Project Title: Minority Politics, Mass Media and Civil Society in Transition Countries: A Case Study of Lithuania, Latvia and Poland

During the first half of my felowship term I was engaged in reviewing and collecting social research material and data pertaining to ethnic and sexual minorities in three countries, Poland, Latvia and Lithuania. My research extended on the empirical and and theoretical analysis of minorities that I conducted in the context of Lithuania. I reviewed a large amount of literature in five languages, Polish, Lithuanian, Russian, Latvian and English. I prepared a research article on the reviewed literature. I also prepared a course of minorities and media in Eastern Europe. I started the preparation of a extensive questionnare which will result in a survey Media and Minorities in Eastern Europe. My activity also included the dissemination of my research through publications and my active participation in conferences and seminars.
 

1. Research paper. During the first half of my fellowship, I prepared a research paper “Minority Politics, Mass Media and Civil Society in Lithuania, Latvia and Poland” that partially summarized my research findings. The paper analyzes portrayals and interpretations of minorities in Eastern European mass media, identifies bias in the media toward ethnic and sexual minority groups and points to the necessity for a complex and multi-layered strategy to affect the change in the field of minority politics. 

 

2.Preparation of a course. I also prepared an extensive upper level course entitled “Mass Media, Minorities and Civil Society in Eastern Europe” that is a part of my policy project. The course is tentatively scheduled to be taught during the spring semester, 2004, at Vytautas Magnus University and Vilnius University. This course focusing largely on Lithuanian, Latvian and Polish media but drawing parallels to the media of other Eastern European countries critically examines the role of the media in constructing, disseminating and challenging the images of minorities in different societies.
 
 

3.Preparation of a questionnaire Media and Minorities in Eastern Europe (in progress). It focuses on the empowerment and participation of socially excluded groups in the media. This questionnaire targets NGOs active in the field of media and minorities, policy makers and educators. The questionnaire will be set up in such a way that organizations and individuals would feel invited to respond. The questionnaire and survey has to result in the development of adequate tools facilitating group and individual initiatives to improve the multicultural media environment in Lithuania, Poland and Latvia.
 

 

4.Participation in conferences and seminars. I participated in a number of conferences including:

 

“On the Margins: Representations of Sexual Minorities in Lithuanian Press (2000-2001).” Paper presented at an international seminar Contemporary Change in Lithuania, Baltic & East European Graduate School, Södertörns högskola, University College, Stockholm, September 27, 2002.

 

“Representations of Roma Minority in the Lithuanian Mass Media: Some Initial Observations.” Paper presented at a conference International Program on Preservation of Weakest Minorities with Special Focus on Roma Issues, Vilnius University, Vilnius, December 4-6, 2002.

 

“Citizenship and Sexuality: Sexual Minorities in the Lithuanian Mass Media.” Paper presented at an international conference Civil Society: For or Against Homophobia, Vilnius, February 8, 2003. 

 

“From Invisibility to Publicity: Gays and Lesbians in the Lithuanian Mass Media.” Paper presented at a conference Is Homosexuality a Taboo? Social and Legal Situation of Sexual Minorities in Lithuania, Department of Law, Vilnius University, Vilnius, April 8, 2003. 
 
 

5. Preparation of publications. During the reported period I published and submitted research papers:

 
 

“Visibility and the Public Sphere: Sexual Minorities in The Lithuanian Mass Media (2000-01),” Contemporary Change in Lithuania, ed. Eglė Rindzevičiūtė, forthcoming (Stockholm, 2003).
 

 

“Representations of Roma Minority in the Lithuanian Mass Media: Between Positive and Negative Stereotypes,” in the Proceedings of a conference International Program on Preservation of Weakest Minorities with Special Focus on Roma Issues, forthcoming (Vilnius: Vilnius University, 2003). 

 

“Towards a New Politics of Citizenship: Representations of Ethnic and Sexual Minorities in the Lithuanian Mass Media (2000-01),” in Miklos Sukosd and Peter Bajomi Lazar, eds.,Reinventing Media: Media Policy in East Central Europe (Budapest, 2003).

 

“Viešumo įkainiai paraštėse: seksualinių mažumų vaizdavimas Lietuvos spaudoje (2000-01 metai)” (The Price of Visibility on the Margins: Sexual Minorities and Lithuanian Mass Media) in Artūras Tereškinas, ed., Vieši gyvenimai, intymios erdvės,: kūnas, viešumas, fantazija šiuolaikinėje Lietuvoje (Public Lives, Intimate Places: Body, Publicity, and Fantasy in Contemporary Lithuania), Vilnius: Baltos Lankos, 2002, p. 181-204.

 

My short essays on ethnic and sexual minorities appeared at the most popular Internet portal in Lithuania www.omni.lt. They were reprinted at www.gay.lt and LGL žinios no. 3-4 (2002). 

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