It will be held The international conference In Other Words will be held on Thursday, October 6th. (In Other Words), at the Aula Magna of the University of Mantua Foundation.
The conference aims to discuss stereotypes and media portrayals of ethnic and religious minorities, people with disabilities, and members of the LGBT community.
The conference is the result of a European project, In Other Words, which aims to formulate a response to the current situation, in which the media are often vehicles for the spread of stereotypes, and to contribute to the improvement of the media message.
The project is led by the Province of Mantua. The partners are: Article 3 – Discrimination Observatory (Italy), Intercultural Institute of Timisoara (Romania), Eurocircle (France), Diputaciòn Provincial de Jaén (Spain), IEBA (Portugal), Fundaciòn Almeria Social y Laboral (Spain), and Tallinn University (Estonia). The associated partners are: Sucar Drom, EuroPeople, and the Lifelong Learning Association.
The general objectives of the project are:
– develop a critical attitude towards messages conveyed by the media, within the local communities involved in the project;
– increase awareness of the media (starting with local media) about their role in spreading stereotypes and their potential to effectively convey a culture of diversity;
– define and test a methodology for media monitoring, create alternative communication tools (newsletters, blogs, online newspapers), and provide feedback to the media and journalists;
– involve young people and members of minorities or minority associations, such as Roma and Sinti people, migrants, people with disabilities, members of religious minorities, and the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) community, and involve them in the production and dissemination of accurate information, using dedicated web tools;
– contribute to the dissemination of independent counter-information on minorities and discriminated groups in Europe, developing a strategy based on a cross-community approach and the direct involvement of victims of discrimination.
Starting from the experience of 'Article 3, Observatory on Discrimination', of which Arcigay “La Salamandra” is a member, the project will develop a European network of 7 local press observatories-units, which include representatives of ethnic or religious minorities or discriminated groups.
The network will help create a comprehensive and structured monitoring-analysis-alert-response system, monitoring approximately 100 newspapers covering 7 regions in 6 European countries. It will identify discriminatory behavior, provide feedback to the media involved, and create counterinformation based on deconstructing stereotypes.
