About us
Migrants and the Media Project in UK, Ireland, Spain, Hungary and Greece
This project is driven by the idea that the development of effective communication and pro-active media strategies on the part of migrant community organisations is an important means to achieve greater interaction between migrants and citizens. Further, the capacity to represent the legitimate interests of migrants in the media is an aspect of participation in the democratic process in the EU Member States.
The project will relate to the widespread interest that migrant community organisations in many EU countries have had in presenting their case for equitable treatment to the press and broadcasting media. Whilst much of this work has been concerned with providing responses to negative reportage on matters concerning migrants, the project will attempt to go beyond this to examine the possibilities that might exist to pro-actively present positive messages and to look for opportunities to improve the overall tone of the public conversation.
What makes the emphasis on migration and the media distinctive in this project is the focus on media production by migrants themselves across media platforms, such as broadcast, journalism, and new media outreach.
The project will be working towards the construction of a forward-looking platform bringing together migrants and media workers, committed to collaboration on the use of media strategies and new communication technologies to get across messages in support of the rights of migrants in Europe.
Through training in media strategies for migrant leaders and media workers in the project countries; the development of a toolkit; and the establishment of structure to support on-going dialogue between migrants and media workers, the project will bring about a better understanding of what constitutes good practice in relation to migrant media strategies in several European countries. We would also hope to start working on a plan to enable these strategies to be reproduced across countries and to draw a wider range of civil society organisations into this dialogue.
The partner organisations have strong experience involving migrant communities in their work and they and their countries importantly represent a wide range of migrant experiences that can highlight differences in the contexts and experiences for the work with media and migrants in Europe.
The United Kingdom:
The lead partners are the Migrants Resource Centre (MRC) and the Migrants’ Rights Network (MRN). The MRC has a London-wide remit for its media work. It runs the Migrant and Refugee Media Project and has extensive experience of working with media workers to produce newspapers, reports and short documentaries dealing with the situation of vulnerable migrants.
The MRN is a UK-wide network of organisations working on issues concerning the rights of migrants. Its particular expertise lies in policy analysis and lobbying. MRN considerable experience in working with European networks, such as PICUM and ENAR.
Republic of Ireland:
FOMACS
The lead partner in Ireland is the Forum on Migration and Communications (FOMACS). FOMACS has a three-year media-driven programme (2007-2010) producing print, photographic, broadcast and interactive stories on the topic of immigration and integration, with the aim of reaching and engaging diverse audiences and constituencies.
Hungary:
Menedek – Hungarian Association for Migrants
Menedek was established in 1995 as a civil initiative supporting migrant integration in Hungary. Since Hungary is a new accession country, Menedek wil be able to provide important insight in the ways in which public discussion on migration is developing in the central European region.
Spain:
Cepaim – Consorcio de Entidades para la Accion Integral con Migrantes.
Cepaim is a network of 8 organisations working throughout Spain to support the integration of migrants. It currently runs projects aimed at influencing public opinion in matters concerning the social position of migrants and has been involving migrant communities in this work.
Greece:
Centre for Research on Women’s Issues, Network DESME
Network DESME is a project supporting the rights of migrant women in Greece. The DESME network in Greece will bring a strong perspective on the position of women migrants from the standpoint of an important feminist organisation in that country which has begun work with vulnerable women migrants.
