28 June: conference “Perceptions of Migration – the challenges for media professionals and the new European Parliament”

An international panel of exiled journalists and migration experts will discuss the results of a European project investigating ways of improving media coverage of migration issues at a conference in Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania. Newly elected MEPs and officials from the European Commission have also been invited to comment on the outcomes of the innovative project run by Media4Change, which engaged diverse people from seven countries in a series of workshops and activities about media coverage of migrants.

Participants ran ‘Migrant Library’ in Budapest and Vilnius to give members of the public and politicians with an opportunity to meet face to face with migrants and learn their stories. Some conducted ‘experiments’ to test levels of prejudice against migrants, and reviewed negative press headlines and suggested more positive alternatives. They also drafted guidelines for fair and accurate coverage, which are being distributed to media professionals.

Among the speakers will be Mahdis Amirian exiled journalist from Iran now working with the New MediaMakers organisation in Germany; former Bosnian journalist Zrinka Bralo of Migrants Organise in the UK; academic Magdalena Bobowik from the University of the Basque Country; Sara Garcia de Blas from the Jesuit Refugee Service; Maddalena Fontana from the National Institute for Social Integration; Martin Maska of the European Youth Press; Hiba Obaidan exiled journalist from Syria currently working for Deutschlandfunk Kultur;  and Zivile Raskauskaite from Media4Change.

“This has really been a labour of love,” says project initiator Neringa Jurciukonyte of Media4Change. “Hundreds diverse people have given up their time to really engage with the issues. We have had two residential workshops in Lithuania, and another in Hungary, and participants have devoted time and energy in their home countries to develop the project. We hope the results will encourage the new European Parliament to devote more time and resources to counter rising prejudice and hate speech and improve the lives of those who have sought sanctuary in one of the richest continents in the World.”

The conference expects to attract a wide range of participants from across Europe as well as citizens from Lithuania. If you have any questions, feel free to contact by email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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Short information about the event