SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Zeinab Uzbak and Farhiya Khalid are two refugees given complete editorial control over the 'Dagbladet Information newspaper on Friday.
(Photos: Dagbladet Information)
To Offer In-Depth Look at Issue, This Paper Gave Refugees Full Editorial Control
'Today it is the refugees who speak to us'
Oct 09, 2015
A small newspaper has found an obvious—if underutilized—way to pressure Danish society to listen to the voices of refugees seeking haven and passage in Europe.
The left-leaning Dagbladet Information on Friday released a 48-page special issue which gives a dozen refugees newly arrived in Denmark--professional journalists--complete editorial control.
"This is a chance to show the Danish people a different picture--we are giving them a new kind of story made by refugees," said Dalam Alasaad, a Syrian journalist from Palmyra now living in Denmark.
The edition addresses barriers to work for asylum seekers, misinformation about the refugee crisis, and the plight of women left behind. It also discusses conditions in detention centers and hardships faced by those fleeing war and poverty during their journeys to and through Europe.
"For politicians, refugees are just a problem to be solved as quickly as possible, and most prefer to do it without looking them in the eye," reads the editorial of the special issue of the paper, which was established by the underground Danish resistance movement to Nazi occupation. "Today it is the refugees who speak to us."
As described by one contributor, 35-year-old Afghan journalist Zeinab Uzbak--whose son was killed in retaliation for her reporting--some are forced to leave their home countries after incredible loss. "Every time I see a football or a pair of football boots, it hurts," wrote Uzbak. "He had just tied his shoes and was heading out to play when the bomb exploded."
The special issue comes as Denmark's government takes an increasingly hostile stance toward refugees, slashing services and shutting down trains and roads linked with Germany. These developments are driven by the right-wing Liberal Party, which formed a minority government in June.
Denmark's government attracted international criticism last month when it printed advertisements in four Lebanese papers warning refugees not to come to the European country by emphasizing that its laws are hostile to those fleeing war and poverty. However, Ordinary Danes responded with their counter-ads, sending a welcome message to refugees.
On January 20th, it begins...
Political revenge. Mass deportations. Project 2025. Unfathomable corruption. Attacks on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Pardons for insurrectionists. An all-out assault on democracy. Republicans in Congress are scrambling to give Trump broad new powers to strip the tax-exempt status of any nonprofit he doesn’t like by declaring it a “terrorist-supporting organization.” Trump has already begun filing lawsuits against news outlets that criticize him. At Common Dreams, we won’t back down, but we must get ready for whatever Trump and his thugs throw at us. Our Year-End campaign is our most important fundraiser of the year. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover issues the corporate media never will, but we can only continue with our readers’ support. By donating today, please help us fight the dangers of a second Trump presidency. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Sarah Lazare
Sarah Lazare was a staff writer for Common Dreams from 2013-2016. She is currently web editor and reporter for In These Times.
A small newspaper has found an obvious—if underutilized—way to pressure Danish society to listen to the voices of refugees seeking haven and passage in Europe.
The left-leaning Dagbladet Information on Friday released a 48-page special issue which gives a dozen refugees newly arrived in Denmark--professional journalists--complete editorial control.
"This is a chance to show the Danish people a different picture--we are giving them a new kind of story made by refugees," said Dalam Alasaad, a Syrian journalist from Palmyra now living in Denmark.
The edition addresses barriers to work for asylum seekers, misinformation about the refugee crisis, and the plight of women left behind. It also discusses conditions in detention centers and hardships faced by those fleeing war and poverty during their journeys to and through Europe.
"For politicians, refugees are just a problem to be solved as quickly as possible, and most prefer to do it without looking them in the eye," reads the editorial of the special issue of the paper, which was established by the underground Danish resistance movement to Nazi occupation. "Today it is the refugees who speak to us."
As described by one contributor, 35-year-old Afghan journalist Zeinab Uzbak--whose son was killed in retaliation for her reporting--some are forced to leave their home countries after incredible loss. "Every time I see a football or a pair of football boots, it hurts," wrote Uzbak. "He had just tied his shoes and was heading out to play when the bomb exploded."
The special issue comes as Denmark's government takes an increasingly hostile stance toward refugees, slashing services and shutting down trains and roads linked with Germany. These developments are driven by the right-wing Liberal Party, which formed a minority government in June.
Denmark's government attracted international criticism last month when it printed advertisements in four Lebanese papers warning refugees not to come to the European country by emphasizing that its laws are hostile to those fleeing war and poverty. However, Ordinary Danes responded with their counter-ads, sending a welcome message to refugees.
Sarah Lazare
Sarah Lazare was a staff writer for Common Dreams from 2013-2016. She is currently web editor and reporter for In These Times.
A small newspaper has found an obvious—if underutilized—way to pressure Danish society to listen to the voices of refugees seeking haven and passage in Europe.
The left-leaning Dagbladet Information on Friday released a 48-page special issue which gives a dozen refugees newly arrived in Denmark--professional journalists--complete editorial control.
"This is a chance to show the Danish people a different picture--we are giving them a new kind of story made by refugees," said Dalam Alasaad, a Syrian journalist from Palmyra now living in Denmark.
The edition addresses barriers to work for asylum seekers, misinformation about the refugee crisis, and the plight of women left behind. It also discusses conditions in detention centers and hardships faced by those fleeing war and poverty during their journeys to and through Europe.
"For politicians, refugees are just a problem to be solved as quickly as possible, and most prefer to do it without looking them in the eye," reads the editorial of the special issue of the paper, which was established by the underground Danish resistance movement to Nazi occupation. "Today it is the refugees who speak to us."
As described by one contributor, 35-year-old Afghan journalist Zeinab Uzbak--whose son was killed in retaliation for her reporting--some are forced to leave their home countries after incredible loss. "Every time I see a football or a pair of football boots, it hurts," wrote Uzbak. "He had just tied his shoes and was heading out to play when the bomb exploded."
The special issue comes as Denmark's government takes an increasingly hostile stance toward refugees, slashing services and shutting down trains and roads linked with Germany. These developments are driven by the right-wing Liberal Party, which formed a minority government in June.
Denmark's government attracted international criticism last month when it printed advertisements in four Lebanese papers warning refugees not to come to the European country by emphasizing that its laws are hostile to those fleeing war and poverty. However, Ordinary Danes responded with their counter-ads, sending a welcome message to refugees.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.