Media Diversity Institute

25 IS ONLY THE BEGINNING 

Milica Pesic

"I discovered what it means to be different early in life. I was born left-handed, like a few relatives on my father’s side. But they were old, lived in the countryside, and never went to school. In my family, my left-handedness was seen as proof that I was taking after my father’s family as well as a sign that I was meant for something special in life." Read more

Instead of Conclusions

David Tuller

"I was also immensely moved by the passion expressed by all the authors, no matter their perspectives, as well as their shared commitment to the notion that journalism and all forms of media can and must be used as tools for positive change. Many of the authors grew up in extremely harsh and oppressive circumstances, yet they have managed to retain their humor, their humanity, and their desire to promote inclusion, tolerance and diversity. I find myself immensely inspired by this resilience." Read more

The Role of Media in Reporting LGBTQI Rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Anida Sokol

"In the patriarchal and conservative society of Bosnia and Herzegovina, resistance to this group and to any topics concerning sexual minorities, gender issues, and women's rights is still very powerful. High-quality, professional and engaged media reporting on these issues is very important for helping to overcome these traditional attitudes and for improving the rights of minority groups. But the media of BiH devote little or no time to investigating and reporting on the discrimination that LGBTIQ people experience in healthcare, education, and employment." Read more

A Balkan Journey on Diversity

Remzi Lani

"Usually, when we talk about mechanisms of hate in the media we focus on "hate speech”. I think it would also be interesting to analyze “hate silence”. This, for example, is the treatment of the Roma, who simply do not exist in the Albanian media. Nobody talks about them. In this sense, hate speech is replaced by hate silence. The media influence their audiences not only through what they say, but, just as importantly, through what they don’t say." Read more

The Storytelling Times

Safi Naciri

"In Morocco, the media is part of politics, as is the case in all North African and Middle Eastern countries. I transitioned to journalism from politics, carrying my dreams and idealistic values. Politicians draw the lines of liberation and control, while journalists execute them. It took me some time to discover this bitter truth. After graduating and becoming involved in professional practice, I had to learn how to utilize every single opportunity to help me escape from the domination of politics and its agendas. I found refuge in memories, in the forgotten, marginalized, and excluded." Read more

Meditating Cultural Diversity

Anbin Shi

"As Confucius aptly put it, “to maintain diversity in the midst of diversity is the gentlemen’s way of life.” In this light, the Maoist endeavor for a unified Chinese-ness sparked the quest for cultural diversity in terms of class, gender and ethnicity. The most relevant understanding of "diversity" in the Chinese context emerged in tandem with the evolution of cultural diversity standards in the PRC over time. The Party-State-led pursuit of diversity was organized to serve grand political goals, most notably the promotion of ethnic diversity." Read more

Diversity Postcard

Snjezana Milivojevic

"Outside the cultural and political West, visibility and voice are differently entangled with publicness. Modern Muscat as a city developed mostly along large roads parallel to the coastline. The city is not structured around public squares or places for easy, everyday encounters, and its large distances limit the possibility of walking. The climate also dictates that activities mostly take place indoors, and spontaneous encounters occur mainly in big shopping malls. And traditional Muslim culture defines what is private and what is acceptable in public. I have often seen in the Gulf Arab countries how easily secrecy is mistakenly defended as privacy. This conception of privacy hampers public insight into gender relations and domestic practices and habits, which change more slowly than public mores, and stay under the discretion of the household or the traditions governing family relationships. " Read more

Does De-centred Media Hold The Solution To Our Cohesion Challenge?

Nick Carter

"Regional media is declining, but its reporters are much more representative of our diverse society, as are graduates from university journalism courses. New, independent, ‘de-centred’ media projects are emerging. What they lack in funding, many make up for in enthusiasm to inform their neighbourhoods and networks. But voices of moderation and balance are isolated and weak in the face of unrestrained social media malice." Read more

Gender and The Media: Then and Now

Lesley Abdela*

"Women in public life face the same online dangers as men, but in addition they are specifically targeted with abuse and threats simply for being women who choose to take on a public role as human rights activists, journalists or politicians. The situation is heightened and exacerbated by intersectional factors, including racism, religious bigotry, sectarianism, and homophobia, as well as by disinformation." Read more

Ensuring Diversity in Egyptian Media

Naila Hamdy

"Oddly enough, although veiled women are the majority in Egypt, they are much rarer in news and the entertainment media. Perhaps social media is the space that has been freest for women who choose to dress conservatively. Deemed not modern enough to be seen on any of the local channels, whether owned by the private sector or the state, they are nearly invisible on the airwaves." Read more

Down And Out In The Melting Pot

Edmundo Bracho-Polanco

"Individuals of different cultures, I found, certainly tolerated each other in New York City’s districts, living side by side, engaging in polite transactions of all sorts on a daily basis. But they hardly melted together with one another. I dare say that they struggled to thread together genuine cultural hybridity. I would experience it almost every day: I lived in the Hispanic, salsa-listening, brown-skinned department – the barrio. And one single avenue, not too broad, would separate it from the larger, more privileged city compartment, one that was white – or Caucasian, as was the official term used then – and which was part of a dominant faction of North American society. This area of New York, like most of the city, belonged to the groups that tended to dictate the hegemonic narratives and policies of what citizenship, assimilation, social mobility, and diversity were and ought to be. " Read more

Diversity and Me

Mike Jempson

"Promoting the message that everybody has a right to be heard is often an ongoing struggle. When people feel threatened there is a tendency to revert to an atavistic nationalism. As journalists we must strive to keep the door open to everyone, to confront ignorance and encourage understanding." Read more

Where Are You Really From?

Shada Islam

"Despite prevailing perceptions, many of the estimated 25 million European Muslims share my attachment to the EU ideal. And like me they suffer each time Islamophobia invariably reaches fever pitch after any Islamist-inspired terrorist act in Europe or elsewhere in the world. Anxiety over Muslims as the “enemy within” goes much deeper than post-terrorism trauma. Anxious debates on the place of Islam in Europe, and claims that European Muslims represent an impossible-to-integrate “other” and are foot soldiers in an ongoing existential confrontation between Europe and Islam, have dogged Muslims across the continent for decades." Read more

My story, my way

Jean-Paul Marthoz

"As a journalist, I saw diversity as a necessary ingredient of any story aspiring “to provide the best obtainable version of the truth”, to quote Carl Bernstein of Watergate fame. Could the press do that without being itself a reflection of the diversity of the societies on which it was reporting? " Read more

Political Diversity In The Media As An Issue In The Professional Life Of A Media Researcher

Jovanka Matic

"I am strongly convinced that the Serbian media system needs another radical reconstruction. There is also a need for the re-education of politicians, journalists and news audiences of both traditional and digital media about the necessity of active and passive access to media by local communities, a variety of cultural and social groups, and above all, of political actors with diverse interests, opinions and values. I want to be part of that process, which should be grounded in the new relationship between the media and audiences. I am not alone. Many others are willing to contribute." Read more

Thoughts on Media, Diversity, and Technology

Diani Citra

"When I first worked with the Media Diversity Institute almost 20 years ago, we encouraged Indonesian journalists not to be deterred by any attempt to silence newsroom reporting. I helped MDI provide workshops on security and ways to safely investigate sensitive political and social issues. We covered everything from radical Islamic movements to the rampant corruption that has always plagued Indonesia - and continues to." Read more

Before MDI… and After: An Origin Story

Rob Leavitt

“For MDI, the work must continue – building on past success and demonstrating the way forward. Continuing to shine a light on the media manipulation that turns difference into division. Continuing to demonstrate the positive example of inclusive reporting. And continuing to nurture the next generations of students and reporters that we so need to pick up the torch”. Read more

Media Diversity and the Perils of Panic

Eric Heinze

"I have long believed that diversity in the media, no less than in the seminar room, means expanding voices and perspectives, and arming people with rational arguments instead of clamping down on provocative ideas." Read more

When Change Isn’t Enough

Joy Francis

"Without exception, each scholar was surprised and excited that I was from England. "I didn’t know there were Black people in Britain" was a common refrain. To many, I was from an unheard species called Black British journalist. My heart sank."  Read more

Gendered Journalism in China: From Newsrooms to Classrooms

Haiyan Wang

"I was told again and again that in order to survive in the newsroom, the ability to navigate in the sexist environment was an essential skill. I heard stories that were far more disturbing than mine". Read more

A Girl in the Scarlet Sail

Nadezda Azhgikhina

“I was still a kid when I suddenly figured out that my dad had spent several years in a prison camp and was only released after Stalin’s death. I was shocked!" Read more

Diversity: A Universal Heritage That Challenges The Media

Anne-Marie Impe

"If diversity issues have always been close to my heart, it is probably because of my personal background." Read more

Journalism, Diversity and Faces of Change

Verica Rupar in conversation with John Owen

The story about media and diversity for many of us starts with the question of whom journalists should listen to. Read more

De-Westernisation of Journalism Studies Enhances Sector’s Diversity and Inclusion

Zahera Harb

“Scholars from the Global South have struggled for decades for international recognition of their voices and intellectual contributions to a global academic community. A de-westernization movement has emerged in journalism and media studies, as seen in the rise of global comparative studies and in the growing numbers of non-western scholars being invited to present their work at international conferences previously dominated by western intellectuals”. Read more

Why?

Željko Ivanović

“Stereotypes that she picked up in her village during childhood convinced her that children had to be protected from anything different. Because when hard, troubling times come, that’s when you see that “blood is thicker than water.” Regardless of whether it is about religion, nation, skin colour or names”. Read more

Media Diversity Institute @25 – Then, Now and Beyond

On the 17th of November at the Frontline Club in London, MDI launched a book to celebrate 25 years of promoting diversity and inclusion in the media. More than 120 MDI supporters joined the celebration in person, while many followed it via livestream.

Reviewing Conflict Coverage and Representation in Northern Ireland’s...

By Laura Rodríguez-Davis This year, 2023, marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement (GFA), a …

Sri Lanka’s Proposed Online Safety Bill: Regulation, but at What Cos...

By Namashya Ratnayake and Taahira Lafir Sri Lanka’s fundamental rights jurisprudence has been generally progressive in the interpretation and appreciation …

How Newsrooms are incorporating Inclusivity in Nigeria’s Media lands...

As the world tends to become more diverse, newsrooms need to realize that it is their responsibility to prioritize inclusive reporting. Managers of media outlets should not only encourage the employment of disabled journalists, but also cover issues affecting PWDs.

guidelines, studies AND resources

Media Diversity Institute gathers the latest guidelines, studies and other resources to help journalists, academics and civil society activists integrate a diversity perspective into their work.

For Journalists

Here are upcoming conferences, job openings and fellowship and grant opportunities.

For Students

Here are academic resources and internship and scholarship opportunities.

For CSOs

Here are training opportunities and resources on how to work with the media and create effective campaigns.

Media Diversity Institute @25 – Then, Now and Beyond

CoachMIL Project: New Approaches To Media And Information Literacy In ...

“It's like swimming, if you learn to swim at 40 years old, it would be very difficult, because you will be scared of the water, what's behind it, the sharks… it’s the same for media literacy.”

Hashtag Generation’s Social Media Analysis Finds that Online Abuse I...

In Sri Lanka there is a need for democratic engagement in the online space and more accountability from social media companies for the harm perpetrated on their platforms.

What We Are Working On Now

Media Diversity Institute is working on a number of projects on the cutting edge of media and diversity issues. Check out what we are working on now.

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