*recommends more capacity building
By Michael Paul
Journalists in Nigeria need to do more to amplify experiences of returning migrant workers, a new report released by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has indicated.
The report released by the ILO Abuja Country office analyzed eight Nigerian Newspapers over a period of ten months.
Out of 2, 687 newspaper editions covered during the study period between May 2020 to February 2021, only 115 stories on migrants returning to Nigeria were published, the report noted.
Also, key findings from the report indicated that the media in Nigeria exhibited limited depth and contextualization of reports on returning migrants. It therefore recommended more capacity building for journalists on labour migration reporting.
It reads in part, “The available newspapers’ reports generally lacked adequate profiling of the returnees. The reports mostly did not detail the reasons for migrating in the first place, the demographics, and employment history or experience of the returnees. The news reports indicated that the airports were the major entry channel.
“It was not clear from the available reports if the returnees were migrant workers, i.e., Nigerians who were previously employed in their former destination countries. They were simply tagged “returnees”, “evacuees”, “stranded Nigerians abroad”, or “illegal migrants”.
Furthermore, the ILO report indicated that most newspaper frame stories related to returning migrants with a humanitarian angle, adding that Migrants are portrayed as vulnerable or stranded individuals in need of rescue or intervention.
While analyzing the sources of news on labour migration, the report noted that returning migrant workers were largely “silent” and “voiceless” in the newspapers’ reporting
“Analysis of the sources and or subjects of the available reports on returning migrants shows that the returning migrants who are the subject of the reports were barely quoted or interviewed or used as news sources. They represent only 3.5 percent of the sources. As such, government officials constituted 92.2 percent of the news sources. Voices of other nonstate actors such as NGOs or academics were also absent,” the report stated.
The ILO therefore recommended more capacity building of current and future journalists, editors, and communicators on labour migration reporting, explaining that “This can be done through dedicated workshops and the integration of migration within journalism and mass communication higher education curricula.”
It also recommended integrating reporting guidelines with regards to labour migration terminology, gender-sensitive reporting, ethical photojournalism, and reporting vulnerable sources of information.
Furthermore, it recommended promotion of quality reporting on labour migration and encouraging media organizations to broaden coverage and news content related to migration.
According to the report, “this can be done through the organization of roundtable workshops – with journalists, editors, and media owners – or the organization of a dedicated labour migration reporting prize. An emphasis should be put on key aspects of labour migration reporting: inclusion of migrant voices, gender responsiveness, and human-rights based approach.”