Journalists and media organisations hold a unique power to shape our experience of diversity. Through their actions, they can help each and every group in society gain visibility and be heard. They can strengthen or weaken stereotypes by providing multidimensional or simplistic representations of different ethnic, racial and religious communities. They can foster social tensions and conflicts - or define areas of common ground.

But all too often, the media exacerbate misunderstanding and division among different groups. The past decade was filled with examples of the media being used to divide communities against themselves, stir hatreds against minority groups, and directly promote mass violence. From Serbia to Rwanda and far beyond, media control became one of the most powerful weapons in the arsenal of the most extreme political movements.

Our primary programmatic objective is to promote fair, accurate, in-depth, and sympathetic media coverage of diversity-related issues as an essential step toward strengthening human and minority rights and promoting understanding between different social groups. Such media coverage can play a central role in reducing irrational prejudices, avoiding the inflammation of conflict, and confronting extremist political agendas. Such media coverage can provide a critical bulwark against the escalation of ethnic, nationalist, and religious conflicts.

MDI works mainly in societies where for decades only one party or one ethnic group or one religion has dominated. In places such as Israel, Nigeria, Romania or Serbia, to exist outside the dominant group is almost automatically a reason to be seen as a suspect or threat. Likewise, throughout much of Europe today the Roma people are still widely seen as a second-class race, not worthy of equal status with mainstream groups. In Romania, until very recently, the law on homosexuality was so ambiguous as to render public discussion of the subject potentially punishable by jail. To the extent there is any press freedom at all, media have a tremendous potential to help shift attitudes in these societies.

Drawing on extensive research and professional media experience, MDI works with local organisations - members of the Reporting Diversity Network, set up to develop the most appropriate tools, training, and hands-on reporting programs to improve reporting and media diversity in each area. Cross-ethnic reporting projects, media training for minority NGO groups, reporting diversity curricula for journalism schools - these and other initiatives reflect MDI's practical approach to creating both immediate and longer-term change.