Social Action and Community Media

Social action media uses media as a creative tool to increase public knowledge and awareness and sets out to analyse current social issues and problems and bring to public attention. Essentially, it encourages people to action in response to what they have seen on heard. Community media provides a vital alternative to the profit-oriented agenda of corporate media. They are driven by social objectives rather than the private, profit motive. They empower people rather than treat them as passive consumers, and they nurture local knowledge rather than replace it with standard solutions. Ownership and control of community media is rooted in, and responsible to, the communities they serve and they are committed to human rights, social justice, the environment and sustainable approaches to development. Social action and community media is key to creating a strong, socially responsible civil society.

A great example of social action and community media on a global scale is the 15 minutes of social action broadcast journalism of Michael Buerk on the BBC 9pm news in 1984. The shocking images, such as people being touched on the head if they were to receive the much needed food and those rejected, looking to an inevitable and fast approaching death, watching those that have been chosen to receive food and shelter, combined with his evocative language, the broadcast showed the tragedy of biblical proportion.  This sparked a massive movement in charitable actions across the world, the nation’s opinion changed entirely and everybody came together as a community to help stop the poverty in Ethiopia. Straight after it was broadcast donations were flooding into existing charities and had an impact on a certain person, who would start something to change the world; this was Bob Geldof.

 He is the man behind Live Aid, which got so much food and necessities over to Ethiopia. It all started off with Geldof contacted some of the best known names in music such as George Michael, Bono and Bananarama to create a charity single where all the profits would go to helping the people of Ethiopia. This was the first record ever made that was free from any tax due to Bob Geldof publically standing up to Margaret Thatcher making all the headlines, even a studio was offered to them at no charge for 24 hours to create the record. The single went straight to No.1 in the charts and outsold every other song in the chart combined. It became the fasted selling track in the UK of all time, selling well over a million copies in the first week of its release. After the charity record was released, Geldof decided to set up Live Aid, organising concerts across the world. With the profits of Band Aid and Live Aid combined, approximately 283 million pounds was raised for the Ethiopian famine.

The impact was huge, following the release of the first Band Aid single in 1984, numerous records have been produced to support charitable causes, even another Band Aid single in 2004, all with a direct correlation to Bob Geldof. Together with the actions of Michael Buerk and Bob Geldof, the nation felt like a global community and united in a cause that was deep in everyone’s hearts.

An example of social action and community media on a smaller scale is an article written by Lord William Rees-Mogg in The Times in 1967, titled ‘Who Breaks a Butterfly on a Wheel’. The article was about the popular and controversial band of the time, The Rolling Stones. This was following the severe sentences they received after a minor drug bust at one of the band member’s homes. The Rolling Stones weren’t regarded as acceptable by established Britain due to their sexualised, animalistic music and it was clear the sentences were just to put the Stones away and get them out of the public’s eye rather than due to their actual crimes. With The Times being the ultimate establishment newspaper of Britain, when the article was produced, the nation read it and it changed their perception towards this one group of men. The article brought to the public’s attention that something as small and insignificant as the crime committed receiving such a heavy handed punishment is not acceptable. Shortly after the article was written, the sentences came to appeal and were reduced.

Although the most well-known examples of social action and community media are on a national or global scale, it also takes place in the local media regularly. An example from the past months in local media is the SWORD campaign, Save Weddington: Oppose the Residential Development.  The local newspapers have been backing the campaign and with the efforts of everyone combined managed to get the developmental plans to be refused for now. Not only did SWORD approach the local newspapers to represent them, but they also set up their own media to get the public involved. In SWORD’s statement, it is written “In a democracy it is the people of Nuneaton and Bedworth who should determine our future.” The battle against Hallams the developers is ongoing but with the continued efforts and support of the local press, the developers will have difficulty getting the plans to build on Weddington’s green land approved.

Not only can social action and community media evoke the public’s emotions in order for them to act out but it can also change the public’s perception on a certain issue. This has become quite apparent with the recent outrage of journalists hacking crime victims and celebrities’ voicemails, with the public becoming very aware of the liberties the mainstream press are taking with their civil rights and, quite rightly, uniting in their opposition to the invasions of privacy the press has been involved in.

The Guardian was the first newspaper to report that police had found evidence suggesting that the private investigator, Glenn Mulcaire, was hired by News of the World to collect personal information about the family of the missing schoolgirl Milly Dowler, following her disappearance in March 2002, and the subsequent discovery of her murdered body six months later. This caused a public outcry and eventually there were more and more cases of phone hacking reported which lead to the shutdown of News of the World and bought more shame to the already despised name of Rupert Murdoch.

Arguably, propaganda has been around since the start of the printing press. From the Boxer Rebellion in China in the 1900s, to wanted posters in America in the late 1700s to Nazi propaganda in the 1940s, social action and community media is all over the world. Nazi propaganda is probably the most powerful social action media there has ever been. Through provocative posters, videos and speeches, the Nazis managed to get an entire nation to discriminate against Jews, blacks, gypsies and many other stereotypes of people, causing the death and torture of millions.

Social action and community media’s power and importance amongst society in modern day society is unfathomable. The impact it can have on society can change lives, whether on a local, national, or global scale or even completely change the public’s perception on a matter.