Study: N1 gave Belgrade Pride two and a half times more airtime than public broadcaster RTS

N1, Serbia’s independent cable news channel, devoted two and a half times more time to Belgrade Pride in its main evening news programmes than the state public broadcaster RTS (Radio Television of Serbia), according to a study by communications scholar Goran Zarić reported by the Belgrade weekly Vreme. The analysis covers both channels’ coverage from 2016 to 2024.

Over that period, N1 gave the Pride march a total of 73 minutes and 31 seconds of airtime, while RTS gave it 29 minutes and 15 seconds.

The figures on who got to speak tell a different story. Marchers made up 43 per cent of the people RTS interviewed, but only 14 per cent of N1’s interviewees. RTS spoke to 20 participants, while N1 carried statements from six. Pride activists and organisers appeared eight times on each channel.

The two channels also framed the event differently. According to the study, RTS focused more on the march itself, participants’ statements, the organisers’ demands and the presence of officials, while N1 more often linked Pride to legal demands, political decisions and institutional responsibility.

The study also points to phrases such as “we as the majority” and “tolerance towards them” as examples of language that sets LGBT people apart from other citizens.

“It is not enough for someone’s voice to be heard in the news if there is no explanation of the problems they face and the changes they are asking for,” Zarić said. “That is why we cannot measure the quality of reporting by minutes and the number of statements alone.”

The results were presented to mark UNESCO’s Global Media and Information Literacy Week, held from 24 to 31 October.

Source: vreme.com. English adaptation: gay-serbia.com.