Uncovered: assessing media and communications needs ... - ICAR

Fig 2.3.4 Current sources of news and informationThe internet is a key source of news and information for all sectors. This fi nding coheres with theproportion of organisations that are connected to the internet and use broadband [see 3.15].Notable ‘other’ sources of information are word of mouth, networking and liaising with the localcommunity, service users and members, e-bulletins and information from government and othernational organisations. One respondent – in the refugee/migrant category – said s/he got mostof their information by telephone. This suggests that the internet is the most effective means ofcommunicating news and information and an area in which training might be concentrated.Feedback from focus groups and interviews indicates that refugee and migrant worker, BME and faithcommunities get their news and information from media targeted at their own faiths or nationalities.These include weekly papers in Urdu, Arabic and other languages, and a range of radio and televisionchannels. Al Jazeera is a popular alternative to mainstream terrestrial channels, particularly its Englishspeakingversion. Other common information sources are campaigning organisations such as theNational Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns, and independent media such as Indymedia. 18Migrant workers were reported to have no interest in UK media except for the jobs pages. It wassuggested that experiments in producing foreign language supplements such as happened recently inDublin had proved popular.“A lot depends on word of mouth – people learning from other people’s experiences” – (BME supportworker)3.5 Contact with the mediaRefugees and migrant workers are least likely to be in contact with the local media and thoseresponding as ‘isolated rural’ most likely. Figure 4 also shows them to be the least likely to know howto contact the local media (although 57.6% say they do know how to contact the media, only 38.2%are actually in contact, suggesting perhaps some do not feel this is a priority or are unwilling to makethat contact).18 http://www.indymedia.orgUncovered: assessing media and communications needs and capacity of marginalised communities19