Discrimination means the unequal treatment or unequal positioning of people without an acceptable reason.

The creation of a hostile, derogatory or humiliating atmosphere, or an order or request to discriminate are also forms of discrimination. The ban on discrimination includes the ban on countermeasures: no harmful consequences should be caused by acting to secure one’s rights or by complaining about rights violations.

Wholly separate human rights agreements have been created by the UN to counter common forms of discrimination. These include the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD, 1965), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW, 1979), Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC, 1989), and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2008).

Multivocality – giving a voice to those who would not otherwise be heard – is an important goal in the field of media, but in practice it is not always realised.

Discrimination and gender equality are questions, which affect the whole journalistic work process. Multivocality – giving a voice to those who would not otherwise be heard – is an important goal in the field of media, but in practice it is not always realised.

The media bears great responsibility in the realisation of equality. That is why equality must be kept in mind when topics and interviewees are being picked and also when the distribution of work within an editorial office is being made. People consume media regardless of their gender, religion and ethnic group identity, so it would be good if all groups also had access to producing journalistic content, regardless of the topic.