Fifty communication professionals, including journalists, graphic designers, photographers, and marketing professionals, as well as students of Communication Sciences from Senegal, Morocco, Guinea, and Spain are meeting today in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain, to analyze how to promote a more ethical approach to media reporting and communicating information on migration.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) organized the five-day workshop “Ethical Communication on Migration in the Media” in conjunction with IOM’s Global Media and Migration Academy (GMMA) and “Migrando Miradas” project, which promotes ethical communication on migration in the media through training courses for university students.
“We are thrilled to see such strong interest from the students and professionals here today to exchange knowledge and skills that can improve how we communicate about migration in the media,” said María Jesús Herrera Ceballos, IOM Head of Office for Spain.
“This level of engagement is encouraging and inspiring. Together we can contribute to a better global conversation about migration.”
The event is taking place in “Casa África”, a conference space and public diplomacy consortium that works to bring Africa and Spain closer together.
Participants will analyze migration-related content with contributions and guidance from experts such as Blanca Tapia, Information and Communication Officer at the EU’s Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA); Pepe Naranjo and Nicolás Castellano, journalists with experience working in Africa; Dounia Mseffer, journalist and member of the Moroccan Network of Migration Journalists (Morocco) and, Salif Sakhanokho, a journalist from PressAfrik (Senegal).
“Being part of this initiative is really exciting,” said Mabinty Touré, a journalism student at the Higher Institute of Information and Communications (ISIC) in Guinea. “I hope to take advantage of this meeting and, from what we have learned, produce content in local languages, and create a program dedicated to the subject within our student radio,”
The GMMA is jointly financed by the IOM Development Fund and Irish Aid. The “Migrando Miradas” project is financed by the Ministry of Social Inclusion, Social Security and Migration of Spain.
