Discover how the Voice of MIRA initiative uses community reporting to create authentic counter-narratives that combat disinformation and hateful rhetoric about migration. This initiative empowers people with migratory backgrounds to tell their own stories, providing them with the tools to produce engaging content that reflects their unique perspectives. Learn how this method not only enhances community visibility and understanding but also fosters a deeper connection between migrants and the broader public. The participatory communication has got a transformative power - see how storytelling can bridge cultural divides.
Community reporting, a tool for creating authentic counter narratives
The aim of the Local Action was to combat disinformation and hateful narratives about migration by creating alternative narrative that is making people with migratory backgrounds visible, understandable, and easier to connect with. To create authentic counter-narratives, we need to give voice to the people concerned themselves, not only by better representing them in our content, but also by empowering them and giving them the tools and space to create their own content. This is the idea of community reporting.
Artemisszió learnt the method of Community Reporting from People’s Voice Media, a UK based organization focusing on connecting communities through storytelling. It is an educational tool to make people confident in using basic journalist methods and framework so that they can create content, and can present the main issues of their communities to the public.
We implemented the project between the 1st of March and 30 of June of 2024. We started by organizing two training sessions of Community Reporting, where all together we had 12 participants from 8 different countries taking part. They came with different motivation:
“I’m super excited about the chance to join the Community Reporter program! My passion really lies in celebrating diversity and sharing stories that bring us closer. I see this as an amazing way to not just talk about diversity but actually live it, giving a platform to unique voices. The support and tools MIRA offers, like podcasting and video making, sound like an awesome way to learn and grow (especially considering that I'm a Communication and Media student here in Budapest). Plus, I’m all about meeting new people and learning from different perspectives. Being part of this program feels like the perfect opportunity to blend my love for storytelling with my desire to make a positive impact.”
“Being member of MIRA, I am deeply committed to giving back to our community, and I believe that this workshop presents the perfect opportunity for me to do so, given my passion for communications and promotional activities.”
“I have always wanted to do podcasting, and I even stated that I was interested in doing one and had some ideas about it before I came to Mira. It's a great opportunity for me to improve my communication skills and get some experience in podcasting which has been kind of my dream.”
On the first occasion, we put the emphasis on understanding the origin of the current mainstream narratives about migration and the war in Ukraine, which was especially important because the participants were relatively newcomers in Hungary. We also learnt about the composition of counter narratives and set up the basis of community reporting: the framework of responsible storytelling, the relevance of personal stories, defining the speaker’s personal angle. On the second workshop, we focused more on different recording techniques and methodologies (video interview and podcast). We practiced the basic tools in a way that participants could find their own connection with the topic of migration and diversity.
“This is Voice of MIRA!”
After the workshop 10 participants decided to join the program and create their own media project. Between the 23 of April and the end of June we met biweekly with the community reporter volunteer team. On these meetings we provided mentoring: technical and professional tools and guidance (finding the focus, changing perspectives, writing the script, composing, editing, etc.), giving help in finding interviewees, providing translation when needed, helping with the content planning, and providing space for peer support (facilitating giving and receiving feedback from the group). We involved our Afghani and Ukrainian colleagues as intercultural mediators into the project to provide information on the target group, to help contacting participants to be interviewed and to provide translation when it is necessary.
The volunteer participants created their own projects. By the end of June, we launched the first episodes of 3 different podcast series and had the materials for several other episodes and the two first episodes for a video series.
1. Share your story
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTboWDuChiE
2. Abroad & Beyond
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EPaJ72PlVI&t=2717s
3. A collection of culture shocks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xF8rqssqwzs&t=1s
These podcasts are unique, as we do not know about any other initiative like this in Hungary where migrants and foreigners can not only speak for themselves, but they can raise their own questions. The topics they choose are personal, and told from an authentic perspective, and are very relevant: blackness, being a Muslim woman in Hungary, living in Hungary as a teenager or as a refugee, experiencing cultural shock and presenting Budapest as a place of cultural diversity.
The posts and youtube publications had 522 single views, reached 3585 people and made 40168 post impressions. Indirect beneficiaries of the project are all the people contacted and interviewed during the project period (cca 25), all the people represented with posts about programs and the community (about 200 ppl), and the 2969 Hungarians and foreigners following our social media.
Our biggest achievement is our volunteers, becoming confident in contacting people, setting up interview questions, researching topics, recording, editing and publishing themselves. Even though they all expressed their discomfort of listening to their own voice, they created podcasts, unique and exciting ones, and with their power and courage they also encouraged others.
Besides the bigger projects we encouraged our MIRA members to speak about their volunteer work with their own words. In this way migrants and refugees, who are seen usually in the position of being helped are seen as workshop leaders who have their own professional expertise, knowledge, and courage to lead. The testimonies recorded with volunteer workshop leaders from Turkey, Iran and Ukraine represents migrants in the role of leaders and facilitators combating the idea of being inactive, lost or not taking initiative. These testimonials got the biggest reach among all facebook posts.
We are particularly happy about that the idea of Voice of MIRA spread around in the community and many people got excited about joining it. The most important for us is to see that this community-based communication is inspiring for the community members and that there is a future for this project.
The most challenging part of the Local Action was its shortness. Many great project ideas born, and we managed to finish only the first episodes of the podcast series within the timeframe of this project. Because of the shortness of the project period, we could support our participants only with their first idea, and there was no time to change it or alter it, which would be a normal phase of a creative process. We had originally planned to interview several Ukrainian participants. We involved our Ukrainian colleague into managing the communication between the volunteer journalists and possible interviewees, but we ran into unexpected obstacles that we could not solve in such a short time.
We are planning to continue this initiative and involve more volunteers starting from September. Besides the biweekly meeting we will offer online consultation as well as thematic sessions where we dedicate the time completely for technical learning.
About the Foundation
Artemisszio Foundation (http://www.artemisszio.hu) is a Hungarian-based independent NGO, founded in 1998. Its mission is to encourage continuous dialogue and interaction between groups who are marked by cultural, ethnical and social differences and to foster their mutual understanding. Artemisszio supports the social integration of socially and culturally disadvantaged groups through developing and conducting intercultural training courses, educational materials and methods, integration projects and mobility projects for youth. Artemisszió also provides trainings for professionals in the social sector: social workers, teachers, health workers and youth workers. Our trainings and programs for disadvantaged groups aims developing critical thinking and empowerment. We often use artistic and creative methods to engage our public.
Artemisszio’s intercultural community, “Mira” offers physical place and diverse opportunities for the encounter between third country nationals, including migrants and refugees, and Hungarians interested in intercultural experiences. The Mira community has over 200 members from all over the world. With the involvement of the members and volunteers/interns we provide app. 20 programs each month, including spare time and sports activities, orientation clubs, language lessons, mentoring and tutoring, intercultural events, creative workshops etc. Our community involves families, children and adults. To support and move the community, we have two intercultural mediator colleagues, one of them from Afghanistan, one from Ukraine.
We also have strong connections with some secondary schools and university departments that we developed through our projects related to social sensitization and social inclusion.
Besides our Mira Ház community space we maintain our office in inner Budapest. Artemisszió is currently working with 15 staff members (3 of them admin) and approximately 30 volunteers and interns.
https://www.facebook.com/ArtemisszioAlapitvany
https://www.facebook.com/mirabudapest