Speak Up!
- bowersjake02
- Nov 28
- 2 min read
If the media has the power to drive anti-Gypsy racism, it also has the power to reverse it. Jake Bowers introduces a plan to improve European Romani media representation and production.
Europe’s 12 million Romani citizens occupy an unenviable place in the continent’s media representation. On the world hand we are highly visible when conflicts arise, but we are also largely invisible within the staffing of the newsrooms which must and do report upon our community. We are highly visible in output of streaming giants like Netflix as they capitalise on fascination with the Romani community with series such as Peaky Blinders and the recent Polish production Infamia, yet we are largely invisible in the circles that wield editorial power over our lives.
So I've recently co-authored a position paper that seeks to study that gap between that hyper visibility and invisibility. It seeks to find out how the media often drives antigypsyism and how the media can be turned to help end it.
By speaking to Romani journalists, film makers and story tellers across Europe, many of whom have been working at the coal face attempting to change Romani media representation, it seeks to uncover why the improvement of Romani media representation has in some cases stalled. By looking for inspiration from good practice within the community and other communities it seeks to imagine what media equality may one day look like and define some innovative steps that may help to achieve it. Alongside fellow Romani journalists Avni Mustafa and Dalibor Tanic we have attempted to chart a way forward.
Finally, it lays down a series of recommendations and moral challenges to the actors whose moral responsibility it is to help end the marginalisation caused by media inequality. If you care about how and why Europe’s Romanies are badly represented and want to do your bit to end that bad representation we encourage you to read this position paper and act upon it.
