Lesbian and Gay Population in Serbian Print Media

Labris

23 January 2008

Labris � Organization for Lesbian Human Rights, started a new cycle of monitoring of daily newspapers in Serbia on January 1, 2007, which analyzes the articles and reports referring to LGBTTIQ terminology and subject.

According to the latest Labris report, in October, November and December 2007, a total of 339 articles were published in Serbian daily newspapers on LGBTTIQ subjects and terminology, 74 articles more than over the previous monitored period (July, August, September 2007).

The gay and lesbian population is mostly mentioned on Entertainment pages, followed by news of the world, cultural pages and the crime-beat. As before, the Society departments rarely touch on same-sex orientation, with just 22 articles (6.5 percent of the total) related to LGBTTIQ issues and terminology.

It leads to the conclusion that the print media are mostly interested in private life of public personalities, the celebrity scene, with obvious lack of professional interest and approach to lesbian and gay issues, states the report.

There were positive changes in terms of using lesbian and gay associations as sources of information. Unlike the previous monitored trimester, when local LGBTTIQ organizations were used as sources in 17 articles, this time they were the main source of information for 30 of the printed articles.

Lesbian and gay populations are still covered as an afterthought. The LGBTTIQ population was the main topic of just 50 articles (14.7%).

For more information on the Report, visit this link.