Islamabad, Pakistan: Following a series of online consultations with Pakistani media in November and December 2020, ICMPD in collaboration with Ethical Journalism Network (EJN) has developed a set of guidelines for reporting on migration issues in addition to a journalists’ toolkit for migration reporting for the Pakistani media. This initiative is funded under the project “Awareness Raising on Migration in Pakistan (MARIP- II)”, by the German Federal Foreign Office.
The guidelines are now available as infographics in both English and Urdu and can be accessed here: https://www.budapestprocess.org/resources/reports-analyses-guidance
The development of this guide required the involvement of various media owners and senior editors in Pakistan, and these inter alia provide the following:
· Understanding and reporting migration through a human lens
· Understanding International Conventions on Migration
· Using internationally approved terminology
· Eliminating hate-speech and misinformation
· Independent and inclusive media coverage
Developing the migration guidelines with media decision makers – including journalists, media owners and senior editors – helped to ensure buy-in which can now be witnessed in the practical application of the guidelines. These built the basis for a common understanding of the principles of reporting on migration in Pakistan.
As a next step, this project was enhanced by a month-long online training course held in June 2021. This was attended by 21 journalists from across the Pakistani media and was followed up by mentoring and a grants scheme facilitated by ICMPD. Seven Journalists and media employees from Pakistan TV, Geo TV, Dawn, Current, Samaa, Naya Daur and Tribal News Network took part in the fellowship programme.
ICMPD, in collaboration with the Ethical Journalism Network (EJN), also launched a toolkit for journalists who are working in – or on – Pakistan covering migration issues.
The toolkit includes professional guidelines that are intended to provide a useful reference for journalists, as well as explain international and national legal mechanisms relating to migration, as ethical reporting must be grounded in fact. However, the journalistic principles discussed are intended as an example of good practice rather than hard and fast rules which are mandated. This toolkit can be adapted to suit the local context.
The toolkit also helped the Pakistani media in general, and journalists covering migration issues in particular, to increase their knowledge on legal and irregular migration as well as follow the principles and guidance of the “Reporting Migration” tool kit.
