With the world turning into a global village, the use of information technology has given rise to easy access to information within and outside the country in a matter of minutes or seconds as the case may be.
The media (news reports on TV, Radio, Print news, social Media handles etc) is a common place for information circulation. Migration news is one news most sort after, especially with the current happenings in the world. Hence the need for migration and other related news to be well narrated with the right terminologies used.
Reflecting on the broad range of the challenge the world faces in accommodating developing migrations trends, ranging from how those forced to move because of climate change are not recognized as refugees to how the distinction between host countries, countries or origin and countries of transit is becoming more porous and irregular migrants have been tagged illegal migrants by some reporter.
CSOnetMADE in a bid to address the issue on migration reportage organized Capacity Building for Media Agencies on Migration Reportage with the aim of building the capacties of media agencies in three geopolitical zones drew together media personalities from different states within each zones.
The project is within the framework of the EU-IOM initiative on migration governance and re-integration in Nigeria, funded by the EU is aimed at building the capacity of media agencies on migration reportage to enable these agencies to use the right terminologies in reporting migration issues and also to understand, report, communicate issues surrounding migration and ultimately contribute positively to effective migration governance in the country.
The 2- day capacity building workshop for media agencies on migration reportage, an actvity under the CSOnetMADE- IOM contract, held across three(3) geopolitcal Zones – Southeast, Northwest and South South Zones, brought together media personnels from all states within the three geopollitical zones.
The Southeast training which was held in Enugu state had in attendance 21 representatives from 18 media agencies such as Anambra Broadcasting Service, Unity FM Abakaliki, Oracle Newspaper, Wazobia FM, Onitsha, Unizik 94.1FM Awka, Radio Nigeria Heartland FM Owerri, Flo 94.9FM, Umuahia, Ebonyi Broadcasting Corporation, The Voice Newspaper etc.
The Northwest training took place in Kano state. It had in attendance 18 representatives from 18 media agencies across the Northwest geopolitical Zone, the media agencies include- Aljazirah Nigeria, Triumph newspapers, Nenzit FM Community radio, Katsina State Television, Daily news 24, Channels tv etc.
South-South training which was held in Edo state also had in attendance 24 participants which includes 18 represetatives of media agencies across the Zone, such as Cross River Broadcasting Corporation (CRBC), FRCN Benin, Radio Nigeria (Yenegoa), Vanguard, NTA etc.
The training modules reflected various aspects on migration and its trends in the national, regional and global level, with a focus on the role of the media and the need to have a balanced reporting to enhance media reporting on migration for the purposes of efficient and effective migration governance in Nigeria. The modules are
Understanding Migration: Concepts and Definitions
It is expected that after the participants understand their role in migration discourse as expounded in the above module, they are to report using the terminologies accurately. Thus, this module aimed at enlightening the participants on the various migration terms. Attempts were also made to provide clarification on the migration terms that seem similar and often used wrongly by the media. Example of such terms includes – Refugee, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons viz-a-viz repatriation, deportation and return.
Global Migration: Dynamics, Trends and Analysis
This focused on the overview of global migration, its trends and dynamics. It aimed at enlightening the participants on the dynamic nature of migration, thereby analysing the available processes in place for governing migration at the global level. The session also paid attention to cross-cutting issues such as gender and children; historical developments in relation to migration; African/Nigerian perspectives on migration.
National/Global Migration Governance
This module focused on exposing the participants to the fact that there exists a governance structure in Nigeria for the effective governing of migration and its surrounding issues. The module focused on the frameworks of legal norms, laws and regulations, policies and traditions as well as organizational and the relevant processes that shape and regulate Nigeria’s approach with regards to migration in all its forms.
Session to develop the ethical guidelines on migration reportage
As part of the outcome of the workshop, participants are expected to develop ethical guidelines on migration reportage. This activity was done under the guidance of the facilitator.
Conclusion
The capacity building workshop for media agencies on migration reportage with the aim of training media representatives to report migration issues using the right terminologies and also to positively influence migration policies and programmes achieved its aim of building the capacities of the representatives. This is evident in the immediate assessment of the pre and post training evaluation, the willingness and action to formulate ethical guidelines that would assist in reporting migration issues, the zeal to validate the guidelines for use as a tool for better reportage, the appreciation and commitment remarks as delivered by the representative of Voice of Nigeria (VON) media agency on behalf of other participants and the feedback of media agencies since the completion of the training.