Rebranding the Topic of Migration, the ‘New Narrative

Composed of a team of experts, researchers and journalists, the organization porCausa focuses on shaping new narratives around migration through research and journalistic work. Within its project “Rebranding the Topic of Migration the ‘New Narratives”, porCausa proposes alternative communication tools to portray migration.

Understanding that the current media landscape is marked by a new communication paradigm, they identified key moments of contemporary history that have contributed to shaping the way we communicate with each other and with the world as well as how we perceive migration. From the advent of the internet to the popularisation of smartphones and the rise of fake news, our way to communicate and access information have radically changed. In addition to that, recent crises and events have intensified the securitization of migration in western societies which has increasingly associated newcomers with the idea of fear and of the otherness.

To counteract this new paradigm of Communication where values are in dispute, facts are unclear, hate speech has entered public discourse, and migration policy has become a radioactive topic for policy makers, porCausa’s teams have developed methods and guidelines to shift the public conversation about migrations.

In concrete terms the project came out with a three steps strategy:

First, they designed rules for new storytelling. They suggest avoiding reacting messages which only amplify the original one. Instead, effective ways are to create new stories and frames to repeat like mantras. Moreover, they advise us to avoid “we” vs “they” as we must recognise that we are all migrants. Also, they recommend constructing stories on migration over emotions despite using data which is difficult to remember and can easily get discredited. In addition, they value considerations of sustitutive speech, local approach, subconscious perception and the coca-cola effect.

Second, they created three narrative frames to construct new slogans on migration. They highlight on the naturalisation of migration, emphasizing that the history of humanity started with migration, using the metaphor of spermatozoides migrating to the eeg, showing that it is a natural phenomenon. Additionnaly, they mobilize the future of our children by using the image of Queen Elizabeth meeting her younger great-grandchild to remind us that we cannot know the color of skin of our descendants. Lastly, they point out that migration is a cultural wealth by demonstrating that our food, our arts, our sciences and our ways of living are all results of migration.

Third, they work on how to disseminate this information frames, slogans, and knowledge, to achieve this “changing narrative on migration”’s goal.

If you desire to know more about the project and to have a better insight into their communication tools, please visit their website at: porcausa.org