We see it this way - Re-framing narratives about migration

The current narrative about refugees and migrants (both in Hungarian and Serbian language media in Serbia), which is dominantly negative - as recent researches show - encouraged us to come up with this project. 

"...the analysis showed that migrants and refugees are visually depicted in the Serbian media in two constantly present and dominant frames, the visual frame of victimization and the visual frame of threat, as faceless groups without any identity, as passive persons doing nothing, except they are waiting for something to happen regarding their status. Individual portraits are rare..." (Krstić, A. 2022) 

The main goal of the project is to sensitize and connect media students from Subotica and Novi Sad with refugees and migrants who are staying in Reception Centers in Subotica, Sombor and Šid through a one-semester course. The course will be conducted in Hungarian and Serbian for media students from Subotica and Novi Sad. During the lectures, we will cover topics such as: ethical reporting, media literacy, human rights and democracy, global, national and local political-economic frames and contexts, methodology of storytelling and the influence of media on the local community's attitude towards migrants/refugees, and finally, setting up new frames in which migrants/refugees are represented, by the students, out project participants. We want to show students the importance of media, that are bridges between cultures and communities, that are here to connect, rather than separate, and that their role and responsibility is extremely important for a better future for all of us. 

In addition to lectures, students will have the opportunity to participate in a Living Library, where the living books will be migrants/refugees who (after adequate preparation) will tell their stories - and students will have the opportunity to hear and record their stories. Study visits to Reception Centers in Vojvodina are planned, as well as a final public event: a Living Library, which is open to the public. Students will talk with migrants/refugees, get to know each other better and jointly create small videos and articles about migration, which will be published in student media and offered to other (linguistically related) media.

We are implementing the project in partnership with Teacher Training Faculty in Hungarian Language from Subotica (University of Novi Sad) 

Implementation period: 01.02. – 31.07. 2023 

Project is implemented in cooperation with IOM and funded by Switzerland.

Project coordinator: Milica Milović Kinoli