The Academy will provide insight into trends, data and global and regional developments, covering topics ranging from environmental migration to gender-inclusive reporting. Anyone will be able to access the courses via the website. Taught modules will be introduced in undergraduate media studies and journalism programmes in the four pilot countries.
Embarking on a project for the first time with IOM, the Government of Ireland shares a profound knowledge and interest in global cooperation on migration. It is also joining the United Nations Security Council in January, an arena where the power of misinformation to threaten international peace and security is increasingly recognised.
The project will be coordinated from Ireland and benefit from insight provided by influential media organizations and journalism and human rights academia.
“There are over 270 million migrants worldwide today –living new lives, building and contributing to communities in every corner of the globe. I look forward to the Global Migration Media Academy playing an important role in providing accurate stories to counter the misinformation and distortion that can surround migration,” said Simon Coveney, Ireland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs.
Just over 3 per cent of the world’s population are migrants. Media play a critical role in how the public thinks about migration and how policies are shaped. The project seeks to support media’s role in bringing to light the different dimensions of this expansive topic, including coverage of under-reported areas such as migrants’ contributions to global development.
This year, International Migrants Day is marked by the theme ‘reimagining human mobility’, according to the Global Compact for Migration, a watershed international agreement and roadmap comprising 23 objectives to manage migration in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Academy supports Objective 17, “Eliminate all forms of discrimination and promote evidence-based public discourse to shape perceptions of migration”.