Stoking paranoia about migration

The gap between the reality of the Office of National Statistics quarterly migration statistics and the knee-jerkery of much of the media (and not just the tabloids) is as predictable as it is disturbing.

Here are some condensed facts.

Estimated total long-term emigration from the UK in the year to December 2009 was 371,000. This is 13% lower than the final estimate of 427,000 in the year to December 2008, and along with a 35 per cent increase in student visas (362,015 issued), bringing millions of pounds into the country, explains the rise in net migration in the latest figures. Meanwhile, total long-term immigration to the UK in the year to December 2009 was 567,000 compared with the final estimate of 590,000 in the year to December 2008 and at a similar level to that seen since 2004, when the A8 countries of central and eastern Europe joined the EU. There have additionally been sharp falls in the number people coming to work in Britain under the points-based immigration system. The number of temporary employment visas fell by 17 per cent to 66,495. There were half the number of Eastern European arrivals as compared to 2008. And there was a further fall in the number of asylum seekers coming to Britain, down from 25,930 in 2008 to 24,485.

And here are some headlines that bypass or contort these facts.

“Immigration up by a fifth?” (Telegraph), “Net migration double the government’s target” (BBC 10 O’Clock News), “Net immigration up 20% in year” (Sun), “Number of immigrants living in the UK long-term SOARS by 20%” (Mail), “UK Struggles With Net Increase In Immigration” (City News Post), “Rise in immigration adds 200,000 to British population” (This is London) and so on and so on…

Some of them don’t even know the difference between net migration and immigration, it seems.

Thankfully, there have been one or two honourable exceptions. A particular hat-tip to the Financial Times for “Immigration falls to lowest level since 2005″, and to the Guardian for their follow-up story: “Immigration cap will lead to skills shortages, say employers.”

Because the real issues of migration are not primarily about ‘the numbers game’. They are about global economic instability and change, multiple forced people movements, human rights abuses, war and displacement, massive income differentials, the denial of justice to Roma and other minorities, climate change refugees (which is set to be a huge concern) – and, of course, deep-seated prejudice and racism, as Vaughan Jones’ perceptive paper ‘Migration: Why a broader view is needed’ (http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/12034) makes clear.

Anti terror hotline radio advert banned

A radio advert by ACPO has been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority for potentially causing ’serious offence’. The advert encouraged people to report suspicious actions such as keeping curtains closed or paying in cash.

Read more

Paul Hamlyn Foundation-Media 19

Media 19 is one of the North East’s leading independent production companies.  It has a strong track record of working with young people through formal and informal education using factual and drama video and television production along with writing, photography, performance and digital new media.

In February 2006 the Foundation awarded Media 19 £45,000 over eighteen months for their Self Portrait Refugee project – an initiative that set out to inspire young refugees and asylum seekers to express and explore their identity by creating a self-portrait that captured issues in their lives, their immediate circumstances and past, present and future stories.

Media 19 put on artist-led workshops in partnership with RCOs across the North East of England.  At each workshop a range of artists, including asylum seekers, worked with young people, their families and communities. Over 150 refugees and asylum seekers took part in the sessions.

The ultimate goal of the project was to maximise positive messages to the general public about refugees and asylum seekers.  This was achieved by exhibiting some of the self-portraits on a giant billboard at Byker Metro Station in Newcastle’s East End. This enabled the wider public to witness the artistic talents of refugees and asylum seekers whilst gaining an insight into their experiences.

By working with some of their original funders, Arts Council England, Channel 4 and Northern Rock, along with the organisation Empowering Asylum Seekers to Integrate, Media 19 hopes to expand the project to other parts of the UK.

For further information, contact info@media19.co.uk

Protests over deportation coverage

The Press Complaints Commission has received a number of complaints about last week’s coverage in the Daily Express and Daily Mail of the judicial decision to prevent the deportation of two gay asylum-seekers.

I understand that the commission is to consider whether the complaints fall within the ambit of the editors’ code of practice. Can they be shown to be inaccurate or discriminatory?

The Express front page story, has enraged the National Union of Journalists. Its general secretary Jeremy Dear and deputy, Michelle Stanistreet, are planning to hold a protest outside the Express offices today.

They are also among those who have signed a letter in The Guardian today condemning the Express and Mail coverage. Along the other signatories are the MPs Jeremy Corbyn, John McDonnell and Caroline Lucas.

Social media makes WC the biggest ever media event

By Kerryn Le Cordeur

While the 2010 FIFA World Cup has been deemed the biggest media event ever, across all media platforms, from TV, to online, and even cinema, it is social media that has most clearly illustrated the extent of global public interest in the event.

The 2010 FIFA World Cup is the first World Cup to take place since the explosion of social media, and its global appeal (compared to other significant social media events such as US President, Barack Obama’s election day victory; the death of Michael Jackson; or the post-election protests in Iran) means that it has been touted as the biggest event in social media yet – hitting Twitter; Facebook; and YouTube most significantly as, according to Matt Stone, Head of New Media for FIFA, “ordinary fans can become instant pundits from their living rooms.” They are also able to get closer to the action by connecting with players (provided the players are allowed to interact on social media platforms) and other fans, as well as keeping abreast of the action, wherever they are.

Where radio and TV once provided exclusive real-time soccer coverage, as 2010 FIFA World Cup fever has spread across the globe, Twitter is possibly the best place to keep track of the goings-on. The microblogging site’s hashtag system is an ideal way to keep tabs of certain teams; events; or players. It offers an immediacy that may well be preferred to the traditional news sources, especially for those stuck at work or out at functions and unable to watch the action live, with just their mobile phones at their disposal.

This World Cup has seen the proliferation of tweets as teams go head-to-head, and as such, Twitter is playing a significant role in the tournament’s popularity. It has reached peaks of 3 000 tweets per second during the tournament, and when a World Cup goal is scored, Twitter celebrates, with the most significant increases in tweets so far seen in the games between Japan and Cameroon; Brazil and North Korea; and Mexico’s tied goal with South Africa. The vuvuzela has also been a trending topic on the microblogging site. However, Twitter is battling to handle the rise in traffic, and has issued warnings that users should brace themselves for a few ‘Fail Whales’ over this period. The site is also postponing a planned network overhaul until the ‘World Cup tsunami’ is over.

Facebook has also been hit by World Cup ‘fever’, with just a glance at the social networking site after an important game, such as the one between South Africa and France, showing the majority of users getting into the spirit of the tournament and behind their teams with messages of support and commentary on the game. The vuvuzela has also caused a stir, with Facebook groups of up to 190 000 users calling for it to be banned, and subsequent groups being created to show support for the ‘plastic horn’. Even YouTube has gotten in on the action by activating an icon in the shape of a soccer ball on some of its videos that, when clicked, emits the sound of a vuvuzela. Of course, the video service also makes it easy for users to watch that controversial goal over and over again; check out the music video for the World Cup song; or see the excitement in the streets of Sandton prior to the World Cup kick off – and share it with their online contacts, further spreading the excitement of the event.

Apart from being an avenue for communication about and keeping up-to-date with the World Cup, social media has also played a part in the marketing activities around the event. Major World Cup sponsor, Sony Ericsson, has focused its advertising budget on social networking by launching the Twitter Cup, a unique way for football fans to get behind their teams online and via their cell phones. Coca-Cola has also been running one of its World Cup ads exclusively on social media platforms, encouraging people to upload videos of their own goal celebrations to YouTube.

There’s no doubt that social media has contributed to making the 2010 FIFA World Cup the biggest media event ever, with its viral nature contributing to the spread of information, and the pervasiveness and immediacy of the social web meaning that it has become the norm to comment and report on events as they happen, so that even if you’re not an avid follower of the World Cup, chances are you know what’s going on simply from glancing at Twitter or Facebook. Considering that this type of communication and consumption was almost unheard of just four years ago at the last World Cup, I wonder what advances will take place over the next four years, and how we will experience the next big event in 2014?

Source: Media Update

Winners of refugee media awards announced

Positive Reporting on asylum seeker s brings applause to newsmen

Billy Briggs from The Herald Magazine has bagged the first prize in the national print category in `the refugee media awards’ for celebrating positive reporting on asylum seekers. The second slot went to Stephen Naysmith from the Sunday Herald.

The Refugee Week Scotland 2010 Media Awards were organised by Oxfam Scotland. The ceremony took place in Glasgow. The awards were a part of Refugee Week Scotland and supported by organisations including the Scottish Refugee Council, the National Union of Journalists and the British Red Cross.

In the local print category, Caroline Wilson from the Evening Times topped the list, while David Clegg from The Courier came the runner-up.

The photography award went to Colin Mearns from The Herald and Sunday Herald. Maurice McDonald from Universal News and Sport came second for pictures published in the Daily Record.

Sabrina Ramzan from the University of Strathclyde and Martin Graham from Caledonian University shared the New Voices Student Journalism Award for work published in the Sunday Herald.

Aideen McLaughlin from Oxfam Scotland said the caliber of this year’s entries was unprecedented. He congratulated the entrants on the quality and consideration of their work which made a difference to the lives of refugees and asylum seekers living in Scotland.

GBC radio resumes its operations

GBC independent radio station which was among the radio stations in Mogadishu resumed its operations on Monday after two months of closure, officials said.

Hizbul Islam rebel group closed the radio station after they accused of airing songs they banned from Mogadishu radio stations.

The management of the radio said Hizbul Islam group allowed them to operate after two months.

The management added that the Islamist group mistaken them with Radio Bar-Kulan, a Somali broadcaster of the African Union Mission  in Somalia (AMISOM), which used the FM position of GBC.

Bar-Kulan radio which is based in Nairobi transmits its progarmmes through an FM in Mogadishu and plays music and songs.

Mareeg Online

Somalia’s endangered journalists get a safe Media House

(Alshahid) – In view of the danger that the few bold journalists remaining in war- torn Somalia face, a new media house has been opened in Mogadishu capital of Somalia to provide Somali journalists with a safe place to work, as well as a center for journalism training.

“Opening this media house at this challenging time is a courageous and bold step taken by Somali journalists,” said Yusuf Aynte, a Member of Parliament. “This house will assist them as they continue to devote their services to the country”.

The Executive Director of the media house, Abdulahi Hassan, said during its launch that its purpose was twofold: to provide journalists with a safe working environment and to offer training so as to improve their skills in journalism.

Journalists will have a place to work, to stay and to access state-of -art equipment necessary to conduct their work.

Read full article

New private daily newspaper breaks state monopoly

Zimbabwe’s first private daily newspaper hit the streets on Friday to break a state monopoly established years ago after President Robert Mugabe’s government banned a pro-opposition newspaper over a registration dispute.

Mugabe, in power since independence in 1980, was forced to form a power-sharing government over a year ago with his rival, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, to tackle an economic and political crisis, including opening up the media industry.

A media commission appointed by the unity government early this year licensed four private daily newspapers last week, and one of the titles, NewsDay, was published on Friday.

NewsDay is owned by Alpha Media Holdings, a newspaper group headed by Trevor Ncube, who also publishes two weeklies in Zimbabwe and the Mail and Guardian in South Africa.

Critics say Mugabe has used tough security and media laws to keep a tight grip on power, but is being forced to implement political reforms ahead of any new elections.

The last private daily newspaper to be published in Zimbabwe was banned by Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party seven years ago.

Until now Zimbabwe had one national daily paper, the state-run The Herald and a regional daily, The Chronicle, published from the country’s second largest city of Bulawayo.

Read entire article

Reality TV show as medium to learn about Constructive Criticism

By Juliana Rincon Parra

Through video workshops, Volens, a Belgian NGO works with orphans and vulnerable children in Zimbabwe, counseling them on how they can deal respectfully with giving and taking constructive criticism. Through this process the children wrote, performed, filmed and edited a short movie showing how gossip and badly given criticism could kill.

In the Chiedza Child Care Center in Waterfalls, Harare, fifteen children between 12 and 18 years worked with the NGO learning about video making and constructive criticism. They decided to film a mystery in a reality TV situation, where the characters face the death of one of the members of the Big Sistar house they all live in. It seems she was poisoned, and they try to figure out who had a motive to kill her, and they come face to face with the consequences of gossip and destructive criticism.

View full article here

Next Page »