As part of the Re:framing Migrants in the European Media project, Here to Support and Unbias the News are organising the Decolonised Newsroom in Amsterdam. Editors, videomakers, journalists and designers are expected to work for this newsroom between February 26 to March 8 and May 12 & 13 in Amsterdam with an availability online till end of March, April.
The newsroom will be in charge of producing the end publication of the Re:Framing migrants on European media project. The newsroom team will collaborate both online and offline. From February 25 to March 8, the team will come together in Amsterdam at the Here to Support office, for an extended offline working session.
The message from Here to Support and Unbias the News:
The main goal is to find an answer to the question of what a decolonised newsroom would look like, and how it operates by using and collecting information, practices, and knowledge gained throughout the project. We will set up and bring together an editorial, journalistic, video and graphic design team, responsible for bringing together the end product: a publication with tips/tricks/guidelines to different target groups on how to decolonise, in order to really change the narrative of migrants in European Media. This team will work together using decolonisation theory as a starting point and will critically reflect on their own practice. In the end, the practice of this editorial team will be as important as the product they will produce. The team, the collaborative work, is an experiment/practice on its own which will be reflected both in the publication and during the presentation in May 2023 at Pakhuis de Zwijger. The newsroom team will collaborate on a multi-media publication that will reflect on the Re: Framing Migrants in the European Media project and the Decolonised Newsroom. The publication will be a multimedia storytelling of all those inspiring practices, organisations, individuals and ideas that we came across during the Re:Framing project. The printing part of the publication will be printed over 1000 times (depends on the form) and will be spread digitally. The team of the newsroom is in charge of the final content selection, the production, reflection and will present the publication at the final conference in May 2023 in Amsterdam Pakhuis de Zwijger.
Profiles we’re looking for Multimedia makers
● Editors: To write or help write the stories. Write and reflect about the decolonized newsroom and produce the written word parts of the publication.
● Videomakers: To put the stories into moving images, document the process of the decolonized newsroom and bring the audience into the project.
● Graphic designers: Who can visualise the stories for those who process information better with or with only visual stimulation.
● Anyone who does not want to be put in one of these boxes but has skills that can be used for a multimedia product. We want to hear from you!
Practicalities
Travel costs to Amsterdam and stay (accommodation and living costs) in Amsterdam are covered. This will be a paid work opportunity. The application requires only your name and a portfolio which links to your social media. The applicants are not expected to write a motivational letter and to invest their time into a formal application. For this wonderful work experience please send a message to Liza Saris by email: lizasaris@gmail.com, or on social media Liza_Saris or at Here to Support.
Background
One of the main returning questions during the Re:Framing migrants in European Media project was how the media landscape has to change, or “decolonize” in order to change the framing of migrants in the European Media. But in order to “decolonise”, reflection and experiments are needed around the implementation of decolonisation. Amongst others, In different City Assemblies all over Europe (Warsaw, Berlin, Lampedusa), we asked the question to local journalists and activists what decolonizing the newsroom means and what legacy media need to change in order to decolonize. All these ideas, suggestions and already existing practices have inspired the current framework of the Decolonised Newsroom. It can mean a rethinking of who the media is, what are the criteria of excellent journalism, the credit system for local journalists also known as fixers, the use of the language, and the understanding of objectivity. ‘Who says the white norm is the right norm?’ The theory of decolonisation forms the backbone to rethink the ways of working in journalism. If we step away from the white norm as the right norm, what ways of working suddenly don’t make sense anymore, or just could be done differently, what other norms can we implement in the newsrooms? We will experiment with some concrete actions that can be taken during the Decolonised Newsroom project connected to certain abstract ideas about decolonisation. The idea for the Decolonised Newsroom project was born during the ‘Decolonising the Newsroom’ collaborative event.