Migrants as media makers

For a long time, migration researchers focused on migrants who find themselves in a marginalized position-or, conversely, on those who are considered part of a kind of international ＂elite.＂ As a result, the media has not traditionally been a focus of migration researchers. And yet it is clear that migrants are also gaining a foothold in this field: The study is based on nineteen biographical interviews with employees of the radio station FM4, which is part of the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF). The interviewees are themselves migrants or have at least one parent who is a migrant. The study illustrates the role that the radio employees’ migration background played in their childhood and youth, and where it represents a positive resource. It also shows the areas in which disadvantages still exist. The results also reveal interesting discrepancies: for example, that one’s own migration background is perceived as a valuable resource, but at the same time there may be a distancing from the label ＂migrant.＂ This is rooted not least in the fact that migration is primarily associated with problems in public discourse.