Emil Pain on the formation of xenophobia in the media

On October 14, 2003 Nezavisimaya Gazeta published Emil Pain's article "Why xenophobia has become younger. On the scale and mechanisms of the formation of ethnic prejudices." In particular, it draws attention to the role of the media in the formation of ethnophobia. So the author writes: "The role of press reports, often distorted by further broadcast in public opinion, is especially great in relation to relatively new groups for a given territory. Let's say, Azerbaijanis today are accused of capturing all city markets, inflating prices, expelling" foreign" traders, etc. However, an ordinary Russian buyer, having come to the market, is unlikely to distinguish an Azerbaijani from other Caucasians. He receives information about the "capture" of the market by "guests" from the media, which are simply not interested in the fact that the vast majority of markets representatives of the ethnic majority still control the country.The interest of the press in the Russian owners of the market wakes up only in some especially "piquant" situations, for example, in such as in Khabarovsk, where the main owner of the city market (its director) Boris Suslov is the former first secretary of the city committee CPSU".

Sources

• Pain E. Why xenophobia has become younger. On the scale and mechanisms of the formation of ethnic prejudices // Independent newspaper. 2003. October 14. P.11.