Refugees Reporting is a project aimed at supporting refugees seeking safe passage into and through Europe by promoting a fair media portrayal and their right to speak on their own behalf.
The project is organised along three major streams of work: a media monitoring exercise, which will assess the representation of refugees in the national media of selected European countries; a survey of refugee-led groups, to assess the existing communication practices and strategies, collect good and bad practices and suggestions; and a constant engagement with media professionals, to draft a good practice guide on how to engage with refugees in the media and how to make sure that refugee voices are adequately represented and listened to.
The media monitoring exercise will benefit from the long-standing experience of WACC (World Association of Christian Communication) in its Global Media Monitoring Project, which evaluates gender representation in the news on a global level. The methodology will be adapted to the issue of refugees’ coverage by media and the countries involved will maintain a balance between countries of entry, transit and settlement.
A final report, which will include the results of the media monitoring and the survey and propose guidelines for media professionals on how to better engage with refugees, will be presented to the public in mid-November 2017.
From March 2017, Francesca Pierigh joined the project as Research and Communications Consultant. Francesca comes to Refugees Reporting with several years of experience working for the promotion and upholding of refugees’ rights. In her most recent roles, she worked with the European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) and with the Churches’ Commission for Migrants in Europe (CCME).
“It is an honour to join Refugees Reporting”, stated Francesca Pierigh on her appointment. “I believe the project comes at a very appropriate time, with an increasingly worrying trend of hate speech targeting refugees and displaced people. I look forward to work with all project partners to provide some valuable tools to counter this trend.”
If you are interested in the project and would like to get in touch, feel free to email Francesca.pierigh(at)ccme.be.