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Hate speech soars in Russia
30/05/2007 11:16 - (SA)
Moscow - The use of hate language against minorities in Russian media has reached a peak since 2003 and often has official approval, a top xenophobia monitoring organisation said on Tuesday.
A four-month survey of major periodicals and television broadcasts in late 2006 by the respected non-governmental organisation Sova found 528 instances of hateful language, ranging from unfavourable portrayals of non-Russian ethnic groups to open calls for violence.
While hateful language was occasionally presented in a negative light, with the media in question implicitly criticising its use, in 61% of cases the media outlet displayed apparent approval of the language, Sova said.
"This year, hate speech in the press was very much a product of official rhetoric," Sova co-director Galina Kozhevnikova said at a presentation on Tuesday.
Racist rhetoric
She cited an avalanche of anti-Georgian rhetoric among politicians during a diplomatic dispute between Moscow and Tbilisi last year that was amplified in media owned or controlled by the state.
Another surge came during a media campaign that accompanied a government push late last year to limit the numbers of ethnic non-Russians in the country's food markets, she said.
Kozhevnikova said she expected racist rhetoric to rise during the parliamentary and presidential election season in coming months.
"It is obvious that the problem will only intensify, since nationalism will be used as a political resource by all the players without exception," she said.
In all, Sova monitored 13 periodicals and eight television programmes over four months for hateful language from September 1 to December 31.
In 15% of cases, the context indicated the media outlet was critical of the language, 24% provided a neutral context and 61% showed apparent support for the language.
The number of instances of hate language in the media had been dropping since 2003.
- AFP
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