WATCH
Welcoming New Neighbours
How public media works for refugees and asylum seekers
Bringing communities together is central to the ethos of public media and its mandate to be accessible to all in society. This includes helping refugees and asylum seekers feel welcome as our new neighbours and supporting them to integrate.
On 17 March 2021, the Public Media Alliance held a special event as part of the University of East Anglia’s Refugee Week, exploring how public broadcasters are covering the lives of refugees and asylum seekers as they make new homes in the UK. This virtual session shared inspiration and clips from public media organisations around the world and explored what more could be done to improve coverage and report on those relocating due to hardship.
The Public Media Alliance (PMA) is the largest global association of public broadcasters and is based at the University of East Anglia, building on its long partnership with the School of International Development.
For this event, PMA CEO Sally-Ann Wilson was joined by:
Dr Mel Bunce
Mel is a Reader in the Department of Journalism at City, University of London and the Director of the Humanitarian News Research Network. Her research examines the international news system, focussing on journalism practise, media freedom and the news coverage of humanitarian crises.
Marwa Daher
Marwa is a student journalist with an interest in representing people, especially those whose voices are not heard. She is also a voice ambassador at The Voices Network and passionate about making a difference in people’s lives and communities.
Simon Israel
Simon is a senior correspondent for Channel 4 News. In his 25 year career he has specialised in covering immigration, crime, terrorism, race, prisons and legal affairs, and is the winner of 4 RTS awards. Major stories include Windrush and Grenfell.
The session also included input from David Hua, Director of Audio and Language at Australian public broadcaster SBS and Florencia Melgar, Intake Content Editor & Investigative Journalists, SBS.
Our thanks to Road West Films, BBC Scotland and PBS for additional content.
Header Image: A man walks into Katsikas refugee camp, Greece 2016. Credit: AshleyWiley/iStock