Media Representations of ‘the Refugee’: An Exploration of the Role of Community-Based Media in Challenging Dominant Narratives of Migration and ‘the Refugee’ Through the Work of ReFOCUS Media Labs

Abstract

This article explores the importance of community-based media practices and organizations and the role they can play in challenging mainstream media portrayals of migration and ‘the refugee’. A thematic analysis of existing literature was carried out to explore the current role of the refugee voice in mainstream media. This analysis was then applied to the work of ReFOCUS Media Labs, an organization supporting refugees and asylum seekers in Greece to gain media skills and to access professional networks in order to report on their own stories as well as to address a gap in existing education opportunities and skills training. Findings indicate the potential that these community-based media organizations can have in creating spaces and channels to support people seeking protection to tell their own stories while amplifying the voices of individuals with lived experience of forced migration.