Migazin

MiGAZIN started as a student blog by Ekrem Şenol to foster the inclusion of topics and communities less frequently heard in mainstream media. As a trained lawyer, he tried to portray complex questions around migration and naturalisation laws in understandable terms.

Senol realised there was a huge breadth of topics and questions related to migration and integration but blogs like his lacked recognition. Therefore, he decided to launch a multimedia magazine in 2009. Three years later, in 2012, MiGAZIN received the Grimme Online Award for its work, marking the beginning of other media recognising and citing it.

Around half of its audience has a migration background, with the other half coming from the so-called “recipient society”.

MiGAZIN’s mission is to support intercultural communication, provide a critical review of Germany’s integration policies, and foster the inclusion of those impacted by them. Frequently covered issues include sea rescue, migration policies, family reunification, deportation, the headscarf, the national-socialist underground movement, integration, worker shortages, naturalisation, racism, and antisemitism.

MiGAZIN allows community members to contribute through polls and topical suggestions, and supports untrained writers, ensuring a diversity of topics and perspectives. It also publishes a bestseller list of books covering integration, migration, right-wing extremism, and discrimination.

The newsroom comprises volunteer writers publishing six or seven new articles daily.

It has recently integrated its first advertising and sponsored content and, in 2020, adopted a membership model via Steady. The platform has over 500 members who actively support the media outlet and receive advertising-free information and early access to the newsletter; however, all the articles remain accessible, with over 300,000 readers per month and over 10,000 newsletter subscribers.