Building tolerance for LGBT+ starts with news media

Aistė Turčinavičiūtė

Objectivity, neutrality, and factuality – these are some of the values ​​that every professional journalist or media representative should strive for. However, as the analysis of various Lithuanian media channels, including radio, television, press, and online content, shows, these notions ​​are not necessarily maintained and transmitted to the public at all times. Such issue is especially evident in publications concerning the most vulnerable groups in our society, one of them being the LGBTQ+ community.

In the context of our society divided over LGBT+ rights, it becomes difficult for journalists not to convey their own attitude in their works. Using the platform provided by the media channel, they publicly put themselves in a particular position and promote certain ideas in hopes of persuading the public to think the same way. Whether it be support or hatred for the LGBT+ community, journalists no longer adhere to neutrality: facts are accompanied by various emotional nuances or sometimes even replaced completely by subjective observations.

The current situation regarding how the LGBT+ community is portrayed in Lithuanian news media is closely observed by the media monitoring team from ​​Media4Change, whose members constantly examine all news media content related to LGBT+. The data analysis carried out by the team allows to determine how Lithuanian media channels usually cover the LGBT+ community: whether the journalist’s position tends to be positive, negative, or neutral, whether the journalist perpetuates certain negative stereotypes, and whether the community members themselves are given a chance to voice their concerns. Such insights are shared with media representatives to educate them about problematic journalistic practices. By doing so, the Media4Change team aims to improve the situation of individuals who are arguably the most stigmatized in our society.

According to the latest data provided by the Media4Change media monitoring team, although the majority of publications concerning the LGBT+ community are neutral, the group tends to be portrayed in a negative context much more frequently than in a positive one. For example, in March 2021, 85.6% of publications were neutral, 12.7% reflected the author’s negative attitude, and only 1.8% included positive remarks regarding LGBT+. A comparison of data from the last three years shows that the portion of publications in which the LGBT+ community is covered in a negative light is increasing. The genre of news where the group is portrayed negatively most often is commentary, or opinion pieces. Members of the community themselves are rarely given a voice in the news media: between October 2020 and March 2021, they were interviewed in only 7% of publications.

Publications that portray the LGBT+ community in a negative context are full of various expressions of intolerance towards this social group, and they sometimes even escalate into hate speech. Here is a literal translation of just a few typical intolerant phrases, found by Media4Change volunteers during their research:

new gender identities that are created almost every week,

minorities are pushing their dictatorship,

gender hysteria,

LGBT-nators,

the triumph of madness.

In addition, media representatives frequently refer to the fight for LGBT+ rights as homosexualization of the state and brainwashing of the people, accuse members of the community of playing the victim, and compare homosexuality to degeneration.

Such claims made by media representatives can be regarded as very irresponsible. It is crucial to remember that the role the news media plays in forming public opinion is still very significant. By reading or listening to such expressions of intolerance towards the LGBT+ community, the public can adopt the journalist’s negative outlook or reinforce their own negative perception and attribute certain negative trends in society to this particular group. All of this would lead a further stigmatization of the LGBT+ community.

So, let’s think before publishing – our actions may lead to further manifestations of intolerance both in the digital space and in real life. Let’s learn to coexist and refer to each other in a respectful manner. A more tolerant news media will influence the formation of a more tolerant society.