Migrant women in Scotland to benefit from media fellowship

The National

06-05-2025

Migrant Women Press, a female-led independent publication, is running a crowdfunding campaign to finance the project.
The group aims to raise £16,000 to fund a six-month media fellowship offering 15 migrant women and women of colour training, mentorship, expert-led workshops and paid publishing opportunities, giving them a helping hand into the world of journalism.
Founder of Migrant Women Press, Juliana de Penha, told The National that the campaign had launched on World Press Freedom Day.
'We kicked off the campaign on Saturday because we wanted to raise awareness of the importance of having migrant women and women of colour's voices in the media," she said.
'The fellowship is specifically for 15 migrant women of colour journalists, whether they are recent graduates, freelancers or aspiring journalists, we want to provide them with expert training, mentorship and paid publication opportunities.
'Through this project, we want to build a more inclusive and representative media.'
Research from Reuters in April showed that approximately 90% of journalists in the UK are white. De Penha hopes projects like the fellowship can improve representation for women of colour.
She said: 'Women from these groups don't often have any leadership positions in the press, so it's difficult for their stories to be relayed.
'We are hoping to provide a space where their voices are heard and they have the freedom to write about the issues they believe are important to them.'
De Penha, who is originally from Brazil, found her voice in journalism back home but struggled to build a network in the industry when she moved to Scotland — this led to the creation of Migrant Women Press.
She said: 'When I became a migrant, I faced a lot of challenges in the industry, like having to learn a new language from scratch and build a network, which is an issue that a lot of people face because it's a really competitive industry.
'Even once I spoke the language, I still faced challenges connected to the issue of structural racism.
'It's really difficult to find space [in the press] when you're like me, so I started writing these stories myself.
'As a migrant, I didn't feel represented by the news because there are a lot of really negative, toxic messages being pushed, so I started to write these stories that I felt should be written, and then I realised that there were other women interested in it.
'I started to connect with them on social media, and then step by step this became a platform.'
In 2025, the group celebrates its fifth anniversary. De Penha praised the volunteers who have stuck with the organisation: 'I'm really proud of being a really, really small organisation, working with volunteers and no official support, that have published over 200 articles from migrant women and women of colour from more than 30 countries, from different ethnic groups, ages and backgrounds.
'I'm really proud of our team of volunteers, that even with all their work and life challenges they still stick with us.'
Applications for the fellowship are not open yet, but de Penha highlighted that as soon as funding is secured they will begin accepting pitches and CVs from those interested, with external editors helping to create a fairer selection process.
She said money donated to the group will be channelled directly into the fellowship programme, with the crowdfunder page featuring a detailed cost breakdown.