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It’s the words they use ..

31.05.2007    source: www.lenta.ru
The Russian Centre for Information and Analysis “Sova” has presented a study entitled “Hate language against society”, which looks at the modern vocabulary of the Russian press

.Representatives of “Sova” told a press conference in Moscow on 29 May that their monitoring of the press during the previous week had shown that virtually all central media outlets use word collocations capable of arousing resentment from one social group against another or of even provoking clashes between ethnic groups.

The monitoring which the study is based on was carried out from 1 September to 31 December 2006.

The researchers cite as examples of how words incite inter-ethnic enmity, headlines like “Clashes have begun in Moscow between local residents and people from Dagestan” or “Two Azerbaijanis rob a stall”.

The authors of the study believe that it is not reality which forms our language, but language which forms how we perceive reality. One of the authors, Galina Kozhevnikova says that most hate language is produced by journalists.

At the same time, however, the Director of the “Sova” Centre Alexander Verkhovsky believes the draft law presently under consideration in the State Duma to be a mistake. This prohibits journalists from publishing the nationality of people who have committed crimes [and presumably those accused of them – translator]. “The State should not regulate the work of the media to such an extent”. He believes that such cases should be regulated by editorial policy or etiquette.

The “Sova” Centre was created in 2002, and carries out research into nationalism and xenophobia, religious and social relations and political radicalism.

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