Media Diversity Institute

06/06/2025

📣 Journalists, this one’s for you.

The Fetisov Journalism Awards 2025 celebrate powerful storytelling that exposes injustice, amplifies unheard voices, and helps move society forward.

If your reporting drives change, challenges power, or uplifts truth, your work deserves this global stage.

🗓️ Submissions close: 15 September
🔗 Apply here:

The largest international contest founded by philanthropist Gleb Fetisov and intended to reward the most outstanding journalists from all over the world

30/05/2025

🧠 “Neurodivergent journalists spot stories others miss by looking between the lines.” - Iona Young, reporter
A 2024 survey found that nearly half of UK journalists identify as neurodivergent, yet newsrooms often fail to provide the right support.
In this powerful piece, Nicholas Fearn explores how ADHD, autism, and other forms of neurodivergence can be strengths in journalism, if the right environments are in place.
🗣️ “Being scheduled into stuff without my consent is not only unmooring but also poor company practice.”
💬 “Editors shouldn’t assume what we need — just ask.”
➡️ Flexible routines, trust over micromanagement, and real awareness training aren’t just nice to have — they’re essential.
👉 Neurodivergence isn’t a setback. It’s a superpower with the right support.
📖 Read the full article: https://shorturl.at/wzprY

Exploring how neurodivergent journalists can thrive with the right support, and why their unique perspectives are vital to modern newsrooms.

29/05/2025

🗣️ “Oligarchs Inc: Who Owns the UK Media?”

A panel you won’t want to miss at the Media Democracy Festival 2025 organised by Media Reform Coalition.

Our Executive Director Milica Pesic will be joining an important conversation about who controls the media and what that means for representation, truth, and democracy.

📍 Fyvie Hall, University of Westminster
🗓️ Saturday 31 May
🕐 13:00–14:00
🎟️ FREE entry – rhttps://shorturl.at/BiamD

If you’re coming, come say hi—we’d love to connect and continue the conversation.

Media Reform UK

29/05/2025

🎥 Telling the untold stories of trans lives through dance and documentary.

For six years, filmmaker Alison Rooper followed Sophie, a transgender amateur dancer from Yorkshire, capturing her dreams, struggles, and resilience in a world where trans rights are increasingly under threat.

In A Dance of Identity, Alison sheds light on the realities trans people face not just in the media but in everyday life. What started as a passion project has become a personal mission.

📖 Read the full story on the MDI website and find out how you can support Alison’s Kickstarter campaign to bring this vital documentary to life.

👉 https://www.media-diversity.org/a-dance-of-identity/

🎬 https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1717205959/a-dance-of-identity-trans-life-in-a-hostile-world

28/05/2025

📣 Calling all local newsrooms and youth collaborators!

The 2025 Global Youth & News Media Prize is now open for entries and this year’s journalism theme is all about how young people are helping save local news.

📰🌍 MDI, represented by LIMENet Project Manager Josh LaPorte, is proud to support the 2025 Global Youth & News Media Prize Journalism Award as a core jury member!

Whether it’s a student-led reporting project, a youth-media partnership, or a creative way to engage young audiences, if your work is making local journalism stronger with and for young people, this is your moment. 💡👏

🗓️ Deadline to apply: 16 June 2025
🌐 Open to all platforms, worldwide
🔗 Apply now: https://buff.ly/3SEXf4J

🗣️ As MDI’s Josh LaPorte, a core jury member, puts it:
"Local news can be a powerful platform where a diversity of voices can play an important and even outsized role in making youth audiences feel they have a real stake in their communities.
The Global Youth & News Media Prize journalism award recognizes the role these young journalists can play in this process of engagement."

27/05/2025

🌏 Refugees in South Asia face immense challenges—from climate displacement to conflict-driven migration—but too often, the media tells stories that blame rather than understand. How can we change this narrative to one rooted in humanity and empathy?

Discover why South Asian media’s portrayal of refugees needs a shift, and how storytelling can make a difference.

📢 Read the full article here 👉 https://www.media-diversity.org/south-asian-medias-narratives-on-refugees-need-to-change/

As refugee numbers rise across South Asia, local media continues to dehumanise and scapegoat displaced communities.

27/05/2025

New episode of Diversity Matters is live!

What do media narratives around papal succession reveal about who gets heard—and who doesn’t?

In Episode 3, journalist and author Jean-Paul Marthoz joins us to reflect on how media can either reinforce bias or challenge it. From selective sourcing to shrinking press freedom, we explore what’s at stake when diversity is missing from the news.

📌 “It’s a great moment to think what we can do as journalists to make sure we inform people with the diversity they deserve.”

🎧 Listen now:

When global attention turns to the Vatican, how does the media shape the narrative—and whose perspectives are prioritised?In this episode of Diversity Matter...

21/05/2025

📅 World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development

Cultural diversity isn’t just something to celebrate — it’s something to protect and champion.

Why? Because when the media reflects real people in all their complexity, we all benefit.

But that only happens when diversity isn’t performative. It has to be structural.
That means:
📰 Centring marginalised voices
🎙️ Telling stories with, not about, communities
🌍 Creating space for nuance, dialogue and mutual understanding

As UNESCO reminds us, diversity, when recognised and protected, becomes a powerful driver for peace and respect. Through inclusive media and digital platforms, we can foster connection instead of division.

19/05/2025

SPEAKER ALERT!

🎙️ We’re excited to introduce the speakers for the book launch of Coming Clean – our much-anticipated event launching this Friday!

Join us for an evening of bold ideas, sharp debate, and big questions about the future of the left, in person in London or from wherever you are via livestream.

Here’s who you’ll hear from:
📖 Professor Eric Heinze – Author and academic whose work challenges conventional thinking on human rights and free speech. Eric Heinze is the author of The Most Human Right: Why Free Speech is Everything (MIT Press) among other books and Professor of Law and Humanities at Queen Mary University of London.
🧠 Dr Edmundo Bracho-Polanco – media expert+ Senior Lecturer and Programme Coordinator, School of Media and Communication, University of Westminster.
🎤 Paul Henley – BBC presenter and our moderator for the night, guiding the discussion and putting the tough questions to our guests.

This is a conversation you won’t want to miss. Whether you’re an activist, student, journalist, or simply curious about how the left can evolve in today’s complex political landscape, this event is for you.

📍Location: The Frontline Club + Online Livestream
🗓️ Date: This Friday, 23rd May, 2025
🎟️ Book your place now: http://shorturl.at/EECaU

Let’s talk about where the left goes from here honestly, openly, and with fresh ideas.

17/05/2025

On we stand for sexual and gender diversity across Europe 

Hate speech is rising online, in politics, in the media. It fuels discrimination and creates real danger for le***an, gay, bi, trans and intersex people 
Laws are silencing voices in classrooms, newsrooms and public spaces. People are under attack. Rights are ignored. Many are denied safety when they need it most. 

This is not just about visibility. It’s about dignity, safety and the right to live freely and be heard 
Inclusion matters. Representation matters. Standing up to hate matters 

12/05/2025

🗣️ The Media Diversity Institute (MDI) took part in two critical events during this year’s World Press Freedom Day (WPFD), highlighting the importance of inclusive journalism and press freedom.

🎙️ At the “Don’t Shoot the Journalists: Migrating to Stay Alive” event, organised by the UNESCO Crossings Institute, Luc Steinberg from MDI spoke about the success of the MigraVoice Community platform. This initiative connects journalists with migrants with expertise across various fields, promoting underrepresented voices and encouraging more balanced, informed reporting. The platform continues to grow, providing essential recognition for migrant professionals and helping reshape the media landscape. More on the panel here: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7325119863822159873/

🌍 Luc Steinberg also spoke at the panel discussion “Shrinking Media Freedom in the South Caucasus and Central Asia: A Call for Urgent Action,” organised by the IRFS | Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS). He highlighted the mounting challenges faced by independent media in Georgia – from economic and safety threats to political pressure and the introduction of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). Luc emphasised the urgent need for international solidarity and action to protect journalistic independence in the region. More on the panel: https://www.irfs.org/news-feed/shrinking-media-freedom-in-the-south-caucasus-and-central-asia-a-call-for-urgent-action/

📢 MDI remains committed to supporting media freedom and ensuring diverse, expert voices are included in the stories that shape our world.

09/05/2025

This Europe Day and European Diversity Month, we’re asking a question that’s too often overlooked:

What kind of Europe are we building—and who still gets left out of the frame?

EIGE’s latest data confirms what many already know through lived experience: violence, inequality, and exclusion are still woven into everyday life for women, minorities, LGBTQIA+ communities, migrants, and disabled individuals.

Diversity without justice is not progress. Visibility without power is not equity.

Let’s work toward a Europe where inclusion isn’t conditional—where belonging is more than just a box ticked.