EU co-funded project “MigraVoice” launches to amplify migrant voices in European media ecosystem

Press release, February 2024

MigraVoice: Migrant Voices Matter in the European Media is a project co-funded by the European Union, in collaboration with six prominent European media organisations. The project aims to amplify the voices and perspectives of migrants in Europe within the European media and information space, by promoting active participation of individuals with migration backgrounds in the creation of high-quality media content for European audiences in both traditional and social media formats.

The project is coordinated by Maldita.es Foundation (Spain), in partnership with The London Story (The Netherlands), Raseef22 (Germany), Media Diversity Institute Global (Belgium), Are We Europe (Belgium) and Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso Transeuropa (Italy) and has a total budget of 653,504.86€.

MigraVoice will establish a cross-border community of experts with migration backgrounds, forming the ‘MigraVoice Superpower Community’, who will serve as a platform for experts from a wide range of specialisms to provide their knowledge as sources in European media content. All the experts will be included in the platform ‘The MigraVoice Centre’, a database where media actors and citizens will be able to reach out to them and their content.

Additionally, the project will build the capacities of a team of 15 journalists with a migration background through the elaboration of a Pop-up Newsroom to produce impactful and reliable content across various formats, platforms and journalistic specialisms, including social media. Added to this, journalists from mainstream European media outlets will develop their capacities in inclusive journalism techniques to foster the production of more representative media narratives and coverage.

Finally, MigraVoice will mobilise the MigraVoice Superpower Community and trained migrant journalists to boost the cross-border production and dissemination of migrant-created content covering diverse news topics in multiple languages— Hindi, Spanish, Arabic, English, French, Italian, and Serbo-Croatian—ultimately contributing to the development of a more inclusive media landscape with increased representation of migrant voices and perspectives.

Samuel Allan, Head of Projects at Maldita.es Foundation—the organisation leading the consortium—remarks “this project represents a crucial step towards fostering inclusivity, diversity, and authenticity in journalism and the media content that Europeans consume. By empowering those with a migration background to share their perspectives, MigraVoice not only enriches the media landscape but also contributes to a more vibrant and inclusive European society.”

About the organisations

● Maldita.es Foundation (Spain) is a non profit foundation that builds public trust by fighting disinformation and promoting transparency through journalism, education, technology, research and advocacy.

● Raseef22 (Germany) is the first Arab regional media focused on underrepresented communities: women, ethnic and religious minorities, LGBTQ+, the young, the destitute, the free and is focused on a new awareness of citizenship and on promoting new values in line with human rights to build a better future.

● Media Diversity Institute Global (Belgium) works internationally to encourage accurate and nuanced reporting on race, religion, ethnic, class, age, disability, gender and sexual identity issues in media landscapes around the world.

● The London Story (The Netherlands) is a non-profit foundation that investigates human rights violations and abuses, analyses and documents governmental and non-governmental action that perpetuates or ignores human rights abuses and violations, and advocates for justice, peace, and collective action against grave human rights violations. As a diaspora-led organisation, we are committed to a hate free world, where diversity and pluralism at all levels and across all sectors of societies are central

● Are We Europe (The Netherlands) is a foundation working towards a borderless Pan-European media space by developing opportunities that shape, diversify and strengthen the European media space and publishing stories on issues impacting European identities in ways that challenge media conventions.

● Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso Transeuropa (Italy) is a think tank that deals with south-eastern Europe, Turkey and the Caucasus and explores the social, political and cultural transformations of six member countries of the European Union (EU), seven countries participating in the European Enlargement process and of a large part of post-Soviet Europe involved in European Neighborhood policy.

Contact:

● Sam Allan, Head of projects, Maldita.es Foundation, sallan@maldita.es

Communicating about your EU-funded project

Co-funded by the European Union (Project number: LC-02408780). Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them. Project: ŁC 02408780 — Migrant Voices Matter in the European Media — CNECT/2022/8240201.