The analysis carried out reveals how the media portrayed these groups, in what contexts they emerged, how public opinion is formed, in what political picture the groups emerge, and what main images of theirs are created.

National and regional media were monitored during the study period. The research analyses publications on the basis of quantitative (subject and genre distribution) and qualitative (source comparison and headline analysis) criteria.

SEXUAL ORIENTATION

The media monitoring conducted from January to December of 2019 tracked journalistic work mentioning the terms “homosexual”, “gay”, “lesbian”, “orientation”, “LGBT”, “transgender”, and “gender reassignment”. In 12 months, 1676 journalistic works were selected. The most commonly used term is “homosexual” and the least frequently used is “transsexual”. The works discussing sexual orientation in the context of Lithuanian news were selected.

• CONTEXT OF THE ARTICLES

In this analysis, journalistic works that speak about celebrations, victories, achievements, gains, and the difficulties overcome are seen as positive contexts. Journalistic works with a negative context cover criminal events, conflicts, disasters, natural tragedies, reminiscent of historical conflicts and crime, where negative phenomena are associated with the groups analysed in the publications. Journalistic works that maintain a balance of views, discuss facts, and research are considered neutral.

Two thirds of the analysed journalistic works on sexual orientation are neutral (70 percent), negative (14 percent) negative and positive (16 percent).

The word “gay” is mentioned in 794 works. Most of them (71 percent) are neutral, 13 percent contain a positive context and 16 percent of the selected works mention the word ‘gay’ in a negative context.

The keyword “homosexual” is mentioned in 803 works. Most of them (70 percent) are neutral, 15 percent contain a positive context and 15 percent of the selected works mention the keyword “homosexual” in a negative context.

The keyword “LGBT” is mentioned in 633 works. Most of them (67 percent) are neutral, 24 percent contain a positive context and 9 percent of the selected works mention the keyword “LGBT” in a negative context.

The keyword “lesbian” is mentioned in 436 works. Most of them (69 percent) are neutral, 21 percent contain a positive context and 10 percent of the selected works mention the keyword “lesbian” in a negative context.

The keyword ‘gender reassignment’ is mentioned in 63 works. Most of them (67 percent) are neutral, 25 percent contain a positive context and 8 percent of the selected works mention the keyword “gender reassignment” in a negative context.

The word “orientation” is mentioned in 327 works. Most of them (73 percent) are neutral, 15 percent contain a positive context and 12 percent of the selected works depict the keyword “orientation” in a negative context.

The keyword “transgender” is mentioned in 171 works. Most of them (63 percent) are neutral, 25 percent contain a positive context and 12 percent of the selected works depict transsexuals in a negative context.

The distribution of the selected works on sexual orientation across different media platforms (in percent).

THE JEWISH COMMUNITY

Between January and December, 3,349 journalistic works covering the Jewish national community were featured in various media.

The Jewish national community is mostly written in the online press (71 percent) and regional publications (15 percent).

The most of the media narrative about the Jewish national community is neutral (69 percent). The Jewish national community is portrayed in a negative context in 6 percent of journalistic works and 25 percent of works portray it in a positive context.

30 percent of the selected works are copyright works and 37 percent do not indicate their authors.

• THE ASPECT OF THE MUTE POINT

One of the important aspects of media monitoring is the activeness of the depicted public. It analyses whether a representative / member of a particular group was interviewed or merely mentioned, there were discussions / written works about him or her. It shows whether the group is presented to the public as a passive (“silent”) part of the society, or as an active, and participatory one.

Approximately half of the journalistic works on the Jewish national community has not been spoken to by interlocutors, it is Jews, representatives of the Jewish community, and politicians that are mostly talked to.  Of the research groups, the Jewish national community is often given a voice in the Lithuanian press.

The distribution of spoken sources in journalistic works on the Jewish national community.

Christianity / Judaism

Between January and December, 514 journalistic works were recorded in the media mentioning the word “Judaism” and 480 works were recorded mentioning the word “Christianity”.

Most of the media narrative about Judaism is neutral (88 percent). Judaism is mentioned in a negative context in just 1 percent of journalistic works, and 11 percent of works mention it in a positive context.

Most of the selected works on Judaism were published online (71 percent) and in regional publications (19 percent). One third of works are copyright works (33 percent)

Most of the media narrative about Christianity is also neutral (90 percent). Christianity was mentioned in a negative context in just 0.2 percent of journalistic works and 9 percent of journalistic works mention it in a positive context.

More than half of the selected works on Christianity were published online (69 percent) and in regional publications (15 percent). One third of works are copyright works (34 percent).

Polish – Russian National Communities

During January and December of 2019, 3100 journalistic works about the Polish national community in Lithuania and 3269 journalistic works about the Russian national community in Lithuania were recorded in various media.

Most of the journalistic works on Lithuanian Poles recorded are neutral (79 percent), 12 percent are positive and 9 percent are negative.

About a third (39 percent) of journalistic works on the Polish national community has not been indicated.

It is worth noting that 52 percent of journalistic works about Polish and Russian national communities have not interviewed the interlocutors. 37 percent of journalistic works on the Russian national community are copyright works. About 35 percent of copyright works recorded are on the Polish national community.

The distribution of journalistic works on the Polish national community in media platforms.

In general, the Polish national community in Lithuania was the most talked about in the online media (65 percent), regional publications (12 percent) and television and radio (8 percent and 6 percent respectively).

Most news about the Russian national community was also published on the Internet (67 percent), regional publications (13 percent) and television (6 percent).

Most of the work on the Russian national community is neutral (71 percent). The Russian national community is portrayed in a negative context by 15 percent of journalistic works. It is portrayed in a positive context in 14 percent of works.

The author of about a third of journalistic works (37 percent) on the Russian national community is not mentioned.

MIGRATION

During January and December of 2108 journalistic works were recorded in various media discussing about migration in the context of Lithuanian news.

The most commonly encountered concept in the media during the said period was “immigrant” (1068 times), while migrants and refugees were mentioned less frequently in the work of 1024 and 502 journalists respectively.

30 percent of media work is copyright works. The authorship is not indicated at all in 40 percent of published works.

The topic of migration was mainly written in the online press (67 percent) and regional publications (9 percent) and spoken on the radio (9 percent).

The distribution of journalistic works on migrants, immigrants and refugees on media platforms.

Most of the media narrative on migration is neutral (74 percent). Migration is depicted in a negative context in 15 percent of journalistic works, and in 11 percent of works it is depicted in a positive context.

Migrants are most often in a negative context. 319 works have discussed migration in a negative context. 209 of them mention migrants.

Immigrants are mentioned in 1068 works. Most of them (80 percent) are neutral, 9 percent are in a positive context and 11 percent of the selected works are depicted in a negative context.

Migrants are mentioned in 1024 works. Most of them (70 percent) are neutral, 10 percent are in a positive context and in 20 percent of the selected works migrants are depicted in a negative context.

Refugees are mentioned in 502 works. Most of them (76 percent) are neutral, 16 percent are in a positive context and 9 percent of the selected works depict refugees in a negative context.

More than one-third (39 percent) of journalistic works did not speak to interlocutors on migration, and politicians and experts are the ones that are most frequently interviewed. The least spoken are refugees (1 percent of works), immigrants (5 percent), and migrants (4 percent).

MUSLIM – ISLAMIST

Between January and December, 1,042 journalistic works mentioning the term “Muslim” or “Islamist” were recorded in various media.  In the context of Lithuanian news 330 works were recorded.

The word “Muslim” is mentioned in 56 percent of the selected works, and the keyword “Islamist” is mentioned in 48 percent of the selected works.

Almost half (43 percent) of journalistic works on Muslims or Islamists did not speak to interlocutors. 25 percent of media works are copyrighted.

Most journalists who talk about Islamists are neutral (82 percent), 15 percent are negative, 3 percent are positive.

87 percent of the works that deal with Muslims in the context of Lithuanian news also have the highest number of neutral works. Positive ones amount to 5 percent, and negative ones amount to 8 percent.

MENTAL HEALTH

During the January – December period, media monitoring was carried out on journalistic works that mentioned the terms “psycho”, “mentally ill”, “mental problems”, and “mental disorders”.

1054 journalistic works were selected in 12 months. They refer most often to the concept of “mental disorders” (867 journalistic works). The most rarely mentioned keyword is “psycho” (43 times).

More than half of the analysed articles on mental health are neutral (66 percent), 9 percent are negative and 25 percent are positive.

One third of the 1054 journalistic works are authors (33 percent). In 37 percent of journalistic works, authors are unnamed, and the rest are republished works of news agencies or information collected by media organisations from several sources.

Mental health discourse is formed by professionals and experts, they were interviewed in 37percent of works.  People with mental health problems remain silent, they were interviewed in only 3 percent of the selected works, and in other 2 percent of journalistic works family members of people with mental disorders were interviewed.

ROMA COMMUNITY

Between January and December, 1159 journalistic works covering the Roma community were recorded in various media.

Most of the media narrative about Roma is negative (43 percent). 21 percent of journalistic works depict the Roma community in a positive context, and 36 percent depict it in a negative context.

In journalistic works, Roma and gypsy are used as synonyms in 27 percent of works. The majority of works that mention the keyword “gypsy” are negative (42percent), 26 percent are positive, and 32 percent are neutral.

Only a quarter of the works on the Roma community are cited (25 percent). More than one third of the works (37 percent) are not mentioned at all.

Most of the selected works speak to members of the Roma national community, but the majority of the works or reportage have interviewed two people: the singer Radžis and Ištvanas Kvik.

The sources mentioned in the journalistic works on the Roma national community.

SUMMARY

Distribution of negative context (in percent). The Roma are most often depicted in negative contexts, the rarest being the Jews.

The distribution of the positive context (percent). The Jewish community and the topic of mental health receive the most positive media attention. Muslims receive the least positive media attention (but most media coverage of Muslims (in the context of Lithuanian news) is neutral (87 percent).)

Distribution of neutral context (in percent).

Distribution of interviewed research groups (percentage of the selected journalistic works for each group). Most often, the voice is granted to the Jewish national community, and most rarely it is given to refugees.

Mute point of groups

Trough out the year 17029 works of journalists’ were selected.