The Bahamas. 9 August 2023. Journalists play a pivotal role in shaping the public understanding of human mobility. Journalists are also faced with the challenge of adapting to evolving phenomena, and an ever-changing and adapting vocabulary around the issue of migration. The ongoing challenges faced by Haitian and Cuban migrants and how the flows of migrants from these countries affect The Bahamas make it vital to ensure accurate and effective communication on migration issues and guarantee the right of access to information to migrants and the public. 

In response, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) through its Western Hemisphere Program (WHP) and the Global Migration Media Academy (GMMA) hosted a two-day training for journalists in The Bahamas (8-9 August) to promote dialogue, share knowledge about migration data, hone their reporting skills and learn from different experts through practical sessions.

"The Caribbean migrant story is an evolving "human story" in which the media plays a crucial role with the power to create and disseminate narratives that shape the lives of migrants and how they are treated,” said Nazima Raghubir, one of the trainers and a journalist, and Vice President at the Association of Caribbean Media Workers. 

Betty Vedrine, a journalist, and participant, expressed: "This training is key for media professionals when reporting on issues such as migration, as these issues are about disenfranchised persons, who in many cases, are fleeing their homelands for a better way of life. The role of the media, therefore, is one that requires compassionate and fair-minded reporting devoid of unnecessary framing and harmful stereotypes”. 

As migration is a salient issue in the region, IOM seeks to ensure that journalists and other media professionals are well-informed about the complexities of the subject and the necessary human rights-based approach while reporting to produce reliable and safe information for the audience. 

This space showed the necessity to promote and facilitate access to migration data and resources to cover migration issues in greater depth.  This training was key to connect journalists from The Bahamas with their peers around the region and world, creating a community of practice, feedback on approaches and solutions when covering a diversity of human mobility. In follow-up, IOM will seek to continue promoting training spaces with media workers, including editors and other key actors.  

This effort responds to the objectives and goals stipulated in the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (17 and 23) and the Sustainable Development Goals (Goal 10.7). The activity was implemented by IOM, generously financed by the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration and with the accompaniment of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). For more information, please contact: Tatiana Chacón at tchacon@iom.int