Romanian is the name of a television show about the life and culture of Roma, which is produced by Roma. RTS has never had a show like this before, and neither has Romi. It is broadcast every week around noon, lasts 15 minutes, and tomorrow will be the fourth.
The Romani word "romanipen" means "Roma" and denotes a comprehensive philosophy of Roma life.
Branko Đurić, the editor of this newsroom, in which there are two journalists besides him, says that for now the shows are thematic, the first three were about language, census and entrepreneurship, but they are preparing for a new scheme.
"At the moment, we only have one shooting day, so it's almost impossible to deal with current events every day, as we would like. That's why we started training how to be a journalist on his own, for example using the phone to make a high-quality reportage. Our goal is to be as mobile and present as possible, to communicate as much information as possible from the everyday life of the Roma in those 15 minutes," announces Branko Đurić.
Initiative to establish Romanian she came from abroad.
"It happened that at a conference of international organizations a question was raised about the representation of Roma in the public service and - that's when it started," says Branko Đurić.
After a series of consultations and discussions in RTS, it was decided to do six pilot shows, they were judged to correspond to the standard of RTS, and it was only after a year that preparations for Romanipen began. At that time, Đurić was the editor of the Roma newsroom of Radio Belgrade with ten years of experience.
There are many plans. "One of the first things for us is to interest young people in topics that concern them: from where the secondary raw materials are best sold, to where the parties are." We will try to have them be our collaborators and inform us about events that are important to them. They will thus become more visible, and we will become more inclusive," says Đurić.
Journalist Tamara Jovanović
His ultimate goal is for Roma journalists to be part of the RTS newsroom. "The media play a crucial role in terms of inclusion in society. It is known that CNN and BBC have changed the attitude of the British and Americans, and thus also of a large part of other nations, towards people who do not have white skin. Because the media, in addition to portraying life, also create a model by which to live and look at things. The media has the power to break down prejudices and stereotypes. It is known that the appearance of Oprah Winfrey on television completely changed the status of minorities in the United States of America."
He claims that the inclusive process is extremely slow to develop solely because of prejudices, and cites personal experience. It happened to him, he says, that during an unofficial conversation with a state secretary, he would ask when a Roma would enter the ministry. "They would always answer me that there are no educated people for such a job among the Roma." It is not true that there are none! There are enough of them to represent their people as an elite and thus, with their public work and knowledge, help to break prejudices."
Boxer Miroslav Ivanović Mića
Tomorrow's show Romanipen is about Miroslav Ivanović Mica, a boxer from "Metalac" from Valjevo, who "received dozens of cups and diplomas for his victories and thus continued the tradition that his father started in the same club, once famous in Yugoslavia. Mica often went to competitions hungry, because even if he lost due to infirmity, he would still get some money that he could take home."
Last month in Ćuprija, Roma journalists and everyone who works in Roma newsrooms founded the association ASORN with the aim of networking and working together on the inclusion of Roma in the media. Branko Đurić says that colleagues from the region will soon join them.
"It is understandable that the minority people care more about inclusion than the majority. And that's why we have to take the initiative, to help ourselves and others."
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