Let’s change the media
At one point the phone was buzzing every second. A simple tweet from our head of design was enough to blow up the Stand Up Twitter account. Of her own accord (and on her cash), Siarlot had traveled down to London to cover the March For Europe event because of a belief in democracy, and that those of the 48% who still did not believe in Brexit deserved to have their say. In the UK, the major political media outlets are generally based (or at least have major offices) in London, which means it’s usually a tube ride or a short walk to cover a march. Yet, a journalist who is based in Sunderland was the quickest to cover the event.
It was never a surprise that one tweet would generate such attention. The replies were constant; and the vast majority expressed rage at the current mainstream media’s agenda. Let’s face it, the mainstream media spends far too much time focusing on what Westminster is doing rather than what people think about it. The news constantly covered the Tory infighting on Brexit, and yet it was never a major concern for the public. The biggest issues have been the recession, social care, the NHS and (for students) affordable housing and university fees. There’s also been an alarming silence on the treatment of disabled people since 2010. The constant focus on the Conservative infighting though, helped bring about a referendum barely anyone cared about. The appalling irresponsibility of the media was clear when they failed to call out Farage for spouting myths about freedom of movement and EU regulations. The media also nodded in agreement when Gove had his now infamous rant about experts. Those media narratives helped bring us a Leave victory that was based upon the resentment of migration, and a dismissal of reason, logic and evidence. Journalism dressed up dogma as fact.
The media can often feel as out of touch as politicians are. When basic debates on marginalised people’s right to exist are pushed as profound think-pieces we’ve crossed into a time where the media is happy to demonise lived experience, its own audience and pander to a narrative the right have been wanting for years. It is unconscionable that the Daily Mail slammed the attackers of the seventeen year old refugee, Reker Ahmed, when they have consistently published articles equating accepting refugees with support the growth of terrorism.
The tactic for appealing to a broad audience is to trample over marginalised people because there’s zero accountability. It’s why BBC Question Time runs so many debates on LGBTQ+ people, and why writers such as Julie Bindel or Germaine Greer (who have not offered any new insight in years) manage to get gigs with The Guardian and the BBC despite being “no-platformed”. It’s easy to attack vulnerable people. Half of people will disagree with you, some will see the obvious ignorance behind it, but it inevitably generates clicks and views while marginalised people are drowned out of debates about what respect they deserve.
Marginalised people should be leading these stories. Having a prejudice against a group of people does not count as a qualification to be able to write – but try telling Hopkins and Ditum that. It might be a financially viable route to make a career out of pushing hate, but that’s not a concession we’re willing to make.
It’s why we created Stand Up. The debates in the media are often offensive and push an agenda of ignorance while hiding under the guise of ‘free speech’. Our audience deserves better. We’ve all complained about the media being aloof, classist and of not listening to people. Now is the chance to get to change that.
For everyone £1 donated, that’s one copy of the magazine printed. Stand Up is examining what’s really impacting young people in a time when our generation is expected to put up and shut up. Stand Up is talking to marginalised people and letting them tell their own stories. We’re speaking with experts in their field, because we believe that while debate should be accessible it should always be informed and responsible.
However, we need your support to be able to compete. We’ve created a world where we believe so ardently in democracy and the right to engage, that we’ve completely devalued our media. By saying everyone should be able to consume the news (which is right) we’ve created a culture where writers are expected to work for nothing.
Every other job pays. Netflix has a subscription service. When you turn on your TV, you’ve already paid the licence fee. When you order clothes online, you pay for the clothes and usually the delivery. Journalists have chucked their goods out the store and hope people will drop some coins as they walk by. We wouldn’t expect anyone else to provide a service for free.
We’re not asking for money on a whim, we’re asking because writers often aren’t paid for their work. By printing the magazine, we get to raise the level of debate in this country but we also get a chance at being able to get some money to survive at the end of it. It’s not a democracy if the only magazines that can flourish are the ones with millions in the bank already. We all know this, so now is the time for us to stop complaining and work together to change our media landscape.
#WeStandUp – but will you stand with us?
