News from ECMI InfoChannel

Our fifth interview on minority language media (MLM) during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic focuses again on a case in Spain, with Prof. Dr. Aida Martori Muntsant (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona) discussing the situation of Catalan language media in Catalonia. An MLM sphere with a substantial array of institutions including many local TV and radio stations as well as and print and online newspapers, the situation for Catalan media was nonetheless greatly affected by the pandemic. 

We return to the Celtic linguistic sphere for our fourth post on the situation of minority language media (MLM) during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. John Walsh, Senior Lecturer in Irish at the National University of Ireland in Galway, details the case of Irish language media on the island of Ireland. Dr. Walsh begins by comprehensively outlining the various TV, radio, print and social media which operate in the Irish language, as well as a brief history of their development.  

In the third interview of the new series discussing the situation of minority language media (MLM) during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Miren Manias-Muñoz (University of the Basque Country) presents the case of MLM in Basque Country and Navarre. Spain has been particularly harshly affected by the pandemic, with its repercussions spilling over to MLM outlets as well. Production of radio and television content was halted, programmes well-liked by the audience were cancelled, while newspapers’ economic situation worsened even with readership increasing. Besides this, broader trends concerning broadcasters’ and local / regional authorities’ priorities further complicate the picture. 

In the second interview of our new series focused on minority language media during the COVID-19 pandemic, Marc Röggla (EURAC Research / Midas), discusses the case of German and Ladin language media in the Autonomous Province of Bolzano, South Tyrol in Italy. Officially trilingual, there are an array of media institutions producing content through different mediums, yet, as Marc explains, despite a general increase in media consumption during the recent crisis there has been a significant drop in revenues due to reduced advertising income. Marc outlines the implications of this trend for the broader MLM landscape in Europe as well, from his unique perspective as a scholar and practitioner.

In a further move to strengthen its integration within the German-Danish border region, the ECMI has participated as a founding member in the creation of the Minority Competence Network of Schleswig-Holstein and Southern Denmark. The Network has been spearheaded by the Commissioner for National Minority Affairs in Schleswig-Holstein, Johannes Callsen, as a project development forum for the entire German-Danish region.

In the first of a new series of expert interviews in the field of minority language media across Europe, Prof. Elin Haf Gruffydd Jones of the University of Wales Trinity Saint David provides an in-depth overview of Welsh media during the COVID-19 pandemic. As she explains, Welsh language media organizations have acted quickly during COVID-19 to inform and connect communities across Wales. New conversations, content and groups have been created on social media in Welsh too. But faced with the impending economic downturn, exacerbated by Brexit, there are challenging times ahead for the sector.

The European Centre for Minority Issues welcomes potential applicants for Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Individual Fellowship (MSCA-IF) to contact its staff for advice and support in completing their application. The ECMI welcomes applications in all areas related to researching minority issues. Fellows can come from a wide variety of disciplines. Applicants should think first about which cluster their research topic might best fit into, and then contact the relevant cluster head for a consultation

The First Training School on Non-Territorial Autonomy will take place in Flensburg and Sønderborg on 9-11 September 2020 (3 working days). The School is hosted by the University of Southern Denmark, Department of Political Science and Public Management in partnership with Europa-Universität Flensburg, and the ECMI. Applications can be submitted until 5 July 2020.

Last week ECMI Senior Researcher Ljubica Djordjević participated in the online conference Boosting European Security Law and Policy, which was the final event of the BeSEC project. BeSEC is a Jean-Monnet project led by the Law Department of the University of Siena in cooperation with the ECMI, Fondazione Bruno Kessler, and the Matej Bel University. The Project has now come to its final phase as it will end in August 2020 after two years of successful implementation. 

The ECMI has started a new series of video interviews called ECMI Conversations with Experts. ECMI Conversations with Experts are a series of monthly video interviews between a prominent expert in the field of minority issues and a researcher from the European Centre for Minority Issues. 

The European Centre for Minority Issues and the University of Leicester have initiated the project ‘Marginality on the Margins of Europe – The Impact of COVID-19 on Roma Communities in Non-EU Countries in Eastern Europe’.  

The aim of the project is to map the overall impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Roma communities in a range of non-EU countries in Eastern Europe (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Moldova, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Ukraine). To date, no reliable data is available, although there are reasons to suspect this minority group might be particularly vulnerable to the effects of the pandemic and of the measures implemented to contain it. 

The Black Lives Matter movement is currently seeing unprecedented support across the globe. On June 6, rallies, marches and protests took place in cities and towns around the world, including here in Flensburg, just metres away from ECMI Headquarters. This movement addresses not only the problems of police violence against Black people in the US, but also systemic racism in state institutions internationally, including throughout Europe. This is a time when we must all confront the historical legacy of white supremacy as well as the contemporary reality of racism that besets many of the nations we live in.

The ECMI held an interactive two-day webinar on Friday 5th and Saturday 6th June, involving 18 university students of the MA European Studies and BA European Cultures and Society programmes of Europa-Universität Flensburg. The students are normally based in the Flensburg area but originating from across Europe and beyond. Thanks to the online webinar format of the Spring School, even the students who are currently back in their home countries unable to travel due to the COVID-19 related travel bans could fully participate in the event. 

The on-going COVID-19 pandemic has become a major focus of discussion in different public forums and media programmes. At the same time, it has shifted the attention of many organisations to the online space as the main platform for dissemination and communication. Staff at the ECMI have been invited to participate in a number of high-profile online events in order to comment on how the virus has affected national minorities.