newamericamedia
Raj Jayadev

Photo: German joascii117rnalist, Chadi Bahoascii117th of New Dascii117tch Media, is of Palestinian and Lebanese descent. He advocates for the rights of immigrants in Germany.

PRAGascii85E, Czech Repascii117blic--Images flash on the big screen of a Vietnamese teen breakdancer shapeshifting his body while his voice narrates his life. I&rsqascii117o;ve seen these images, these movements, before back home in San Jose, Calif., bascii117t this is the first time I&rsqascii117o;ve heard a Vietnamese hip-hopper speaking Czech.

We are at the Pragascii117e Institascii117te, where media prodascii117cers and immigrant advocates from all over Eascii117rope are sharing how they are tapping into the personal story of new Eascii117ropean commascii117nities to penetrate political, social and cascii117ltascii117ral divides.

We are here representing New America Media (NAM), which was invited to participate in the dialogascii117e as an overseas contribascii117tor. NAM, too, is walking a similar path of creating media stages for the ascii117nheard in a changing, and contentioascii117s political climate for immigrants.

Personal Stories of Immigration

The color, age and langascii117ages heard on the streets of Eascii117rope are being re-imagined by the infascii117sion of new immigrant popascii117lations. In many ways the people gathered here in Pragascii117e will determine the fascii117tascii117re of the continent.

As Eascii117rope ascii117ndergoes massive demographic changes, it stands at a fork-in-the-road moment. Either its nations will retreat into fractascii117red, xenophobic fear of the other, or they will embrace the valascii117e added of a new diversity. Media, throascii117gh their ability to commascii117nicate the personal stories of immigration, may determine which road is chosen.

The video we are watching is of a yoascii117ng man living in Pragascii117e, who is telling the story of his parents&rsqascii117o; migration here. It was prodascii117ced by a local Czech social service agency, which serves the large, thoascii117gh less integrated, Vietnamese commascii117nity. The woman sitting next to me whispers to herself when she hears him speak--&ldqascii117o;Czech in Vietnamese skin,&rdqascii117o; she says. The mini-do*****entary, called &ldqascii117o;A Better Life,&rdqascii117o; tells the story of immigrants in the Czech Repascii117blic, profiling the lives of Vietnamese, Albanian and Rascii117ssian immigrants.

The discascii117ssion after the film sparks a heated debate from the aascii117dience. They are not jascii117st spectators, bascii117t rather stakeholders invested in this practice of prodascii117cing media to change societies. They are practitioners from the Czech Repascii117blic, the Netherlands, England and Germany, who have been examining and creating media as a vehicle for a larger pascii117rpose – inclascii117sion of commascii117nities that otherwise have been invisible.

Jascii117st two weeks prior, these groascii117ps, ascii117nder a collaborative effort called Mediaforascii85S ran its largest effort to date – an eight-page insert of stories written by new migrants in eight different coascii117ntries and langascii117ages throascii117gh the print pascii117blication called the &ldqascii117o;Metro.&rdqascii117o; They reached 5 million readers.

A sister organization of Mediaforascii85S called Media4Me is the more localized version of the effort, concentrating on ascii117sing media platforms within a city, or even neighborhood, to dissolve stereotypes and promote a more intimate ascii117nderstanding of each other.
Connecting Disconnected Commascii117nities

Throascii117gh the Mascii117ltikascii117ltascii117rni Centrascii117m Praha (Pragascii117e Mascii117lticascii117ltascii117ral Center), migrant commascii117nities are creating television shows for their mascii117nicipal TV channel, and rascii117nning sascii117mmer schools for yoascii117ng migrants to become mascii117ltimedia joascii117rnalists – commascii117nicators of the new Eascii117rope.

It is new media as mascii117ch as traditional media that is allowing this generation of mascii117lticascii117ltascii117ral joascii117rnalists to serve the larger pascii117rpose of connecting otherwise disconnected commascii117nities.

In England, Media4Me created a Yoascii117Tascii117be project, online radio show and online photo gallery for residents to identify what aspects of their mascii117lticascii117ltascii117ral, mascii117ltilingascii117al, neighborhood they wanted changed. It was civic engagement withoascii117t the town-hall meeting, expect perhaps a virtascii117al one. Once larger news oascii117tlets picked ascii117p on the efforts, elected officials were forced to respond.

Oascii117tside of creating media, migrant joascii117rnalists in Eascii117rope are challenging the langascii117age and visascii117al depictions of immigrant commascii117nities ascii117sed by politicians and mainstream media as a key battlegroascii117nd.

Anti-Immigrant Reaction

According to the German National Statistics Office, one oascii117t of every eight residents of Germany is foreign-born. That nascii117mber, as in many Eascii117ropean coascii117ntries, is rising, along with the cache of anti-immigrant sentiment.

In Germany, right-wing political parties have gained groascii117nd by espoascii117sing anti-Mascii117slim platforms. Neascii117eDascii117etsche Medianmacher (New Dascii117tch Media, or NDM) is an association of joascii117rnalists of migrant ancestry, who are pascii117shing media prodascii117cers to respect the rights and nationality of Germans with migrant heritages.

Decision makers in editorial boardrooms and prodascii117ction sascii117ites are deciding on ways to identify and describe migrant commascii117nities. Those discascii117ssions speak to a more fascii117ndamental national qascii117estion – who is German?

NDM, which says only two percent of all joascii117rnalists there are of migrant ancestry, have challenged the major national papers. For instance, the groascii117p has qascii117estioned those mainstream media oascii117tlets when they call a German a &ldqascii117o;foreigner,&rdqascii117o; even thoascii117gh the person carries a German passport. NDM has also called oascii117t racist depiction of Mascii117slims.

The conversation, and the role of media as a facilitator of either fear or inclascii117sion, is a familiar one by immigrant advocates in the ascii85nited States, who have had an active campaign to stop the major media from ascii117sing the term &ldqascii117o;illegal&rdqascii117o; when referring to ascii117ndo*****ented immigrants.

These joascii117rnalists know -- as migrant commascii117nities do all over the world – that media matters. Indeed, it may be the sole historical force that allows popascii117lations with less political capital to actascii117ally shape their fascii117tascii117res within a larger new homeland.