Pioneering journalism by and for migrants

The Prisma – The Multicultural Newspaper was born in the context of the complex reality of immigrant life particularly that of Spanish-speaking people living in the UK. And in its journey it has become the voice of the Latin American and other diasporas.

It was born out of the need to establish professional, high quality journalism by and for immigrants and to offer ethical and independent information, free from advertising, and the economic and political interests that dominate the media.

It emerged strongly and established itself as a unique and pioneering journalistic project: bilingual (Spanish/English), weekly, produced by immigrant and British journalists, who over the years have created and consolidated its journalism specialising in migration and multiculturalism. Since the end of 2009, when it first circulated with a printed version of 40,000 copies, its content has fulfilled its objectives: to connect the Latin American diaspora settled in the UK with the British population and with those who also come from other countries. It has always tried to tell the stories of immigrants, their problems, their suffering…

It has denounced abuses, discrimination, labour or racial persecution, detentions and/or deportations… But it has also talked about their struggles, achievements, their cultural life… And taking advantage of its bilingual nature, The Prisma has tried to make British society (and other societies) understand the circumstances of the immigrants and their culture and why they have ended up living on the island.

Understanding and telling the story of immigrant life has not been difficult since The Prisma (run entirely by volunteers) has grown to more than 1000 contributors, from all over the world: Latin America, Spain, France, Germany, Great Britain, China, Pakistan, Russia, China, Czechoslovakia, the Caribbean, North America, Iran, Italy, Portugal and Africa, among others.

This multiculturalism has turned the newspaper into a unique media project in the United Kingdom in terms of the integration of people with different origins and nationalities but connected by the same objective of contributing to making a better society, strengthening ties between different cultures that share English as a common language and that are also interested in Latin American and Spanish-speaking culture and in the defence of immigrants, workers and any other vulnerable or minority communities.

Activities

The Prisma’s activities include: strengthening ties between the Latin American community, but also other immigrant communities s and the local inhabitants of the host country. To provide information on the cultural, social, political and economic situation in Latin America and Spanish-speaking countries, as well as in the UK. To highlight the values of people from these Latin American communities.

The activities also include to provide information to refugees, asylum seekers and other immigrants about changes in immigration laws, their civil rights and their day-to-day problems; to encourage interest in the Spanish language by providing a bilingual newspaper that can be used as educational material, and to provide training for immigrants and native residents in the UK as journalists, translators, proofreaders, photographers, designers and others.

In addition to its journalistic work on migration and multiculturalism, the newspaper has been involved in campaigns or activities related to immigrants: It was a founding member of the Latin American Recognition Campaign – LARC (the first coalition created to seek recognition of Latin Americans in the UK) and was a member of the Anti-Raids Campaign. In 2013 it organised and successfully held in the British Parliament, in the House of Commons, the first national debate “Multiculturalism in the UK – Has it got a future?” at the House of Commons, bringing together journalists, migration specialists, ambassadors, MPs and academics.

It is currently a member of the Coalition of Latin Americans in the UK (Clauk) and main partner of the “Latin America Conference – ¡Adelante!” and the International Multicultural Network: Multicultural World.

The Prisma is also member of the British media organisation Independent Media Association (IMA), is regulated by the British media body Impress (which “advocates news you can trust” and ensures that the media publish with integrity) and in 2022 received the “International Reporting of the Year” award by the IMA.

Its work – featured in The Guardian, New Internationalist and other media – has continued despite the difficulties of recent years and it hopes to find a way to move forward because it knows that migration is not simply about getting across geographical boundaries; it is about being reborn, starting and continuing life in a place that will never be one’s own.

More information: The Prisma – Twitter – Facebook.

(Photos: Pixabay)