundamental principle of the civil society, since the freedom of expression, ACCUSES POLICE FOR HIDING FACEBOOK freedom of the press and the right PROOF. POLICE SAYS HE MISUNDERSTANDS. to seek, obtain and disseminate Dagbladet information are proclaimed in Articles 39-41 (“communication rights”). On constitutional level, the expression of the rights and restrictions directly corresponds to Article 10 of the European convention of human rights and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The censorship is expressly prohibited.

Art. 39, para. 1 states that: “Everyone shall 49 be entitled to express an opinion or to Council of Electronic Media, which publicise it though words, written or oral, is an independent specialized body sound or image, or in any other way”. regulating media services in Bulgaria. It also gives opinions on the draft State Article 40 of the Constitution proclaims budget regarding finances of BNT and freedom of the press and the mass media BNR. One of the main responsibilities and maintains that they shall be free of the Council is to issue licenses and from censorship, and Article 41 guaran- registration of radio and television tees the right to information without broadcasters. This procedure is carried interference from the state authorities out in accordance with the requirements (para. 1) and the right to publicly-held of Directive 2010/13/EU. This act needs information (para. 2): further and detailed analysis on the legal guarantees of freedom of expression, (1) Everyone shall be entitled to seek, including the restrictions related to obtain and disseminate informa- gender-based and domestic violence. It tion. This right shall not be exercised gives the modern structure of the most to the detriment of the rights and significant institutes, which shape the reputation of others, or to the det- Bulgarian media environment. It contains riment of national security, public legal definitions of the basic terms in order, public health and morality. compliance with the European Union’s law as well as the main regime of the two (2) Citizens shall be entitled to obtain public service providers – the Bulgarian information from state bodies and National Radio and the Bulgarian agencies on any matter of legitimate National Television. It also regulates interest to them which is not a state commercial speech, sponsorship, radio or official secret and does not affect and broadcaster license and registration, the rights of others. etc. There are numerous amendments throughout the years and some of the Art. 39 and 40 allow the restriction of the most important ones contain provisions right of anyone to express an opinion; on the licensing procedure in accordance these regulations can be used to stop with the requirements of Directive or confiscate printed matter or another 2010/13/EU, as well as rules and information medium when this right is principles regarding freedom of speech used to the detriment of the rights and and pluralism, independence of media reputation of other persons, or to incite service providers. In compliance with a forcible change of the constitutionally the European legal framework, the RTA established order, to commit a crime, now divides media services into linear or to incite animosity or violence. On and non-linear. “Linear media services” a legislative level, there are several im- stands for media services provided by a portant laws, which contain provisions media service provider for simultaneous guaranteeing freedom of expression viewing/listening of programmes on and can affect its overall condition. the basis of a programme schedule. “Non-linear (on-demand) media The Radio and Television Act services” according to the law, refers The Radio and Television Act (RTA) is to media services provided by a media one of the main acts, which regulates service provider for the viewing/listening media services provided under the of programmes at the moment chosen Bulgarian jurisdiction, including the by the user and at his or her individual structure and the authority of the request on the basis of a catalogue of

50 programmes selected by the media source of information; service provider. Definitions of the basic media terminology such as media 4. protection of the personal service provider, editorial responsibility, inviolability of the citizens; radio and television broadcaster, audiovisual and radio programme are 5. non-admission of programmes also defined in compliance with the suggesting intolerance among the European law. According to the RTA citizens; media service providers shall be public- service and commercial. Most of the 6. non-admission of programmes amendments in the RTA were made in contradicting the good manners, 2010 and in 2018 and in general, the especially if they contain pornogra- act was considerably improved. A new phy, praising or freeing from blame general revision of the RTA is planned cruelty or violence or instigate for the end of 2020 in relation to the new hatred based on racial, sexual, reli- Media Service Directive, adopted by gious or national nature; the European Union in 20183. The bill has been a subject to a public debate and 7. guaranteeing the right of reply in the is expected to be adopted in November programs; 2020 by the Bulgarian parliament. 8. guaranteeing the copyright and The main principles related rights of the broadcasts and The principles freedom of speech and programmes; pluralism, freedom of information and independence of media service 9. preservation of the purity of the providers and of the activities thereof Bulgarian language. from political and economic interference were better enshrined. Media services Journalists and artists, who have must not incite to hatred based on race, concluded contracts with media service sex, religion or nationality. providers, have the right to act freely. RTA explicitly states their right not to be The main principles, for which the given any instructions or directions as to Council of Electronic Media monitors the practice of their pursuits by persons are provided by art. 10 RTA, according and/or groups outside the management to which – in carrying out their activities bodies of the media service providers. the media services providers shall be Public criticism of media service guided by the following principles: providers by employees thereof shall not be treated as disloyalty to 1. guaranteeing the right to free expres- the employer. Journalists, who have sion of opinion; concluded contracts with media service providers, shall have the right to refuse 2. guaranteeing the right to information; to perform an assignment, provided it is not related to implementation of 3. preservation of the secret of the the provisions of RTA or of the relevant

3 Directive (EU) 2018/1808 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 November 2018 amending Directive 2010/13/EU on the coordination of certain provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action in Member States concerning the provision of audiovisual media services (Audiovisual Media Services Directive) in view of changing market realities. 51 contracts and if it is contrary to their Still, the RTA provides regulation re- personal convictions; technical editing garding protection of children’s rights, of programme material or of news may which also applies to cases of violence. not be refused. The editorial statute is obliged to provide specific definitions There are numerous provisions regarding and measures for the protection of the the protection of children’s rights and a freedom and personal accountability few new rules guaranteeing their safety, of journalistic work in accomplishing e.g. the new art. 17a RTA, according to the assignment set; the protection of which media service providers shall be journalists; the professional and ethical obligated to respect the rights of the standards of journalistic activity in the child as regulated in the Child Protection respective media service providers; Act and in other statutory instruments the manners of decision-making and not to admit the participation of chil- which concern journalistic activity; the dren in broadcasts which are adverse to, establishment of an internal body for the or pose a risk of impairing, the physical, settlement of any disputes as may arise mental, moral and/or social develop- in the course of journalistic work. Media ment of children, according to the cri- service providers also shall have the teria adopted under the procedure es- right to receive any information as they tablished in the law. On-demand media may need from state and municipal services, which might seriously impair bodies, unless this information contains the physical, mental or moral develop- any secret as provided for by law. This ment of children, shall be only made amendment is in compliance with available in such a way that ensures that European law and it is also in compliance children will not normally hear or see with another very important act, which such on-demand media services. gives ground basis for the principle of freedom of speech in Bulgaria – the It is also important to note that there is a Access to Public Information Act (APIA), lack of enough detailed and clear legal which was amended a couple of times provisions on the financial funding of since 2007. Media service providers private media outlets, especially in the are also obligated to use any light of EU budget expenditures in the information received accurately and recent years4. untendentiously, as well as to disclose information about their broadcasting Regulatory bodies activities in the cases provided for by the The abovementioned Council of law. Electronic Media is one of the main bodies, which function is to keep the The main disadvantage of the RTA is the balance of the freedom of speech. The lack of regulation of printed and online other regulatory body whose main media outlets. The regulation of the law competence reflects directly the covers only radio and television broad- condition of the freedom of expression casts, which is one of the main reasons is the Communications Regulation for the lack of restrictions and penalties Commission (CRC). It implements on behalf of the regulator towards the the state sector policy in the field of majority of pieces, which cover gen- telecommunications and postal services. der-based and domestic violence cases. CRC is a specialized independent state

4 Antonova, V. Black Book of Government Waste in Bulgaria 2016. Friedrich Naumann Foundation, Sofia, p.70: 52 authority, entrusted with the functions of of discrimination and gender-based regulation and control over the carrying violence. out of the electronic communications. In the context of equity and transparency Self-regulation in media and in compliance with the Bulgarian The question of the self-regulation legislation, CRC has the goal to of the media market in Bulgaria is often promote the competition of the subject to wide discussions. Ever since telecommunications markets in the 2004 there is a Code of Ethics of the country. The national regulator proceeds, Bulgarian media. Along with it an Ethical aiming at the increase of the sector Committee was established which main investments, the new communications function is to oversee compliance with technologies’ development and the Code. However, not all the media in the protection of the end-users in the country has signed and adopted it, so Bulgaria. Significant role have also it is valid only for a limited number of the Commission for Protection against media. Alternatively, in 2014 another body Discrimination and Commission for – Bulgarian Media Union published its Protection for Private Data, as well as the own Code of Ethics and Professionalism Financial Surveillance Commission. of the Bulgarian Media, which has its separate Ethical Commission. Those two The Commission for Protection against alternative acts and the unwillingness Discrimination was established in 2005 of large number of media to join them by a special Act – the Protection against is one of the main problems of self- Discrimination Act (PaDA), adopted by regulation in Bulgaria which threatens the National Assembly of the Republic the freedom of speech and makes of Bulgaria. The Commission consists the self- regulation an unstable tool of 9 members – the National Assembly for balance and encouragement of appoints five members, including the pluralism and diversity. Chair and Deputy Chair of the Com- mission and the President of the Repub- Extractions and main aspects of the lic of Bulgaria appoints 4 members. Ethical Code related to coverage of The mandate of the members of the gender-based and domestic violence Commission is five years In the elec- In the Ethical Code there are certain tion or appointment of the Commission provisions, regarding coverage of members, the principles of balanced violence. participation of women and men and of participation of persons belonging to Main provisions require: ethnic minorities is respected The CPD is accredited as a National human rights 2.3 Privacy institution with status “B” by the Human Rights Council of the United Nations. The 2.3.1 We shall respect the inviolability Commission also acts as a national of everyone’s private life. contact point on hate crimes with the Organization for Security and Coopera- 2.3.2 We shall avoid publishing pho- tion in Europe. In this capacity, the tographs and recordings of individuals Commission annually collects data on taken outside public places without their hate crimes as instructed by the Office consent for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR). They follow cases, 2.3.3 We shall not add to the distress of including such related to coverage people affected by tragedy or crime and

53 report such matters with sympathy and 2.6.1 We shall respect the ‘assump- constraint. tion of innocence’ and will not describe someone as a criminal prior to their 2.3.4 We shall respect the wish of conviction. people to grieve in private. 2.6.2 If we identify a person as being 2.3.5 Only an exceptional public inter- charged with a crime, we shall also make est would justify the media’s intrusion known the outcome of the trial. into private and family life. 2.4 Children[4] 2.6.3 We shall treat with caution the identification of victims and witnesses of 2.4.1 We shall demonstrate special crime, especially in cases involving responsibility in respecting the sexual assault, unless they give consent rights of children, including their right to being identified. to be heard. 2.6.4 We shall refrain from glorifying or 2.4.2 We shall not take advantage of unnecessarily sensational reporting children’s innocence and trust. about crime, violence and brutality.

2.4.3 We shall not publish information 2.6.5 We shall be careful not to be used or photographs about the private life of a as a platform by those who promote, child unless there is an overriding public incite or use violence; we shall report on interest. their activities with due constraint and only if there is a clear public interest. 2.4.4 We shall protect the identity of children involved in or affected by 2.7 Decency tragedy or criminal activity, in case it might turn out to be harmful. 2.7.1 We shall respect good taste and decency in our publications. 2.4.5 We shall seek to avoid in- terviewing children without the consent 5.2 For the purposes of this Code, of an appropriate adult. information ‘of public interest’ should not be confused with information which 2.5 Discrimination is ‘interesting to the public’.

2.5.1 We respect everyone’s right to 5.3 A publication is in the public interest live in safety and security, and we shall only if: avoid publishing material that incites or • It protects health, safety and encourages hatred, violence or any form security; of discrimination • It helps the prevention and disclo- sure of serious crimes and abuse of 2.5.2 We shall not refer to a person’s power; race, colour, religion, ethnic background, • It prevents the public from the sexual orientation, mental or physical danger of being seriously misled. condition, unless it is of importance to the meaning of the story. The New Audiovisual Media Service Directive and the future Amendments of 2.6 Crime and brutality the Bulgarian RTA In 2018 a new revised Audiovisual

54 Media Service Directive (AVMSD) was Another important amendment related adopted by the European Union. It to coverage of violence, including extends certain audiovisual rules to on online platforms suggests that video-sharing platforms, including Member States shall ensure that video- certain ‘hybrid’ services such as social sharing platform providers under their media, where the provision of videos jurisdiction take appropriate measures and programmes is not the principal to protect minors from programmes, purpose of the service, but still consti- user-generated videos and audiovisual tutes an ‘essential functionality’ thereof. commercial communications which The guidelines clarify which services may impair their physical, mental or will be covered by the new rules under moral development; the general public this criterion. For Bulgaria where the from programmes, user- generated legal framework does not cover the videos and audiovisual commercial monitoring of the internet, i.g. online and communications containing incitement printed outlets, social media and video to violence or hatred directed against channels this means wide extension to a group of persons or a member of a the scope of the Radio and Television group based on any of the grounds Law. In the bill, which was published in referred to in Article 21 of the Charter; August 2020, provided by the Minis- the general public from programmes, try of Culture in Bulgaria, some of the user-generated videos and audiovisual amendments suggest better protection commercial communications containing of children, further respect for private content the dissemination of which life and the rule of article 6a of the Di- constitutes an activity which is a criminal rective is to be implemented also in the offence under Union law, namely public national legislation. According to it provocation to commit a terrorist member States shall take appropriate offence, concerning child pornography measures to ensure that audiovisual and offences concerning racism media services provided by media and xenophobia. service providers under their jurisdiction which may impair the physical, mental Another serious step towards or moral development of minors are improvement of the media environ- only made available in such a way as to ment is a new programme, which will ensure that minors will not normally hear be developed by the Minister of culture, or see them. Such measures may include along with the Council of electronic selecting the time of the broadcast, age media related to improvement of media verification tools or other technical mea- literacy at schools. The media literacy sures. They shall be proportionate to the policy shall contain measures for the potential harm of the programme. development of skills and knowledge, The most harmful content, such as which shall enable the citizens: gratuitous violence and pornography, shall be subject to the strictest measures. 1. to make informed choices about the media content and the media Another specific amendment in the bill services; is that the media services must not contain incitement to violence or hatred 2. to use the media services and the against a group of persons or a member media content in a safe way; of a group, on any of the grounds set out in Article 21 of the Charter of Fundamen- 3. to create media content and to tal Rights of the European Union. participate responsibly, ethically and

55 effectively in the various forms of communication 3. prohibition for the perpetrator to approach the victim, the abode, the The Minister of Culture initiates and place of work and the places for manages the activity for preparation social contacts and recreation of the of a national policy for media literacy, aggrieved person under conditions reports to the European Commission and term, defined by the court. on the implementation of media literacy measures. The Electronic Media 4. temporary determining of the place Council shall work for the development of living of the child with the suffered of media literacy in cooperation with parent or with the parent who has a wide range of stakeholders, including not committed the violence under the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of conditions and term, defined by the Education and other public authorities, court, if this does not contradict media service providers, academia, civil with the interests of the child; society organizations and consumers. 5. obliging the perpetrator of violence Other relevant national acts to attend specialized programmes; The main legal act, which is generally related to gender-based and domestic 6. directing the aggrieved persons violence is the Protection against do- to programmes for recovery. mestic violence act. It does not provide certain provisions towards coverage of Some of those measures are imposed such stories, but gives the main pro- for a period of three to 18 months. tection of victims of violence. According to this act, domestic violence shall be In all cases the court with its decision any act of physical, sexual, psychologi- shall impose to the perpetrator also fine cal, emotional or financial violence, as in extent from 200 (approx.100 euro) well as the attempt for such violence, to 1000 levs (approx. 500 euro). any forced restriction to personal life, personal freedom and personal rights, In 2019 some general amendments against persons who are relatives, who were made in the Penal Code re- are, or have been, in a familial rela- garding domestic violence. The criminal tionship or in a factual spousal cohab- offense shall be deemed to have been itation. Psychological or emotional vio- committed “in conditions of domestic lence against a child shall be deemed violence”, if it is preceded by system- any domestic violence committed in its atic physical, sexual or psychological presence. violence, placing the person in economic dependence, coercive restriction The measures of protection from do- of personal life, personal liberty and mestic violence shall be: personal rights, and is enforced against persons in ascending and descend- 1. obliging the perpetrator to re- ing order, a spouse or ex-spouse, a strain from implementing domestic person with whom one shares a child, violence; a person with whom one is or has been in a de facto marital cohabitation, or a 2. removing of the perpetrator fro the person with whom one lives or has lived jointly inhabited abode for the term, in a common household. The protection defined by the court. has been significantly improved with

56 those amendments. Still too few cases Authority; decisions by the parliament, are proven in conditions of domestic especially linked to decisions about violence. the state budget; decisions in individual cases by the Ministry or the Media Conclusion Authority. Pre-publication censorship in The main problem with the legal prohibited, with exception of cinema framework related to gender-based movies intended for children. and domestic violence in Bulgaria consists of the lack of regulation on online There are specific laws regulating (radio and printed media. Further, there are and television) broadcasting: Kringkast- not enough programs and state mech- ingsloven (the Broadcasting Act) and film anisms, which can encourage studies, and cinema: Film- og videogramlova educational programs and other tools, (The Film and Video Act). but no press which aim is to raise awareness of the law and very little legislation specific for problem, including at schools. The new the Internet and other media.etc. amendments, prepared towards the implementation of the new AVMSD is a The Straffeloven (Penal Code) contains step in the right direction. However, the sections that are of specific interest main problems consist in the lack of infor the media (pornography, libel, state depth public debates about those issues, secrets, protection of privacy, etc.). combined with stigma, lack of enough A section on blasphemy was omitted analysis, lack of follow-up stories, lack of when a new penal code was passed in enough efforts on behalf of the state, 2005 (and put into effect in 2015). The related to implementation of national penal code demands that newspapers, policies to raise awareness. The legal magazines etc. and broadcasts, shall framework gives a good basis, which have an editor who is responsible for the with the help of the new AVMSD raises content. the hopes of an improvement but its effect is yet to be seen and monitored. shall have an editor who is responsible for the content. The relationship Norway between the government and the state-owned broadcasting company General overview (the NRK) is sensitive. It is up to the gov- Freedom of expression in Norway is ernment and the parliament to decide protected by the Constitution (adopted on matters concerning technology, ad- in 1814) and the European Convention ministration, new services in general, for the Protection of Human Rights and etc. But the Broadcasting Act prohibits Fundamental Freedoms. In 2004, the interference from these authorities Norwegian parliament modernized and into matters concerning individual pro- extended the clause in the Constitution grams. Only the Kringkastingssjef (Head that secures freedom of expression. An of Broadcasting) can stop or demand important amendment was that the gov- changes in a program. But the govern- ernment has the obligation to promote ment and the parliament decide on the diversity in the media and public debate. licence fee and this gives the political authorities some power over the Media policy and media regulation can NRK.5 be set by laws, passed by the parliament; by- laws, formulated by the Ministry Regulatory authorities of Culture or the Norwegian Media Until digitisation of radio (2017) and

57 television (2007-2008) terrestrial distri- revenue. The subsidies are distributed bution of radio and television required according to specific criteria in order to a licence from the Ministry of Culture reach national ideological and political (for national services) or the Norwegian newspapers, the “No 2” newspapers in Media Authority (for local services). In the areas with local competition and the digital networks, it is the owners of the smallest local newspapers. There are networks that give the channels access separate subsidies for newspapers to the network. The digital television focusing on Sami language and the network is operated by Norges Televisjon Sami population. There is a continuous (NTV, owned by the NRK, the TV 2 and discussion and inquiry into the criteria for Telenor, one third each) until 2021. The distribution of these subsidies between digital radio network is owned by Nor- the newspapers. kring AS (owned by Telenor). Local radio stations operating on the FM platform Since the mid-1990s, media ownership are still required to have a licence from has become an important issue in media the Norwegian Media Authority. Telenor policy. In all branches of the media, there is and has always been an important is a strong concentration of ownership. organizer of the technical analogue and The same owners tend to exert power digital networks, a gatekeeper. over several media. There is a strong integration among media owners in The private broadcasting compa- Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. nies have to comply with regulations Danish (Egmont and Aller) and Swedish concerning advertising (hours, percent- (Kinnevik/MTG and Bonnier) media ages, commercial breaks in programs, companies are important owners of etc.). But these conditions have been Norwegian media. The Norwegian state liberalised over time. owns NRK and is a majority shareholder in Telenor (telecommunications, sat- Newspapers and books are exempted ellites, cable networks and terrestrial from VAT. There is a continuous distribution of broadcasting). Schibsted discussion about a similar exemption for is the largest private media owner in magazines and journals. In recent years, Norway. The third major owner is Norwe- the same discussion is focused on digital gian media conglomerate Amedia. The media versus similar content on paper. American television giant Discovery is a In 2016 the Ministry of Finance notified major actor in the Norwegian television that electronic news services are also market and the German Bauer Media exempted from VAT. Group has a similar position in the radio broadcasting sector. The state-owned public-service broadcasting company is regarded as an im- In 1998, the Norwegian Parliament portant contributor to the diversity of passed legislation (The Media Ownership the Norwegian media system. Bill) to prevent ownership concentration. A new administration was established In order to maintain local competition in 1999 in order to enforce the new law, and national diversity, there is a the Eierskapstilsynet (Media Ownership system for newspaper subsidies. In Authority), which was integrated into 2017, direct subsidies total 313m NOK the Medietilsynet (Norwegian Media Au- (approximately €35m) and account for thority). In 2016 the Medieeierskapsloven some 2 percent of newspapers’ total (Media Ownership Bill) was abolished

6 Media Landscapes, expert analyses of the state of media - accessible on 22.09.2020 58 and concentration in the media is now or programmes as mentioned in the first monitored by the Konkurransetilsynet paragraph, litras b, d, or e. The King can (Competition Authority)6. issue further regulations on rules for exemption from the prohibition in the Main legal acts first paragraph, litra a and on procedures, There are some main legal obligations, etc. in connection with imposing a pro- provided by law. Those are, respect for hibition according to the first and second privacy, rasist statements are forbid- paragraphs. den by law, blasphemy has previously been prohibited, libels are forbidden, as Apart from that, there are several well. important laws, related to media regulation, including rules to coverage of The main legal act is the Act relating to violence. Such act is the Act relating to broadcasting and audiovisual on-de- the Protection of Minors Against Harmful mand services . It provides the main Audiovisual Programmes (2015). The law legal provisions, related to all aspects prohibits seriously harmful contenct. Ac- of broadcasting, including commercials, cording to it, seriously harmful content protection of consumers, protection portrayals in audiovisual programmes of children, media pluralism, etc. It that may have a strong emotionally har- provides specific prohibition against rowing effect or be particularly cogni- retransmission. The Norwegian Media tively disturbing for the wellbeing of Authority may, by means of regula- minors, particularly intimate portrayals tion or individual decision, prohibit the of. retransmission of television channels which a) broadcast advertising in Audiovisual programmes with seriously breach of Norwegian law, b) broadcast harmful content may not be broadcast programmes containing pornography on television. The service provider shall, or violence in breach of Norwegian law by selecting the time of the broadcast or or other programmes which could by any technical measure, ensure that seriously harm the physical, mental, minors will not normally have access to or moral development of minors c) audiovisual programmes with harmful broadcast programmes which may content. News and current affairs pro- cause harm to children or young people, grammes shall be exempt from the when retransmission takes place at a provisions of this paragraph. Section 10 time of day when children or young (Protective measures in connection with people constitute a substantial propor- on- demand audiovisual media services) tion of the viewers, or d) broadcast The service provider shall implement programmes which Norwegian courts measures to ensure that minors will have deemed to be in breach of Section not normally have access to audiovi- 185 of the General Civil Penal Code, or sual programmes or related material e) are established in another EEA State with seriously harmful content. The to avoid provisions that would otherwise service provider shall offer measures apply had the television company been that can be activated by a guardian or established in Norway. The Norwegian others acting on behalf of the guardian, Media Authority can issue regulations to ensure that minors will not normally or individual decisions prohibiting the have access to audiovisual programmes sale, renting or marketing of facilities or related material with harmful content. or services that have the purpose of News and current affairs programmes providing access to television channels shall be exempt from the provisions

59 of this paragraph. authorities and institutions, private concerns, or others There is another separate Regulations on the Protection of Minors Against 4.1. Make a point of fairness and Harmful Audiovisual Programmes (2015). thoughtfulness in contents and presentation. Another important piece is The Act relating to films and videograms contains 4.2. Make plain what is factual infor- provisions to the effect that all video- mation and what is comment. grams sold or rented to consumers must be registered in the Norwegian Media 4.3. Always respect a person’s charac- Authority’s videogram register. This reg- ter and identity, privacy, race, nation- istration also requires the distributor ality and belief. Never draw attention to label the videograms with an age to personal or private aspects if they are rating. irrelevant.

Self-regulation 4.4. Make sure that headlines, intro- In Norway there is also a Code of Ethics ductions and leads do not go beyond of the Norwegian Press. However, it has what is being related in the text. It is con- an old history. It was first written in 1936. sidered good press conduct to reveal In 1956 it was rewritten for the first time. your source when the information is Later revisions came in 1966, 1975, 1987, quoted from other media. 1989, 1990, 1994, 2001, 2005, 2007, 2013 and 2015. 4.5. In particular avoid presumption of guilt in crime and court reporting. It applies for the written press as well Make it evident that the question of as radio, television and Internet media. guilt, whether relating to somebody Complaints about breaches of the code under suspicion, reported, accused or are handled by the Norwegian Press charged, has not been decided until Complaints Commission by the Nor- the sentence has legal efficacy. It is a wegian Press Associaciton (Pressens part of good press conduct to report the Faglige Utvalg). final result of court proceedings, which have been reported earlier. The code is supplemented by the 1953 document, the Rights and Duties of the 4.6. Always consider how reports Editor (Redaktørplakaten),as well as a on accidents and crime may affect the code regarding advertising language victims and next-of-kin. Do not identify (Tekstreklameplakaten). victims or missing persons unless next- of-kin have been informed. Show con- Extractions and main aspects of the sideration towards people in grief or at Ethical Code related to coverage of times of shock. gender-based and domestic violence Some of the main rules in the Code, 4.7. Be cautious in the use of applicable to gender-based and names and pictures and other items domestic violence include: of definite identification in court and crime reporting. Particular consideration 1.5. It is the task of the press to protect should be shown when writing about individuals and groups against injus- cases still being investigated, and cases tices or neglect, committed by public involving young offenders. Refrain from

60 identification unless this is necessary to or criticism are parts of a running ex- meet just and fair demands for information. change of views. Such responses should never be accompanied by an editorial, 4.8. Reporting on children, it is consid- polemical comment, but any response ered good press conduct to assess the should be of reasonable length, be perti- implications that media focusing could nent to the matter and seemly in its form. cause in each case. This also pertains when the person in charge or parent, has 4.16. Beware that digital publication agreed to exposure. As a general rule the pointers and links could bring you to identity of children should not be dis- other electronic media that do not comply closed in reports on family disputes with the Ethical Code. See to it that links to or cases under consideration by the other media or publications are clearly childcare authorities or by the courts. marked. It is considered good press conduct to inform the users of interactive 4.9. Suicide and attempted suicide services on how the publication registers should in general never be reported. you, and possibly exploits your use of the services. 4.10. Exercise caution when using photos in any other context than the 4.17. Should the editorial staff choose not original. to pre-edit digital chatting, this has to be announced in a clear manner for those 4.11. Protect the credibility of the accessing the pages. The editorial staff journalistic photograph. Photos used has a particular responsibility, instantly as documentation must not be altered in to remove inserts that are not in com- a way that creates a false impression. pliance with the Ethical Code. Manipulated photos can only be accepted as illustrations if it is evident that it in Further, the role of the Norwegian actual fact is a picture collage. media Press Association (NP) is related not only to complaints, but also to many 4.12. The use of pictures must comply other aspects. This along with the wide with the same requirements of caution as coverage of the Ethical Code combines for a written or oral presentation. a healthy and strong self- regulation in Norway. NP is handling questions on 4.13. Incorrect information must be behalf of the Norwegian media concern- corrected and, when called for, an ing press ethics by the Norwegian Press apology given, as soon as possible. Complaints Commission, as well as the medias access to official information 4.14. Those who have been subjected to and freedom of information – freedom strong accusations shall, if possible, have of speech and freedom of the press in the opportunity to simultaneous reply general. The NP has a strong voice and as regards factual information. Debates, advocates actively on behalf of the media. criticism and dissemination of news must Due to its long tradition and its obligatory not be hampered by parties being unwill- character, its field of competence covers ing to make comments or take part in the all media – radio, television, daily press, debate. the weekly press, periodical publications and online publications. 4.15. Those who have been subjected to attacks shall, as soon as possible, have the As of the Norwegian Press Complaints opportunity to reply, unless the attack Commission (PCC) as part of the PC, it also

61 has a strong role in the media regulation. against women and domestic violence Anyone can complain – the persons (Istanbul Convention) was ratified in 2017. concerned must approve the complaint. The treatment is free of charge – “Free, Domestic violence is a specific offence fast and fair”. The Secretary General in Norway from January 1st 2006 (Penal may take a case to the PCC on their own Code article 282 and 283). A criminal case initiative. The PCC is independent of the may be brought before the court, even if state. As a professional body the PCC is a the woman withdraws the formal report. part of the Norwegian media. The press Free legal aid is provided for abused members are always in majority. The women, including women subjected to PCC is always led by either an editor or domestic violence from spouses and a journalist. cohabitants.

Other relevant legal acts Police efforts have been considerably The Norwegian Constitution is gender strengthened the last few years. They neutral in its formulation. It contains no have been given a number of new explicit provisions on gender equality tools for the treatment and protection or prohibitions against gender discrimi- of victims, and are focusing more nation. These areas are regulated by the strongly on investigating cases and Norwegian Equality and Anti- Discrimi- taking them to court. A family violence nation Act. The Act came into force as the coordinator has been appointed in Gender Equality Act in 1979 and has all police districts. The coordinator is subsequently been amended several to help ensure that the police meet the times, most recently in 2018. Gender victim of violence and her family and equality is also made explicit in other friends with understanding, knowledge Norwegian acts and regulations, and insight – in both professional and human terms. Interesting tool used in Norway supports the promotion of Norway is the so called violence alarms. gender equality internationally. Norway Security alarms to women threatened by has ratified all the human rights treaties their exhusbands/live-in boyfriends in and international conference agree- 1997. There are more than 2000 alarms ments which provide a legal foundation in operation. Intended to give persons for ending gender discrimination and under threat of violence greater gender based rights violations. The most freedom of movement and help prevent important convention is the Convention violence and threats. The alarm system on the Elimination of All Forms of Dis- is based on two geographical positioning crimination against Women (CEDAW), systems (GPS and GSM) to ensure that adopted in 1979. Norway reports reg- the police can locate the person under ularly to the CEDAW committee on the threat as accurately as possible. When current situation concerning gender the alarm is triggered, the person equality in the country, and on measures concerned can communicate directly being implemented by the government with the police operations center. As a for promoting gender equality. Being tool to improve the situation for victims incorporated into the Human Rights, of violence by limiting the action of the CEDAW takes precedence over other offender the police has implemented legislation in cases of conflict. electronic monitoring of persons who have violated a ban on contact or visits. The Council of Europe Convention on The use of electronic monitoring of preventing and combating violence offenders is only allowed as part of a

62 sentence. The perpetrator is fitted with • give special attention to the needs an electronic tagging device, which in of children the event of breach of a restraining order will trigger an alarm at the police Conclusion station. The system uses 3 – way cellular, In Norway, the legal framework is not landline and RF communication as well much different related to special rules as GPS tracking in order to monitor the regarding gender-based and domestic aggressor and alert the victim and violence cases. However, the overall monitoring center. media law environment is healthier and has a much stronger wider scope, includ- Prevention system ing online and printed media, in contract Norway has implemented different to Bulgaria. Norwegian self-regulation tools for prevention of violence. There has an old tradition and covers all media is an implementation of risk assessment outlets, which makes a significant dif- tool, called SARA (Spousal Assault Risk ference towards coverage of cases of Assessment Guide) in the police force. violence. Apart from media coverage, SARA is a checklist and has a score the state takes significant measures to form to screen for risk factors of spousal provide in-depth analysis, awareness assault so that preventive measures campaigns and protection of victims can be taken. of violence. These efforts has a strong effect in the media and their attitude The Government has also adopted a towards gender-based and domestic legislation which involves the introduc- violence cases. tion of a statutory municipal duty to provide shelter services for its population irrespective of gender. The law entered into force the January 1st 2010. The main reason for providing a statutory shelter service is to make clear that the public authorities are responsible for ensuring that individual users of women’s shelters receive coordinated, individual follow- up from other support services.

It is a statutory duty for local authorities to provide the following services to victims of domestic violence (free of charge):

• 24 hour telephone helpline

• a shelter or equivalent safe, temporary accommodation a day service including support and assistance

• assistance during the re- estab- lishment phase

• co-ordinate different services

63 about them (in Bulgarian). Not every term Annex 1 has explicitly been explained in the last GBDV Lexicon Bulgaria section, as some of them were synonyms or just different forms of the same word. Lexicon of inappropriate vocabulary used in media The GBDV Lexicon in Bulgarian (featuring a total of 134 terms) is attached in a articles about gender-based and spreadsheet that contains information domestic violence in Bulgaria about each term and its presence in media items. The first column includes Methodology the term itself or at least one of the The aim of the analysis of the Lexicolo- forms of the word that was used to filter gy of Media Articles on Gender-based relevant publications. Most words have and Domestic Violence is to map the other forms that have also been included frequency and characteristics of words in the analysis and are all grouped up and terms which are not appropriate for under a single version of the term. journalistic materials on what is a sensitive topic. This was be done by creating a The next few columns deal with the terms’ lexicon of such terms/words which was presence in articles. The first one lists analysed according to multiple criteria the number of headlines that contain the including frequency of usage, underlying term. Some of the words in the lexicon sentiment, etc. have only been considered inappropriate for headlines only and not when present The initial list was put together on the in the text itself. This is the case with the basis of a textual analysis of all relevant word “details” which by itself is a normal headlines, looking for words and phrases word, but when used in headlines it aims that would be deemed inappropriate. to sensationalize serious crime by prom- The analysis focused on words/phrases ising readers further details on the rape, that featured in at least one headline murder, etc. over the analysed period. The addition of each word/phrase in the lexicon was The next column includes the number of discussed by the team and consulted times the word/phrase has been used with the experts. in articles. This is different from the next column of articles featuring the term, Once the base lexicon was finalized, as one article could sometimes contain the words/phrases within it were used more than one instance of inappropriate as keywords to filter out all articles that terms. mention them within their body (and not just headline). Those articles went The fifth column is a simple measure through thorough analysis aimed at of how many times the word/phrase finding additional words/phrases to add has been used in journalist texts overall to the already existing base lexicon. (in both headlines and article bodies), while the sixth one offers the so-called The addition of further entries to the prevalence score used to measure how lexicon was also be discussed internally important that word was in articles about between the analyst team and consulted domestic violence. The score looks at with experts. The final Lexicon included the number of articles and headlines in this annex encompasses all words mentioning the term, but also gives and phrases plus additional information headlines twice the weight. The formula

64 behind it is a+2*b where a is the number of articles mentioning the term and b – the number of headlines mentioning it. This index will be used further down the analysis to determine the overall impact of terms included in the lexicon.

The final column groups terms according to their nature. There are three main classifiers:

1. Sensationalist – typical of yellow journalism. Using shocking and provocative headlines and wording to sell. Particularly inappropriate when dealing with serious topics, such as gender-based violence. Sensation- alism tends to dumb the audience’s feelings and offer a perspective that hides the actual underlying problems instead of spotlighting them.

2. Derogatory – straight out derogatory adjectives or nouns (or such evoking negative associations), most often targeting perpetrators. They serve a similar role as sensationalist wording in dumbing readers’ senses and focusing not on what is actually important, but on what would provoke anger. This also includes articles that outright call people paedophiles, drug addicts, etc., without any actual evidence to support that claim. Journalism ought to present facts and not diagnose people.

3. Discriminatory/stereotypical – terms describing groups of people that are not necessarily derogatory, but are used to reinforce stereotypes against ethnic, sexual, and other minorities. Most often than not, in the case of Bulgaria, this would include Roma people, migrants, and LGBT people. The word “gay”, for example is normal in itself, but not when used in the expression “gay murder”.

65 Lexicon Table

Number Number of Preva- Inappropriate of titles Number of articles Number of overall occurrences in lence word/term featuring featuring word occurrences text score word

абсурд 2 51 47 53 51 ад 16 0 0 16 32 афера 8 19 17 27 33 афера 10 0 0 10 20 бабаит 6 23 20 29 32 безмилостно 5 11 11 16 21 безумие 2 5 5 7 9 бесен 5 62 57 67 67 бияч 47 202 141 249 235 брутално 263 716 597 979 1123 бясна 1 27 21 28 23 вендета 0 29 28 29 28 взриви 27 60 45 87 99 вцепени 8 1 1 9 17 гавра 14 118 102 132 130 гаври 52 198 165 250 269 гей убийство 5 0 0 5 10 гейове 8 23 14 31 30 гнусно 22 127 108 149 152 гола 16 0 0 16 32 гръмна 14 0 0 14 28 джендър 11 74 38 85 60 див 97 0 0 97 194 драма 21 213 183 234 225 дърт/ак 19 20 18 39 56 ексклузивно 1 22 22 23 24 екшън 62 178 151 240 275 жестоко 412 1609 1377 2021 2201 загорели 16 25 21 41 53 закла 35 106 75 141 145 засукан 6 5 5 11 17 зверски 209 459 425 668 843 зверство 24 139 123 163 171 зловещ 17 127 112 144 146 изверг 80 115 102 195 262 извратен 15 37 30 52 60 извращение 11 69 62 80 84 изгаври 9 3 3 12 21

66 Number Number of Preva- Inappropriate of titles Number of articles Number of overall occurrences in lence word/term featuring featuring word occurrences text score word

изнагля 2 0 0 2 4 изрева 2 2 2 4 6 изригна 15 13 13 28 43 изрод 28 46 40 74 96 касапин 1 6 4 7 6 касапница 8 16 14 24 30 като куче 17 37 36 54 70 келеш 7 5 5 12 19 килър 8 55 39 63 55 клане 6 20 20 26 32 коварна 6 11 11 17 23 комшия 9 151 107 160 125 кошмар 28 170 155 198 211 кървав 37 347 319 384 393 кютек 3 2 2 5 8 лигави 6 7 7 13 19 мангал 2 4 4 6 8 маниаци 10 13 12 23 32 мастурбира 2 4 4 6 8 мачо 0 36 28 36 28 мерак 2 37 31 39 35 мигрант 70 169 131 239 271 младок 7 10 10 17 24 мръсник 0 4 4 4 4 мръсница 0 2 2 2 2 мургав 8 16 14 24 30 мутри 8 27 11 35 27 мъжага 2 3 3 5 7 набил 187 0 0 187 374 надрусан 0 20 19 20 19 напаст 0 2 2 2 2 наркоман 4 101 92 105 100 наръга 36 169 157 205 229 настръхна 12 20 20 32 44 немислимо 4 9 8 13 16 неописуемо 0 5 5 5 5 нечовешки 4 42 31 46 39 нокаутира 1 1 1 2 3 обезумял 2 11 5 13 9

67 Number Number of Preva- Inappropriate of titles Number of articles Number of overall occurrences in lence word/term featuring featuring word occurrences text score word

онемя 0 1 1 1 1 освирепя 0 1 1 1 1 отвратително 2 29 29 31 33 отърва 18 62 55 80 91 пандиз 8 28 26 36 42 педофил 261 712 407 973 929 пердах 0 3 3 3 3 пияна 2 12 10 14 14 подивял 1 6 5 7 7 подробности 85 0 0 85 170 позор 2 28 19 30 23 покъртително 7 22 22 29 36 потресаващо 71 319 284 390 426 похотлив 12 33 24 45 48 приказно 1 0 0 1 2 красива проплака 4 10 9 14 17 психар 4 2 2 6 10 разглезен 0 10 10 10 10 разгонен 22 23 21 45 65 ревнивец 26 93 67 119 119 резил 0 3 3 3 3 рогоносец 0 6 6 6 6 роми-биячи 1 0 0 1 2 ромка 10 23 16 33 36 садист 27 36 34 63 88 свада 23 91 89 114 135 свиреп 9 34 34 43 52 силиконка 0 8 8 8 8 скандално 15 88 65 103 95 смля 7 14 11 21 25 смразяващ 1 20 19 21 21 сношава 1 59 57 60 59 срам 9 0 0 9 18 страсти 6 33 31 39 43 страховит 4 43 42 47 50 страшни мъки 4 3 3 7 11 страшно 18 97 86 115 122 съкрушително 1 1 1 2 3

68 Number Number of Preva- Inappropriate of titles Number of articles Number of overall occurrences in lence word/term featuring featuring word occurrences text score word

терор 15 0 0 15 30 трагедия 30 316 285 346 345 трепери 6 39 38 45 50 тъмна доба 5 1 1 6 11 ужасяващо 12 157 145 169 169 умопомрачи- 1 1 1 2 3 телн фука 5 8 8 13 18 хорър 6 4 4 10 16 цигане 11 1 1 12 23 цигани 96 235 156 331 348 цигански 16 98 84 114 116 циганче 6 24 14 30 26 цинизъм 0 59 58 59 58 ченгета 13 128 108 141 134 чудовищ 4 48 41 52 49 шамар 146 450 325 596 617 шок 19 0 0 19 38 шокира 41 269 239 310 321

69 The Prevention Through Awareness Project ACF/349, www.ptainfo.eu, is being implementеd by Intelday Foundation, in partnership with Perceptica Ltd., Bulgaria, and M-Brain AS, Norway, with a financial support of Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway under the EEA Financial Mechanism. The purpose of the project is to analyze the coverage of the Domestic Violence and Gender-Based Violence in Bulgarian and Norwegian media, and communication campaign.

This document was created with the financial support of the Operator of the Active Citizens Fund Bulgaria under Financial Mechanism of the European Economic Area. The sole responsibility for the content of this publication lies with the Intelday Foundation and under no circumstances can be taken this document to reflect the official opinion of the European Economic Area Financial Mechanism and the Operator of the Active Citizens Fund Bulgaria. www.activecitizensfund.bg