On June 30-th, 2011 at the initiative of Bukovinian Political Studies Center a training seminar on the issues of ethnic tolerance for the staff of regional and local media was conducted. The seminar was organized within the project «Monitoring of the Balanced Etno-National Relations Formation Process in the Chernivtsi Region» which is undertaken jointly with the Research Institute for European Integration and Regional Studies of Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University and funded by the International Renaissance Foundation.
Participants has got acquaintance with the results of focus group research with representatives of national and cultural associations of Chernivtsi region as well as with the results of media monitoring, which revealed the most common ethnic stereotypes that consciously or unconsciously had been broadcasted by journalists. Besides, the workshop participants received the «Handbook of interethnic tolerance», which became a kind of final document of the said project.
According to organizers, the seminar will lead to reduction of the number of ethnic stereotypes in media reports and publications. In addition, as noted by the project manager Prof. Anatoliy Kruglashov, review of “Handbook of interethnic tolerance” would facilitate learning by journalists the main concepts related to inter-ethnic tolerance, its basic principles and legal regulations establishing the rights of ethnic communities and associations, which in turn will contribute to more balanced illustration of problems related to ethnic issues by regional and local media.