During the month of July 2014, the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission and United and Strong, in collaboration with Groundation Grenada, Guyana Rainbow Foundation, J-FLAG, and United Belize Advocacy Movement, conducted the first-ever LGBTI-focused media-monitoring project in the English-speaking region.
These groups monitored the media in five countries—Belize, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Lucia. The results of the monitoring show that many media outlets reinforce negative stereotypes that can lead to violence against LGBTI people. Stories of importance about this community—policy issues and concerns about exclusion—or those that should depict them engaged in positive activities, were largely ignored by the media. Overall, the media coverage created an unbalanced, inaccurate and largely unflattering picture of the community. The results of the media-monitoring are gathered in a baseline study report, which includes key information about the media markets and environment in each country. The baseline study is accompanied by a media training manual. They stand separately but benefit from each other for contexts and analysis.
To access them, follow these links:
For the baseline study:
For the media training manual: