Articles
“The media are the mirror of society”
Everyone will agree on the importance of diversity in the media. But why exactly? Orangelog talked to Mekonnen Mesghena, Head of Migration, Citizenship and Diversity department of the Heinrich Böll Stiftung in Germany.
Mr. Mesghena, as an expert on migration, citizenship and diversity you also deal a lot with migrants in journalism. How do you appraise the migrants’ situation in the German media?
Migrants are obviously underrepresented in the German media. Only one percent of the people working in German media have a different ethnic background, but almost 16 to 17 percent of the population of Germany are of a different ethnic origin. But it is even worse: there is a lack of consciousness, there are not enough projects to right this social wrong.
Is there any difference between radio, TV or print?
Yes, there is. There is a long tradition of incorporating migrants into radio due to the guest-worker-history. There were radio programs called Fremdsprachenprogramm in the mother tongue of the largest group of guest workers, like Italian, Turkish and Spanish. Later on intercultural radio channels like Funkhaus Europa and Radio Multikulti (which is closed now) were established. On German TV on the other hand, it is only recently that young journalists of different ethnicities can be seen on screen. However, print media are unfortunately still ‘white’ and dominated by the mainstream. There are only a few migrants, mainly working as freelancers or limited to certain topics.
What kind of problems and difficulties do they face?
Many competent young migrant journalists try hard to get a job. But along with formal, financial and legal reasons, they also get rejected because they “don't fit” to the program. It is due to their skin colour, their religious habits, such as wearing a head scarf, or their accent. If you exclude people because of these reasons, it is pure discrimination. If they are good at their job, these journalists have to be accepted as they are!
Why is it important to have journalists with a different ethnic background in the media? A normal journalist could also write about intercultural topics.
Well, the media are the mirror of society. We cannot limit journalism only to profession and competence. It is also about democracy, representation and participation. Why do we need women in politics if a man could do it as well? Because a woman has a different perspective and awareness of for example gender issues. We need diversity and variety in the media, just as in society and politics.
What are the specific advantages of having diversity in the media?
If a journalist is confronted with news and has no or only little knowledge about the cultural context, he will tend to generalize. Whereas journalists with different ethnic background will be more affiliated to the culture, sensitivity and will deliver a different analysis of the facts. Take the example of honour killings: a journalist with the ‘adequate’ background knowledge will know that these killings have nothing to do with religion but more with certain traditions in certain regions.
Then, would that mean that a journalist with a different ethnic background will differentiate more than a normal journalist?
Well, we are all in a learning process. I know for example that I might have some knowledge concerning certain issues, but am colour-blind about others. The problem is that nowadays, if journalists travel to Africa and stay there for a couple of weeks, they are suddenly considered ‘Africa-experts’. They think they know everything. While a journalist born and raised in Africa will know that he knows just a little. He will do more research, and yes, in this case he will differentiate more.
We had a discussion in our workshop about this question: Should an editor hire a person that has poor language skills but good intercultural competence?
There is no compromise. Language is an essential tool in journalism. But the other issue is: people who select the journalists are looking for people just like them and with the same competences. However, there is a wide range of competences, including international and intercultural know-how. Language is just one competence and it can be trained. This should be taken into consideration.
So, what needs to be changed in order to have a proportional representation of German society in its variety and diversity in the media?
We need more activities to enable and train migrants or special scholarship programs like those from the Heinrich Böll Stiftung (HBS). The HBS trains young migrants who want to become journalists and supports them in their career. And of course there should be money and resources for education in order to assure equal chances for everyone. Minorities should have access to better careers and higher positions. But without loosing too much time! We need to work hand in hand.
Posted in | 08.09.09
powered by
cooperation
developed during
