Despite the profound influence of migration on its politics Europe is poorly served by specialist migration reporting. While immigration correspondents are commonplace in US newsrooms there are few if any specialist correspondents across the EU, with migration reporting one among many tasks for social affairs and general news journalists.
The migration newsroom is at the centre of efforts to address the consequences of this underinvestment, while showing the way to more progressive outlets by gaining impact and audiences for more ambitious stories produced from collaborative reporting. It offers a meeting place and training ground where general reporters serving big audiences get to know migration specialists by working with them on major investigations and series. This can mean conducting original research projects at the borderline between journalism and academia, it can also mean finding innovative framings that challenge widespread misconceptions.