Are minority rights only for us?

Abstract

*What the AfD’s plans for Radio CORAX ask of South Tyrol* Following the AfD’s electoral success in Saxony-Anhalt, its call to cut funding for Radio CORAX has become more than a campaign line. This blog asks what such a proposal means from a South Tyrolean perspective, where publicly supported media infrastructure is central to linguistic minority protection. It argues that media freedom is not only a formal right to speak, but also depends on the material conditions that allow smaller, community-based and minority-oriented voices to be heard. The case raises an uncomfortable question for South Tyrol: Are minority rights defended as a democratic principle, or only when they protect “our” own voices?