The Minister of State for Migration praises the German media for their image of the people in the country. “Diversity in the immigration society is being better and better represented,” she said in the current episode of the “quoted” podcast, which the CIVIS Media Foundation and the SZ issues. “A lot has happened in the last two or three years.” It is their impression that editors and broadcasters are making an effort to increase diversity among writers and speakers. But: “We’re still a long way from the point where it really represents the reality of many people’s lives.”
While a Dutch accent is well received by moderators – “a funny gimmick” – Eastern European accents are hardly heard. At the same time, many non-European languages such as Arabic and Turkish are commonplace in German everyday life.
When Reem Alabali-Radovan came to Germany at the age of six, she watched the children’s channel. “I’m a Kika kid,” she says on the podcast. Alabali-Radovan was born in Moscow, her parents fled Iraq. Today, at the age of 32, she is Minister of State for Migration (SPD) and has been the Federal Government’s first commissioner for anti-racism since February. A successful example of a migration story?
“It’s difficult to say that it was successful because you’re now Minister of State,” says Alabali-Radovan. It is important that people with migration stories are represented in politics and the media. When it comes to the question of whether you are a “successful” part of society, it shouldn’t matter which school, professional or university degree you have. “Each person goes their own way”, you belong, “no matter what you do”.
The SPD politician knows about the ugly sides of the German media landscape. In 1992, a few years before she came to Germany, a far-right mob threw stones and then incendiary devices at people in an asylum center in Rostock-Lichtenhagen. Media headlines at this time “Asylum Flood” and “The Boat is Full”the local Ostsee-Zeitung writes shortly before the outbreak of violence: “Anonymous caller announces ‘hot night’.”
Alabali-Radovan, who was previously the integration officer in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, believes that newspapers will no longer repeat the mistakes of the past. Nevertheless, they still use “terms that play with fears”. Alabali-Radovan finds words like “xenophobic” and “xenophobic” insensitive. In crises, it always resonates “that this is justified” because the anger has to be discharged.
Diversity “is no longer nice to have,” says the integration officer. In the end, politics and the media are about “really reflecting our society”.