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Migration Narrative Study

Study: How does the media on both sides of the Mediterranean report on Migration?

Is the media underequipped to cover migration? This was the question investigated in the study on 17 countries in the Euro-Mediterranean region. It identifies major challenges to migration reporting and finds that media in many countries on both sides of the Mediterranean are under-resourced and unable to provide the time, money and appropriate level of expertise that is needed to tell the migration story in context.

EUROMED Migration IV, funded by the Directorate General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations of the EU  and implemented by ICMPD, commissioned the Ethical Journalism Network  to conduct this study for which journalists from 17 countries have examined the quality of migration media coverage in 2015/16 from a national perspective. The study covers nine EU countries and eight countries in the south of the Mediterranean. 

It finds that journalists are often poorly informed about the complex nature of migration as a phenomenon. At the same time newsrooms are also vulnerable to pressure, manipulation and hate speech by some political elites or voices on social media networks. The study also highlights inspirational examples of journalism at its best –resourceful, painstaking, and marked by careful, sensitive and humanitarian reporting. In order to address the identified challenges it  provides a series of detailed recommendations and calls for training, better funding of media action and other activities to support and foster more balanced and fact-based journalism on immigration, emigration, integration, asylum and other migration-related challenges. 

Downloads

• Executive Summary with conclusions and recommendations
• Foreword by ICMPD DG Michael Spindelegger
• Media and migration from a Migration perspective: Observations by ICMPD
• Desktop study & review of available material
• Full study with 17 country chapters

Download chapter by country:

ALGERIA

Public Debate Needed to Confront Denial and Media Stereotypes

By Faten Hayed

AUSTRIA

Good and Bad, but a Lack of Accountability when Journalism Fails the Migration Test

By Katharine Sarikakis

EGYPT

Positive Stories but Questions Remain over Self-Censorship and Lack of In-Depth Coverage

By Sarah El-Shaarawi and Abdulrahman Elsamni

FRANCE 

Politics, Distorted Images and why the Media Need to Frame the Migration Story

By Jean-Paul Marthoz

GERMANY

“We Can Do It”: A Test of Media Solidarity and Political Nerve over Migration

By Michaela Maria Müller

GREECE
Media’s Double Vision as Migrant Crisis Catches the World’s Imagination

By Nikos Megrelis

HUNGARY

How the Shock of the New Became a Polarising, Fearful and Toxic Story

By Balázs Weyer

ISRAEL

Political Division and Internal Fears Drive the Migration Agenda

By Shaike Komornik

ITALY

The Temperature is Down, but Media Coverage still Fails to Tell the full Migration Story

By Anna Masera

JORDAN

Lost Voices in a Land Built on Migration

By Daoud Kuttab

LEBANON

Mixed Messages as Media Cope with Internal Stress and External Pressure

By Magda Abu-Fadil

MALTA

The Challenge of Normalising the Media’s Migrant Crisis Machine

By Mark Micallef

MOROCCO

The Invisible People who Should Take their Place on the Media Stage

By Salaheddine Lemaizi

PALESTNE

Unforgettable History, Returning Money and Political Bias Shape the Migration News Agenda

By Bassam Ewaida

SPAIN

Desperation, Tragedy and Criminal Coverage that Distort the Media Image of Migration

By Jose Miguel Calatayud

SWEDEN

Journalism on the Spot as Europe’s Asylum Leader Takes a Change of Direction

By Arne Konig

TUNISIA

Single-minded Media Fail to Grasp Opportunities to Go Beyond Tales of Woe

By Sana Farhat

Downloads

Main Activities EMM5

Key stakeholders EMM5

The impact of Covid-19 and associated mobility restrictions on Arab South Partner Countries: the case of the Middle East-Gulf States corridor

تأثير فيروس كورونا وقيود التنقل المرتبطة به على البلدان العربية الجنوبية الشريكة: حالة ممر الشرق الأوسط ودول الخليج

Migration Narrative Study

What policy communication works for migration? Using values to depolarise 

Impact of Public Attitudes to migration on the political environment in the Euro-Mediterranean Region – First Chapter Europe

Impact of Public Attitudes to Migration on the Political Enviroment in the Euromed Region – Second Chapter South Partner Countries

Public attitudes on migration: rethinking how people perceive migration

Study: How does the media on both sides of the Mediterranean report on Migration?

Mapping ENI SPCs migrants in the Euro-Mediterranean region: An inventory of statistical sources

Linking human capital, labour markets and international mobility: an assessment of challenges in Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia

Promouvoir une meilleure adéquation entre capital humain, marchés nationaux du travail et mobilité internationale : État des lieux des défis en Égypte, Jordanie, Maroc et Tunisie

الربط بين رأس المال البشري وأسواق العمل والتنقل الدولي: تقييٌم للتحديات في مصر والأردن والمغرب وتونس

How to Perform Impact Assessments: Key Steps for Assessing Communication Interventions 

Contact

Regional Coordination Office for the Mediterranean

Development House, 4A
St Anne Street
FRN9010 Floriana
Malta
Email