Published: 9 June 2013
Region: Worldwide
Loneliness and nostalgia are some of the feelings that can be easily identified among people who have left their home to chase a new life somewhere else. Can media become a friendly voice and bridge the distance between the old and new home?
“Radio Passagers” is the name of a new web radio station which aims to echo the voice of immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers travelling from Africa to Europe.
The goal of this new channel is to inform the “passengers” providing them with news about their home and destination country and keep them company by offering radio programmes in-demand. The radio programmes will be accessible by mobile phones and MP3 devices for free and they will include radio plays, interviews, lectures, debates and phone-ins. In this platform, immigrants will have the opportunity to express themselves, contact with other compatriots and feel closer to their country of origin. Some of the podcasts will also have educative character as they will aim to help immigrants learn a new language or acquire knowledge about the culture of the country they have immigrated to.
Behind the idea of “Radio Passagers” is the journalist and writer Leonard Vincent who currently works as correspondent in Morocco. Due to his professional life he had the opportunity to meet many immigrants and experience first-hand the loneliness they can feel but also their need for communication. In an interview about the project he said that immigrants do not have any media for their own information and they only keep themselves up to date when talking on the phone with their families. Mr Vincent also added that media are not representative at all and they never refer to immigrants’ hopes, fears and problems while the latter have an enormous need to share their thoughts and emotions.
Radio France International correspondents along with freelancers from across Europe and Africa will work for the production of the radio programmes. At the beginning, the programme will be broadcast in French but there are plans to be translated into Arabic and English as well.
The project is currently raising funds for its inauguration via Ulule platform.