| Abstract [eng] |
The aim of this research is to analyze ethnic topics of Lithuanian press. The objective of the research is to examine in what forms and how ethnic intolerance is constructed in printed and Internet media texts through representation of topics, problems, named causers of the problems and their causality (i.e. by introducing/presenting explanations of causes of the problems). Therefore, the main problem of this study is the assessment of the concept of ethnic intolerance and measurement of ethnic intolerance in media discourse. The main body of empirical data was collected during the qualitative research of printed and Internet media, which consisted of two parts: (1) media content analysis and (2) structured interviews with experts (politicians, officials, representatives of ethnic minorities, and journalists). The findings of the research of ethnic intolerance content in Lithuanian media reveals that topics (problems) of interethnic relations in Lithuanian press are mostly interrelated with economical and political issues and less with cultural and psychological causality aspects. Each ethnic or religious group – Roma, Jews, Polish, Russians, Muslims and immigrants – is associated with specific problems in the Lithuanian press. No aggressive forms of ethnic intolerance (incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence) were found in the content of Lithuanian press. The most common manifestations of ethnic intolerance in Lithuanian press were hate speech, harassment, subtle (hidden) prejudices, stereotypes and the discourse of silence. The understanding of ethnic problems (topics) in Lithuanian society and representation of ethnic problems in Lithuanian press present a closed circulation cycle as the problems experienced by ethnic, religious and migrant groups in Lithuanian society and identified by surveyed experts, are partially reiterated from topics about ethnic groups covered in media. |
