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STARTED IN 1997
STILL ACTIVE
Media outlets
Media professionals
Digital Wellness
Digital Opportunities
Belgium
United Kingdom
logo Media Diversity Institute

Media Diversity Institute (MDI) is a non-profit set up to counter hate speech, combat misinformation, and promote media literacy. Together with its sister organisations Media Diversity Institute Global, based in Brussels, and Media Diversity Institute Western Balkans, based in Belgrade, the Institute seeks to improve reporting on a slew of topics usually related to ethnicity, religion, gender, sexuality, and other diversity issues. MDI has been operating for the last 25 years. 

The central mission of MDI is to promote responsible journalism as a means to improve inter-community relations, increase tolerance and encourage dialogue among individuals and groups coming from a diverse range of backgrounds. MDI has collaborated with many media development organisations such as Internews, the International Federation of Journalists, and the European Federation of Journalists. MDI is also a member of the Global Forum for Media Development and Media Freedom Coalition.

MDI works to engage, educate, and train the actors in society who have influence over media coverage of diversity. This includes media decision makers (owners, editors, managers), journalists, media academics, students, civil society organisations and governmental organisations. They also organise conferences, workshops and round tables on these topics, bringing together stakeholders and media representatives for a fair discussion. MDI and its sister organisations operate globally.  Right now they are present in Europe, the MENA region, and South East Asia.

One major project that MDI has recently completed is MAGIC. MAGIC is a project which aimed to prevent gendered Islamophobia in Spain and in Belgium, in particular in media outlets, and to draw lessons useful for other European countries. The project was carried out by a consortium formed by two organisations from Belgium and two from Spain. Between 2021 and 2023, the project mapped gendered Islamophobia in Belgian and Spanish newspapers and equipped Muslim community leadersCSOs working on diversity, and communication students with the skills to recognise stereotypes against Muslim women in public narratives and promote inclusiveness of Muslim women voices in the media

The Initiators
Founded by Milica Pesic
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