The Macedonian public is again shocked by the portal Dokaz.mk, known for its sexism and misogyny, in which it tries to inappropriately sexually discredit women through sensationalist headlines. The portal’s articles are full of obvious stereotypes and discriminatory narratives that refer to women. Dokaz.mk regularly publishes content that sexualizes, mocks and/or insults women in the public sphere on a gender basis, and journalist Miroslava Byrns is one of the victims of this “portal“, who, after asking for an apology and publicly withdrawal ofthe article of Dokaz.mk, in which a series of slanders and insults were presented, as a response, got a new article with even more problematic content.
This is contrary to the principles of journalistic reporting. Journalists and the media must not transmit unverified information that threatens human rights or freedoms. Such articles include gender discrimination, spread of misogyny and sexism.
The F2N2 team registered several articles with unprofessional, insulting and discriminatory articles about the journalist Miroslava Byrns on the internet portal Dokaz.mk, published on: 18.05.2020 and 19.05.2020.
These texts are written in a gossip style, and it is evident that they are intended only to tarnish the personality of the journalist Byrns, and not to point to any abuse she may have committed. Each text is individually more scandalous than the other, and it is evident that they are written in a series, as a response or revenge for something.
Besides Byrns’ colleagues, other activists have reacted on the social media, who are clearly disgusted by the articles and call on the authorities to respond.
The Independent Syndicate of Journalists and Media Workers (SSNM) has publicly condemned the insults and slander directed at their colleague Miroslava Byrns. Their statement said:
“Any slanders and insults of this type are unacceptable, and especially unacceptable in the public debate, i.e. when they appear as a reaction to a professionally prepared and realized text of our colleague. We think that the time when the facts and arguments are being answered with personal disqualifications should come to an end, and in this case it is raised to a level not of “street” language, but of monstrous constructions that are far away from having any touching points with the text that is being reacted to.“
The Association of Journalists of Macedonia (AJM) also condemned the hate speech on its Facebook page, stating the following:
“Insults on personal grounds, sexist speech and speech that contain elements of humiliation for journalists are unacceptable. We fully support our colleague Miroslava Byrns and we join the condemnation of SSNM.“
We have witnessed that certain media outlets reinforce gender stereotypes, directly leading to sexism and discrimination. Shameless misogyny can be seen in the comments of certain performers and media commentators and in the portrayal of women on television, in movies, music and other media.
The F2N2 team strongly condemns these texts, which are below all standards, and reminds journalists and the media not to convey unverified information that threatens human rights or freedoms. Such articles include gender discrimination, the spread of misogyny, hate speech, and sexism.
FINANCED BY
This project was funded in part through a U.S. Embassy grant. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed herein are those of the implementers/authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Government.
PARTNERS
