Debating at UNESCO: can mass media help successful integration?
29-11-2007 (Paris)
Migration/Integration conference
© France Télévisions
Immigrant integration within European societies and their representation in the media were debated at four roundtable discussions during a two-day conference on The Role of Public Service Media for Migration and Integration, held at UNESCO Headquarters, from 22 to 23 November 2007.
The topics addressed included the introduction of ethnic minority quotas and the portrayal of immigrants in the mass media. Public Sector Broadcasters from France, Italy, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Sweden, Finland and Germany agreed that they had a special role to play in integrating immigrants within the media both in terms of staffing and content decisions. However, how to go about achieving diversity and to what extent public service media should be a catalyst in this process was clearly a controversial topic which led to lively debate.
Organized by France Télévisions and UNESCO, under the auspices of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), with the participation of the Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDF) and Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF), the conference was attended by some 300 media professionals, migration experts and key political and cultural figures, including Fadila Laanan, Minister of Culture, Audiovisual and Youth of the French-speaking Community of Belgium.
The conference saw both the launch of good practice guidelines to improve the diversity in staffing and programming in public service television and a ceremony for the first winners of ‘Boundless’, a young journalist competition launched last year and aimed at promoting diversity in media. The 18 winners will participate in a 3-week international training programme at the Boundless Summer Academy during the “European Year of Intercultural Dialogue” in 2008.
Next year’s conference will be hosted by the Netherlands Public Broadcasting (NPO) in the Netherlands.
Organized by France Télévisions and UNESCO, under the auspices of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), with the participation of the Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDF) and Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF), the conference was attended by some 300 media professionals, migration experts and key political and cultural figures, including Fadila Laanan, Minister of Culture, Audiovisual and Youth of the French-speaking Community of Belgium.
The conference saw both the launch of good practice guidelines to improve the diversity in staffing and programming in public service television and a ceremony for the first winners of ‘Boundless’, a young journalist competition launched last year and aimed at promoting diversity in media. The 18 winners will participate in a 3-week international training programme at the Boundless Summer Academy during the “European Year of Intercultural Dialogue” in 2008.
Next year’s conference will be hosted by the Netherlands Public Broadcasting (NPO) in the Netherlands.
Opening of the reception at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Patrick de Carolis and Bachir Bakhti© France Télévisions
Related themes/countries
· Europe and North America
· Freedom of Expression: News Archives 2007
· Media Development: News Archives 2007
· France: News Archives 2007
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Contact information
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Contact
- Mogens Schmidt, UNESCO, Divison for Freedom of Expression, Democracy and Peace
- Anna Poplavskaia, UNESCO, Divison for Freedom of Expression, Democracy and Peace
- UNESCO
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