ABSTRACT
The population living within the borders of a nation state responds to the inherent ethnic exclusionism. The media represent the first way in which 'public opinion' practises ethnic exclusion because the press, radio and television play a central role in determining the thoughts of the population of any given state. Press reaction towards immigrants in post-War Britain illustrates the role of the media in excluding minorities. In former Yugoslavia, the militias and armies of all of the various peoples, with the knowledge of the state authorities, have participated in what western media have described as 'ethnic cleansing'. All parties which participate in the political processes of nation states are nationalist because they all accept that they work within the parameters of the existing boundaries. Both the Czech Republic and Slovakia provide examples of the milder types of violence which have occurred in eastern Europe in the 1990s.
