With True Stories, we had a clear objective: to enable migrants and refugees to become the narrators of their own stories. Too often, these stories are told for them, distorted, simplified, or sidelined. We aimed to reverse this dynamic by giving them the opportunity to take control of their own narrative, providing the tools needed to express themselves with accuracy, nuance, and strength. By training them in podcast techniques and digital storytelling, we wanted to empower them to reclaim their stories. Building on the Clichés podcast, we aimed to create a new multilingual season, a European media campaign, and practical tools to spread this approach. Above all, what we sought was to open a space for expression and recognition — a space where everyone can be heard for what they have to say, beyond clichés, to shift perceptions of migration by highlighting the richness and diversity of their journeys.
True Stories is a podcast and a media training project born from the belief that those who experience migration should be able to tell their own stories. Too often, their voices are filtered, summarized, or even silenced. True Stories builds on the spirit of the Clichés podcast, initiated by the French Red Cross and Louie Media in 2020: to share personal, sincere stories, far from stereotypes and to take it further by bringing the podcast to a European level. Our goal here was also to co-develop, with Louie Media, OCC Spain, and OCC Greece, a training program focused on podcasting and storytelling techniques. Through this educational approach in small groups, participants were able to take ownership of the tools, share their experiences, and transform them into powerful and moving content. By coordinating the project, we also aimed to lay the foundations for a replicable framework, so that other organisations across Europe can amplify these important and often unheard voices.