British filmmaker enlisted to bridge gap between migrants and journalists

Birmingham: A Birmingham-based journalist and filmmaker has been enlisted to empower migrants to tell their own stories across mainstream news platforms.

British reporter and video journalist Adam Yosef is joining a host of regional media professionals to lead a programme to help migrants living in the UK achieve better representation across local news mediums.

Working closely with news writers and editors, West Midlands residents from migrant backgrounds have enrolled on a series of ‘Migrant Ambassadors’ workshops to learn about how journalism works, what makes a good community story and how to pitch these stories to regional media.

Organised by UK charity Migrant Voice as part of an ongoing national programme, the free multi-session course was launched on Friday 7 October at The Birmingham & Midland Institute and continues at Zellig in Digbeth with several sessions over a 3-month period.

Yosef, who has previously worked with the third sector organisation to amplify the experiences of individuals from immigrant communities through Media Labs and a dedicated migrant-run newsroom, hopes the programme will centre the stories of often marginalised and overlooked groups.

“The programme aims to create conversations around media representation for migrant communities in the West Midlands and to highlight areas where more needs to be done,” he said.

“It’s not just about journalists writing about migrants to tick off a ‘diversity’ box, it’s about ensuring migrants are part of that representation, that their voices are included, their ideas and critiques are taken on board, that stories essentially about them don’t get published without them.

“It’s very common across mainstream media to write about migrants without necessarily speaking to them, we want to change that; and we want to arm the most vulnerable and marginalised within this demographic with the tools to speak for themselves, and to speak about issues beyond clichés and negative stereotypes.”

Yosef brings with him two decades of experience in multi-disciplinary journalism, including written, photography and videography. The 41-year-old has documented socio-political issues in Europe, Asia and the Middle East, with a strong focus on migrant struggles and racial identity politics.

Across Britain, Yosef has reported on far-right rallies and violent riots, at times being personally targeted and attacked. In 2015, he joined several delegations to ‘The Jungle’ camp in the French city of Calais to capture the plight of desperate refugees crossing the continent to reach safety.

Over ten years ago, Yosef set up independent regional digital news website I Am Birmingham to recruit, train and provide media access opportunities to budding journalists from the region. As Editor-in-chief, Yosef has helmed a media outlet which has spearheaded hidden stories from underrepresented communities; and established the West Midland’s first non-niche news publisher run primarily by an ethnic minority-led editorial team.

Drawing from his Indo-Arab heritage and immediate British-Spanish family unit, Yosef believes migrants are routinely reduced to superficial one-dimensional characters in someone else’s story, but argues migrant identity is always more nuanced, multilayered and intersectional.

“Much of my work focuses on the struggles and stories of migrant, marginalised and working-class people. As a person who identifies with all three, there will always be that personal connection but primarily it’s about understanding what it’s like to have your opinions or experiences sidelined by an industry that is, by-and-large, not run by or dominated by people like us.

“As migrants, we actually have more in common than not, but when our voices are not strong or united, it becomes easier for those with prominent platforms to demonise and divide us. This lack of unity works towards deplatforming our unified voice and our shared experiences.

“We need to reclaim that space in the media landscape. This is what Migrant Voice works to achieve everyday.”

The migrant-led national organisation describes itself as “a community of migrant voices to speak for themselves and call for justice for all”.

The charity has regional hubs which cover London and the South East, the West Midlands and Scotland. Members are diverse and the charity welcomes anyone who believes in a society where migrants and refugees are treated with equality without fear, racism or violent attack.

Previous participants who joined the Migrant Ambassadors programme began as novices but went on to have their stories and story ideas published in regional and national newspapers, and picked up by television networks. Some have gone on to write their own articles and opinion pieces in established news platforms.

The community-based coaching encourages migrants to speak for themselves, to amplify their voices and to ensure they are fairly represented. Training shared during the sessions include writing, speaking, interview and pitching skills.

Journalists and activists joining the current cohort of trainees in Birmingham include Birmingham Live reporter Aida Fofana, veteran international journalist Daniel Nelson and migration advisor Salman Mirza.

Media facilitator Yosef – whose work has been featured by the BBC, The Washington Post, The Mirror, and Al Jazeera – wants the programme to be the start and continuation of an ongoing relationship between news editors and ordinary migrants with important stories to share.

“What we aim to do is empower migrants by helping them understand the inner workings of news media, by meeting journalists and editors and by pitching and following up stories about their communities. These are both stories about their journeys and struggles but also positive stories about issues important in and to their neighbourhoods.”

Other journalists who have recently worked with Migrant Voice to deliver media-based workshops include BBC presenter Rakeem Omar, former Channel 4 News reporter Simon Israel, and former international Al Jazeera producer Hasan Patel.

To find out more about the current or future Migrant Ambassadors workshops, you can email: adam@migrantvoice.org.