E/CN.4/2004/21 page 15 their situation and problems; insufficient scope and depth and cliché-ridden coverage of community issues; usage of coded language and phraseologies that reinforced a racial subtext; and denial of racism, stating that it was confined merely to extreme and explicit discrimination. The main weakness of the media was that racism (and rights) issues, although included in the reporting, were not articulated as such. 83. Mr. Gasser introduced his paper entitled “Unite against racism” (E/CN.4/2003/WG.20/Misc.7). He spoke about the manifestation of racism in sport and the fact that racism in sports like football was often an expression of group identity as it represented struggles and attitudes that were behind ideas about belonging and not belonging. He spoke about effective media sports campaigns against racism. He stated that media campaigns were a major force in combating racism among fans. He argued that governing bodies like UEFA were well placed to take the lead in tackling less visible angles of racism in football such as attitudes and policies on hiring, resource allocation, recruitment, competition structure, access to venues, etc. which influenced minority participation at all levels and helped reinforce broader social patterns of exclusion. 84. Ms. Sambuc presented her paper entitled “Le racisme dans les médias et sur l’Internet à l’encontre des personnes d’ascendance africaine” (E/CN.4/2003/WG.20/Misc.6). She discussed the issue of “visibility” and presented examples of how people of African descent were perceived in society. She also discussed the matter of social construction and the often negative perception of people of African descent and how that too was often reflected in media. She spoke about remedies such as national legislation, codes of conduct and self-regulating bodies for the media. She also recalled paragraph 147 of the Durban Programme of Action which called for increased international cooperation to address the issue of racism on the Internet. 85. The Working Group held a wide-ranging discussion on the matter of the media and people of African descent. 86. The observer for Senegal asked how the representation of people of African descent in journalism and in the media profession could be improved. The experts and many observers agreed that the issue of people of African descent and the media should be maintained on the agenda of future sessions of the Working Group. 87. At the eleventh meeting, the Working Group addressed the theme of access to education and information technology (recommendation 51). Zakiya Carr-Johnson of the International Human Rights Law Group gave an overhead-projector presentation on “Promoting affirmative action in the Americas: progress and challenges” based on her paper of the same name (E/CN.4/2003/WG.20/Misc.8). She recalled that the Durban Programme of Action urged Governments to implement policies of affirmative action to ensure equal access to education. She presented case studies of Brazil, Uruguay and the United States where high levels of segregation in schools created de facto decreased access to quality education. She encouraged exchanges of lessons learned and gave the example of an “affirmative action affinity group” composed of technical experts, lawyers and human rights advocates. She proposed: data collection by States disaggregated by race, gender and class; community and media support for affirmative action; public education and training for Governments; and, technical support groups and the exchange of data.