Background
In public debate, migration is an overarching, cross-cutting theme, whether as a news item in its own right or intersecting with other news issues including political and social instability, economic downturns, and more recently the pandemic. Unfortunately, the public and media discourse on migration and migrating people often project a negative image that can stigmatise, foster discrimination towards migrants and threaten social cohesion. So for media outlets, reporting on migration phenomena and putting across messages about migrants without reproducing certain stereotypes remains a challenge.
Aims
Dialogues on Migration is a project funded by the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs. First implemented by CFI in 2021, it has been scheduled to run until end 2023. Dialogues on Migration’s general aim is to promote responsible discourse on migration, firstly by developing training initiatives accompanied by production support for media outlets (journalists and bloggers) and schools of journalism, and, secondly by facilitating the sharing of viewpoints and experience with all stakeholders in migration themes.
To find out more, please see the description of the project on the CFI website: https://cfi.fr/en/project/dialogues-migrations
This Call for candidates aims to select 10 media outlets for each partner country operating in The Gambia, Guinea, Mauritania and Niger, to reinforce and improve their coverage of migration issues.
Key dates
- Monday 2 January 2023 : deadline for reception of application files (6.00 pm UTC)
- Starting Thuesday 3 January 2023: selection committee and possible oral interviews
- Starting Friday 6 January 2023: announcement of media outlets selected
- Late January/February 2023: training courses
- March-April 2023: remote mentoring (tracking production) and in-person presentation days.
Running of the project
The ten (10) media outlets selected for each country will be receive support to integrate migration issues into their editorial line, from late January 2023 to April 2023, as part of an educational programme comprising two training courses held in the capital cities of each country (Banjul, Conakry, Niamey and Nouakchott):
1. One (1) five- (5-)day course on the well-balanced, ethical coverage of migration issues for one (1) journalist or one (1) blogger.
2. One (1) five- (5-)day course on fighting misinformation (fact-checking) on the subject of migration for one (1) journalist or one (1) blogger.
Continuing on from each of these training courses, the trained journalists and/or bloggers will each benefit from remote mentoring for six (6) weeks in order to:
– put what they learned during the training course into practice;
– support them in the production of content on migration;
– help their media outlet shape their editorial line to make migration news a regular feature.
This mentoring period will be followed by two (2) presentation days, in-person, to present trainee output. The details of the dates for these various activities shall be communicated to the media outlets selected.
The dix (10) media outlets selected shall each designate a team of two journalists and/or bloggers. Media outlet participation in the course requires the full availability of participating journalists and/or bloggers for the entire duration of the training course, mentoring period and presentation days. The managers of all journalists and/or bloggers benefitting from this programme must commit to freeing them of all other professional obligations during the scheduled times.
The training sessions and presentation days will take place in French for Guinea, Mauritania and Niger, in Arabic for Mauritania and English for The Gambia. They shall be run by pairs of experienced trainers, in secure conditions.
The majority of activities shall take place in person in Banjul, Conakry, Niamey and Nouakchott. CFI will be covering coffee breaks, lunch and urban transport throughout the training courses. For journalists who reside elsewhere than the venue city, CFI will also be covering accommodation, dinner and transport expense refunds.
Who does this Call for candidates apply to?
- Media outlets with a large audience in The Gambia, Guinea, Mauritania and NigerThe following media outlets are eligible:
- radio stations and TV channels
- printed press
- online media outlets (on Internet: blogs or social media)
Applicant media outlets must fulfil the following conditions:
- Be based anywhere in The Gambia, Guinea, Mauritania or Niger. CFI will be covering transport expenses to reach the city in which the training course is held.
- Have an independent editorial line.
- The media outlet newsroom must have at least three (3) journalists and/or bloggers on their permanent staff.
- The media outlet must have been operating for at least three (3) years.
- Online media outlets (e.g. blogs) must belong to a bloggers’ or press association.
- The media outlet must show that they are willing to produce and broadcast content on migration issues on a regular basis and over time.
- The media outlet must have a nationwide audience and/or have regional correspondents, or be well-established in one of these regions.
- The media outlet must commit to designating two journalists or bloggers to participate in the training programme for the entire duration of the project.
- The editorial manager (chief editor, producer or programme director) of the media outlets and/or blogs selected must make themselves available for the session to present production by the pairs of journalists and/or bloggers selected.
- Profile of the two journalists and/or bloggers designated by the applicant media outlets
- Must have already produced content on migration.
- At least one of the two journalists and/or bloggers must have already performed fact-checking, or at the very least, been trained in fact–checking.
- Where possible, the applicant media outlets shall put forward pairs of journalists and/or bloggers with complementary skills. For example, a journalist and/or blogger dealing with general-interest subjects and a journalist and/or blogger with a more specialised profile (fact-checking, data journalism, graphics, mapping, community manager etc.).
- The participation of female journalists and/or bloggers is strongly encouraged.
Selection procedure
To be considered for selection, please fill in the application form accessible below.
Media outlets applications can be submitted up until 6.00 pm UTC on Tuesday 20 December 2022.
Assessment grid
A jury will assess all media outlet application files according to the criteria below (out of 100 points)*.
| |
Criteria |
Number of points |
| File |
File complete |
All incomplete files will be eliminated |
|
| 1. Media outlet |
|
50 |
| 1.1 |
Audience: geographical zone covered.
|
10 |
| 1.2 |
Extent of media outlet professionalism: editorial team setup, capacity to produce, broadcast and promote content on migration issues |
20 |
| 1.3 |
Media outlet’s editorial line matches the aims of the Dialogues on Migration project |
20 |
| 2. Pairs of journalists suggested |
|
30 |
| 2.1 |
Skills and experience in migration journalism |
5 |
| 2.2 |
Skills and experience in journalism and fact-checking |
5 |
| 2.3 |
Skills and experience in journalism |
20 |
| 3. Media outlet manager |
|
10 |
| 3.1 |
Motivation |
10 |
| 4. Gender |
|
10 |
| 4.1 |
The pair of journalists and/or bloggers suggested shall include one or two CVs of women |
10 |
| Total |
|
100 |
*In the event of a tie, applications from media outlets with female managers and/or journalists/bloggers shall be selected.
Do you have any questions?
You may write to helene.brousseau@cfi.fr , specifying “Dialogues on Migration – Call for candidates” in the subject line.
