Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

We can change our migration narrative - election time is a good time to do it

06/11/2021

By Eileen Truax Eileen is a journalist specialising in migration working with Thomson Media on Moving Voices - a project looking at cross border issues affecting Costa Rica and Nicaragua.

On Sunday, November 7th, 2021 Nicaragua will hold national elections for President, Congress, and local authorities. These elections will take place in a context of weakened institutions, with an electoral system and rules that tilt heavily in favour of the incumbent Daniel Ortega, who has ruled continuously since 2007, and his party the Sandinista National Liberation Front.

This election will be carefully observed by the international community. Since widespread anti-government protests erupted in Nicaragua in April 2018, more than 300 citizens have been killed by government forces and paramilitary groups aligned with them. The Ortega government has adopted several repressive laws that restrict civic space and political rights in the country.

The rise of an anti-migrant, racist and nationalist narrative. Costa Rica, its southern neighbouring country, has a particular interest in how this election unfolds. Since 2016, it has become a frequent destination for Haitians, Cubans, Venezuelans, among others, but the largest number of migrants are from Nicaragua, three out of every four migrants living in Costa Rica are Nicaraguans. In the first year after the protests of 2018, more than 70,000 individuals were forced to flee Nicaragua including at least 70 journalists; in Costa Rica alone, 55,500 people requested international protection.

In this context, Costa Rica has seen the rise of an anti-migrant, racist and nationalist narrative to describe people coming from Nicaragua, with the media -and especially social media- adding to the anti-migrant sentiment. The amplifying effect that mainstream media has created by reproducing and normalising this violent, anti-migrant rhetoric, has helped to increase and spread this narrative further.

However the media still maintains a powerful position in our society and there's so much that can be done by journalists to present a fair, humane perspective of migration and migrants. They have the power to improve the lives of the vulnerable people by explaining the immediate story about what's happening, who's affected and what help is needed but also by looking at the background to the migration, the story behind the story.

Journalists key role Migration is not only about the movement of people from one place to another. The whole cycle of migration includes the reasons why people decide to flee. It may be for economic reasons but domestic or gender violence, medical needs, or religious diversity can also play a role. It includes the circumstances they were facing in their original countries and the decision-making process, what their hopes are for their future and how they adapt to living in their destination countries once the have arrived. Furthermore, the migration process does not end when the journey is finished; in many ways that's just the beginning of a new stage of the whole migration cycle.

Journalism plays a key role in supporting and building social cohesion, lessening division, and enlightening people. Telling the stories of those who migrated some time ago, those who are already part of their new society, can help the community to understand the motivations of those who are just arriving, so too the benefits that migration has represented for the economic, social, and intellectual development for the destination communities.

The human voice In recent years as a migration journalist, I have been part of efforts to train journalists to approach the subject of migration in a different way. The latest project, Moving Voices, run by Thomson Media aims to train journalists on nuanced and human-centric reporting on migration and cross-border issues between Costa Rica and Nicaragua. With the support of La Voz de Guanacaste, a local publication in Costa Rica that has pushed for a more fair and humane migration narrative, we've been working with dozens of journalists eager to find new tools and resources to change the them versus us rhetoric coming from the political arena, to question and challenge it.

The international media, especially the media in Costa Rica, can also challenge these practices and support any effort to remove politics when talking about migration. The international media community has a role in condemning anti-democratic practices when they happen in so-called democratic countries. In democracies, we cannot keep our eyes closed -nor our borders- to those who are risking their lives for the values that we have pledged to live by.

Eileen Truax is a journalist and writer specialising in migration and politics. Born in Mexico she spent many years working as a journalist in the United States of America. She is now based in Barcelona, Spain.

Moving Stories This project run by Thomson Media with partner La Voz de Guanacaste aims to increase nuanced and human-centric reporting on migration and cross-border issues in Costa Rica and Nicaragua. By fostering balanced, in-depth and empathetic reporting of stigmatised communities, the project seeks to promote social cohesion. It is funded by the British Embassy in San Jos .

All photos courtesy of C sar Arroyo (La Voz de Guanacaste)

Related content

Hidden from view: Reporting on human trafficking and modern slavery

Reporting on refugees: Belonging and unbelonging

Quiet reportage: documenting the migrant experience

Explore our projects across the globe
LINK: http://www.thomsonfoundation.org/latest/we-can-change-our-migration-na...
See more stories from thompsonfoundation

More from Thomson

25/03/2023

Finding their voice - the women bringing parity to Pakistan's media

To increase women's participation; these four words, written down in four seconds, in a proposal can take months, if not years to achieve. Especially, wh...

24/03/2023

Rwanda: developing a course for investigative journalists in Rwanda.

When I started out as an investigative journalist, there were few practising journalists in Kenya to learn from or manuals that I could read to sharpen my skill...

23/03/2023

Journalift: Access all languages

Journalists in the Western Balkans have been given access to free resources and training in their own languages thanks to a unique platform launched by Thomson ...

22/03/2023

Ukraine: collaboration in time of war

One million refugees have been welcomed into Germany since the Russian invasion who aside from being far from home have lost contact with their community and in...

21/03/2023

Building the Resilience and Relevance of independent media

Millions of people in Tajikistan have read, watched and listened to an extraordinary social media campaign which has clearly shown the population's hunger f...

08/03/2023

Valley Voices: Accessing women s voices

It's August in Pakistan and much of the country is underwater. Catastrophic flooding has killed hundreds, left millions homeless and destroyed infrastructur...

15/02/2023

She Leads Media: Bettina Fellowship scales up at Africa Media Festival

A strong, fearless and effective media, where talent is recognised and rewarded regardless of gender. That's the goal of She Leads Media: Bettina Fellowshi...

07/02/2023

Bad news for false news: how we re countering misinformation in Sudan

Our pioneering WhatsApp course is leading the way in training journalists and citizens to spot misinformation and disinformation in Sudan - a country targeted b...

03/02/2023

Valley Voices: Empowering women in rural Pakistan

The finale of the third Valley Voices project saw women journalists and writers gain confidence in writing about some of the more controversial topics facing wo...

23/01/2023

Connect 6: Thomson Foundation launches mentor programme

Take six of the brightest young journalists and connect them to six of the best in the industry and you have the recipe for Connect 6', a new, world-class ...

10/01/2023

Unique new course on the art of writing news analysis

You're a journalist and news breaks that Pele, arguably the greatest footballer the world has ever known, has died. A colleague in your newsroom is assigned...

14/12/2022

A mobile masterclass for South African award winners

Two former winners of the Vodacom Young Journalist of the Year award in South Africa have finally been treated to their prize of an all-expenses paid trip to Lo...

08/12/2022

Why female journalists in Pakistan don t like coffee

Sabin Agha is a Pakistan-based documentary filmmaker, multimedia journalist and a blogger. She has been teaching women journalists at Tribal News Network (TNN)...

29/11/2022

Yashraj Sharma, Young Journalist Award 2022 Winner

Yashraj Sharma is the interim editor of the online news portal of The Kashmir Walla. He is the winner of the Thomson Foundation's Young Journalist Award 202...

25/11/2022

Yashraj Sharma, Young Journalist Award 2022 Finalist

Yashraj Sharma is the interim editor of the online news portal of The Kashmir Walla. He is a finalist in Thomson Foundation's Young Journalist Award 2022. ...

24/11/2022

Jyoti Yadav, Young Journalist Award 2022 Finalist

Jyoti Yadav is a journalist from New Delhi, working for India's fastest growing news website The Print. She is a finalist in Thomson Foundation's Young ...

23/11/2022

Carlos Ral Kestler, Young Journalist Award 2022 Finalist

Carlos Ra l Kestler is a 23-year-old journalist from Guatemala. He is a finalist in Thomson Foundation's Young Journalist Award 2022. Every time a tyre t...

21/11/2022

Empowered - a year on from winning the Young Journalist Award

One year ago, I woke up and was surprised to find out the great news that I was selected as the winner of Thomson Foundations Young Journalist Award 2021. This ...

07/11/2022

How to write news stories better

Ewen Macaskill introduces the second in his series of news writing courses for the Thomson Foundation - Advanced Writing: The art of storytelling Storytelling...

04/11/2022

New safety course for Ukrainian journalists

During a time of war, it's essential that journalists are prepared for any eventuality, however unlikely. With that in mind, Thomson Foundation has respon...

20/10/2022

Revealing the 2022 Young Journalist Award finalists

It has been tough three weeks for the panel of judges at the UK Foreign Press Association (FPA) who had the unenviable task of selecting three finalists for the...

19/10/2022

Environmental journalism courses now available in Arabic

Three landmark environmental training courses devised by the Thomson Foundation have been translated into Arabic as part of a major push to guide and inform loc...

28/09/2022

Young Journalist Award shortlist revealed

A remarkable number of entries arrived from all over the world for this years Young Journalist Award - Cameroon to Colombia, Ukraine to Uganda and Egypt to Ecua...

12/09/2022

Why Pakistan needs more women leaders

This article is written by Hudaibia Iftikhar, a blogger working in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province of Pakistan. Despite being highly educated, she holds a ...

23/08/2022

Western Balkans footprints: Innovation in media training makes an impact

Running a media organisation in the Western Balkans (WB) is far from easy. A region beset by instability, corruption with challenges to media freedom which prov...

08/08/2022

WhatsApp misinformation course goes viral

A digital learning course on mis and disinformation delivered via the messaging platform WhatsApp has gone viral in Sudan. The first seven days after publicat...

28/07/2022

Why the environment crisis doesn t make news in Serbia

Dina or evi is a journalist with the Centre for Investigative Journalism of Serbia (CINS). She has won a number of national and international awards for her w...

01/07/2022

Fresh perspectives: Young Journalist Award 2022

Thomson Foundation is celebrating 60 years of promoting excellence in journalism and to mark the occasion, we're offering six rising stars the chance to con...

24/06/2022

Finding Africa s new voice

Hello, can you hear me? The zoom screen springs to life and the responses quickly follow. Yes, we can. Good morning . The greetings come from Kenya, Nigeri...

20/06/2022

A new chapter in a migration story

The crisis in Ukraine has again focused world attention on the plight of refugees and mass migration. It has also challenged journalists to report on the issue ...

10/05/2022

Changing the way news and stories about Africa are told

The moment you see your byline next to a story is a magical moment for any journalist. It brings with it a sense of relief, pride and hope that you'll get n...

06/05/2022

International success for Montenegrin mobile journalist

Success in our training programmes is measured in many ways but one of the most rewarding is reading or watching powerful stories produced by young journalists ...

25/04/2022

Shifting the focus: Sudan on the edge of change

A pioneering band of creatives in Sudan are promoting social change through photography. The Thomson Media training for digital media entrepreneurs formed part ...

31/03/2022

Telegram course: Reacting to a chemical attack

Chemical and biological weapons may be banned but that has not stopped them being used in recent conflicts and for journalists reporting on the war in Ukraine k...

25/01/2022

A vote of confidence: Empowering women politicians in Gagauzia

The look of politics in Gagauzia, the small autonomous territory in southern Moldova, is decidedly male. Just two of the 35 members of local parliament are wome...

13/01/2022

The Bettina Fund: Transforming women's careers

Eleven women who participated in the inaugural Bettina Fund - Women in Media Leadership programme say it will transform their careers as they have gained confid...

18/12/2021

Investigating Moldova: Journalists pick up two awards

Stories on ecology and corruption, developed with Thomson Media support, are among the best investigations of the year. By Dima Stoianov, media support expert ...

17/12/2021

Boosting media portrayals of minorities in the Western Balkans

Media in minority languages are relatively well developed, but one segment is significantly neglected in the six countries of the Western Balkans - Albania, Bos...

14/12/2021

The definitive guide to podcasting has arrived

Award-winning podcasters and journalists from the UK, India, Kenya, Australia and South Africa have joined forces to create what's believed to be the first ...

08/12/2021

Podcasts: Why I love audio

The 7th of January 1991 was a big day for me. It was the day I started working as a radio journalist. As someone who writes for a living, I'm supposed to a...

30/11/2021

Persistence pays off for the first ever Malaysian Young Journalist winner

PROFILE: Young Journalist Award 2021 winner It was Kai Hui Wong's persistence in her investigations which led her to reveal abuses of power that convin...

30/11/2021

Doing the groundwork: Monika Mondal wins our environmental prize

PROFILE: Young Journalist Award 2021 (environment) winner It's hard to believe that Monika Mondal only started her journalism career last year at the hei...

17/11/2021

Who are the Young Journalist Award 2021 finalists?

Three journalists - from India, and for the first time, Colombia and Malaysia - are the finalists for the 2021 Thomson Foundation Young Journalist Award, in par...

06/11/2021

We can change our migration narrative - election time is a good time to do it

By Eileen Truax Eileen is a journalist specialising in migration working with Thomson Media on Moving Voices - a project looking at cross border issues affectin...

02/11/2021

All fired up: The journalists addressing the climate emergency with words and actions

As world leaders gather for COP26, it is a pertinent time to showcase the work o...

20/10/2021

When diversity in newsrooms and newsleadership is not enough

In the latest in a series of personal reflections on womens role in the media, Luba Kassova, author of The Missing Perspectives of Women in News reflects on why...

16/10/2021

Meet the new generation of journalists making a mark

It's one of those points in the annual media calendar that early-career journalists await on the edge of their seats - and the moment has arrived. We can ...

06/10/2021

Women in media: Confronting the confidence gap

A confidence gap is a constant theme when discussing the lack of women in leadership positions in media. Why do women feel that they dont merit their success mo...

20/09/2021

Circular economy: Bringing the intellectually ambitious concept to life

Chances are, most things that currently surround you have been produced following the principles of the linear economy. From the clothes that you wear to the ph...

13/09/2021

Why we're all environmental journalists now

Journalists have a unique role to play in changing the narrative around the worlds environmental breakdown and becoming an essential part of the solution. Hear ...