At the fourth round table, “Discrimination and Anti-Gypsyism in the Public and Media Space in Serbia: From Narrative to Response”, organised in Orašac by the Ecumenical Humanitarian Organization, Commissioner for the Protection of Equality, Milan Antonijević, spoke about how the manner of reporting can influence social attitudes and how important it is to recognise discrimination and respond to it, as well as to work on reducing it.

The media have a major role in combating discrimination and a great responsibility because, depending on the manner of reporting, they can spread prejudice, stereotypes and hate speech – sometimes even unintentionally, the Commissioner pointed out.

As an example of a response that led to a concrete change, he cited a complaint concerning a television report about an incident on a bus, in which the Roma ethnicity of the attackers was highlighted even though their ethnic affiliation was not relevant to the event itself. After discrimination was established, the television station recognised the mistake and acted on the recommendation, while newsroom employees underwent training on non-discriminatory reporting.

The importance of prevention and cooperation between institutions, civil society organisations and the media was also highlighted by other participants in the discussion, including the Local Ombudsperson of the City of Kragujevac and the municipalities of Aranđelovac, Rača and Knić, Jelena Milivojević, as one of the hosts of the round table, as well as representatives of the Protector of Citizens, the Provincial Protector of Citizens, local ombudspersons from Belgrade, Novi Sad, Sombor, Vračar and Žitište, as well as representatives of civil society organisations and the media.

This was also an opportunity for discussion with citizens, including Roma who face multiple discrimination. The participants in the round table took an active part in jointly finding solutions to the problems raised by the citizens.