Annual Report Discrimination 2015

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Cases of discrimination in the media
62. Salamanca. The media. Direct discrimination. The Diario Regional de Salamanca published a story about
squatters attempting to occupy a flat in the San José neighbourhood.
The author explicitly mentioned that the alleged squatters were a Roma couple.
The article also mentioned (using bold print) a knifing that happened the week before. Again, the journalist ex-
plicitly mentioned the ethnic group of those involved in these events.
The Department wrote a letter of complaint.
63. Salamanca. The media. Direct discrimination. The digital newspaper covered
an incident that took place at the municipal pool where a group of Roma started a fight. It also highlighted that
a few days earlier a group of Moroccans had stolen mobile telephones and wallets.
The forum related to that article identified Roma ethnicity as being at the root of the fight. The forum was not
moderated.
The Department appeals to the responsibility of the moderators of these fora. Freedom of expression can never
be used as an excuse to attack the dignity and tarnish the image of the Roma community in general.
64. Aviles. The media. Direct discrimination. The newspaper Periódico La Voz de Aviles-El Comercio, covered an
event that took place in Aviles. A young girl was allegedly raped while on her way home.
The article states as follows: “According to our sources, the events occurred at a place known as ‘Travesía de la
Industria’ and the aggressor was ‘Gypsy-looking’.”
This sparked comments from readers who referred to multiculturalism by referring to a photograph of three
Romanian women wearing head scarves.
In the first article, the expression ‘Gypsy-looking’ was found between inverted commas in the caption and again
in the body of the article.
Other media covering this same event stated that the aggressor may have been a black man.
The FSG’s regional director in Asturias spoke on the telephone with the Director of the Voz de Aviles who
acknowledged the journalistic blunder and apologised. He pledged to make things right and the next day, 14
January 2014, the following was published:
The man was not ‘Gypsy-looking’ but rather was ‘a dark-skinned man, approximately 40 years old with slicked
down hair’.