Episode 51: Turning down the volume - how to make migration debates better

The Migration & Diaspora Podcast

Hello and welcome to another episode of the Migration & Diaspora Podcast, produced by Homelands Advisory, your independent migration agency. In case this is your first time tuning in, we spotlight projects, research and stories related to people on-the-move.

Today, we’ve got a heavyweight of the migration world, Rob McNeil from the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, on the show to get his take on contemporary public debate on migration.

About Rob

Rob is the Deputy Director and Head of Media and Communications at the Migration Observatory, where he leads on public relations strategy, parliamentary and community outreach and news and commentary work. Rob was actually part of the team who launched the Observatory in 2011 and, since then, has been working to embed its analysis in public debates. Rob also participates in Oxford University and the Centre on Migration, Policy and Society’s (COMPAS) research projects, examining the social environments from which news stories and narratives about migration and migrants emerge, how media debate affects migration policy decisions (and vice versa), and how information gaps affect how these issues are discussed. Rob is a former journalist and previously served as Media Director for the US environmental organisation Conservation International, PR manager for Oxfam GB, Senior Press Officer for WWF-UK, and as a journalist for the Evening Standard, The Daily Mirror, Time Out and BBC Wildlife, among other publications.

What we talk about

That’s quite the track record. In today’s far-reaching, perhaps meandering, interview, I learn from Rob’s extensive media and academic experience studying migration narratives and debates, especially in the UK and Europe (though parallelling discourse in many other countries). We discuss the nature of these migration debates and, in particular, which factors seem to lead to more balanced and less toxic debates on migration. I’m sure you’ll agree this is a very timely conversation.

I thoroughly enjoyed having Rob on the show because he not only speaks from his eminent position at the Observatory, but also draws from his experience working on different topics in different countries. I’d like to thank Rob for coming on the show and thank you for listening. And without further ado, please sit back and enjoy the episode.

Links

• Migration Oxford Podcast: https://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/series/migration-oxford-podcast

• MDPcast Ep37: Communicating migration with Marco Ricorda: https://www.homelandsadvisory.com/podcast/episode/52bc36f7/episode-37-communicating-migration-with-marco-ricorda

• Connect with Rob: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-mcneil-060b1822/

• Is it time to turn down the volume on the migration debate?: https://feps-europe.eu/is-it-time-to-turn-down-the-volume-on-the-migration-debate/

• Communicating on migration (policy brief series): https://feps-europe.eu/publication/communicating-on-migration/

• Reporting migration: A handbook on migration reporting for journalists: https://www.icmpd.org/file/download/50559/file/Handbook0on0Reporting0Migration0EN.pdf#page=39

• Unpicking the notion of ‘safe and legal’ routes: https://mixedmigration.org/unpicking-the-notion-of-safe-and-legal-routes/