This paper gives first insights into a new research project (started in January 2021) about ”migrant voices”. We study different media initiatives and media productions by migrants or people with migrant backgrounds from different generations and in different countries (Sweden, Germany, Estonia). The term “migrant media” holds the idea that migrants make their own content, that is, they have editorial control, and tell their own stories purposefully and intentionally. This is a field that has only received marginal attention in the wider field of media and communication studies. Since the technical preconditions for speech, e.g. for participating in the public sphere are enhanced due to digital communication technologies, digital voices of the migrants have the potential to counteract a dominant mainstream media discourse. 

In order to explore forms of “listening” and “talking back”, I focus on a podcast named “Kanackische Welle” with 42 episodes (June 2021) that gained wider attention in the German public sphere. The topic of living in a multi-cultural society in general and racism in Germany in particular are widely discussed in this podcast. This paper asks how the producers work in order to amplify their voice beyond their own migrant community. What kind of voices, narratives and frames are privileged by this media? 

This podcast shows how it is possible to add new voices to the wider public sphere by addressing issues from perspectives that are usually not or only marginally noticed. The question of racism is not new, but the angle of everyday stereotyping and hierarchization of cultures and shades of skin color, and privileges of white people are hardly discussed. The issues are both treated in a “we and them” manner but also in self-reflective way. Guests are usually invited in order to deepen the conversation and to give a broader view. It is not done in a pro and contra manner but rather in an informal way of common understanding of the relevance of the issue by e.g. sharing expert knowledge in order to understand the roots and causes for widespread racist thinking. Already from the beginning, the hosts and guests agree upon the importance of the issue and want to clarify the problem. 

Actually, this media production is an example of how to make the media landscape more diverse. Benefitting from the status of being trained journalists and having a journalistic network behind, gave the hosts good starting opportunities for gaining attention and recognition from mainstream media and, therefore, a path into the wider public sphere and outside one’s own community. The combination of status and thoughtful treatment of complex issues in a playful way, especially target at the younger generation, has opened the door for recognition from mainstream media. The perspectives addressed in the podcast are “currently very requested” by mainstream media (Krone 2020) because they attract migrant communities and especially a younger audience, something that, mainstream media often have not succeeded with.