Clever Communications - Voluntary Action Media Unit

For those who missed 2007, it was the
year mainstream media realised they
were in the midst of a revolution – that if
they didn’t embrace change it would
engulf them.
The upshot? You have much greater
opportunity to challenge mainstream media
than you ever did.
Unhappy about an article? Leave a
comment beneath it. Too indirect? Then
e-mail the journalist directly. The BBC,
Daily Mirror and other news organisations
regularly print e-mail addresses below
articles, and if they don’t it doesn’t take a
genius to guess them (for The Times try
firstname.lastname@thetimes.co.uk).
Response not published? Publish it
yourself. Blog about it, link to the offending
article and refer to the news organisation
and journalist.
Better yet, prevent bad reporting
from happening in the first place
by giving news organisations
the information they need before
they publish.
Most journalists are under so much time
and money pressure these days they’ll
gladly talk to someone who really knows
about a subject – or look at a piece of
well-written research into a topic. The
Independent would be half the size it is
without its many articles based on research
conducted by NGOs or PR companies.
There is still an awfully long way to
go. Indeed the Media Standards Trust
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Don’t moan, do something
Martin Moore, Director, Media Standards Trust
has been set up explicitly to find ways to
promote accuracy and good reporting –
particularly by fostering transparency and
accountability. And despite just launching
in 2007 it is already making headway. Take
a look at www.journa-list.com, a website
that gives the public information about
journalists rather than vice versa – sort of
freedom of information in reverse.
But misrepresentation still happens –
frequently. Last October The Sunday Times
accompanied a big article about unhygienic
conditions at Maidstone NHS Trust with a
photograph of a nurse in a shockingly dirty
uniform. Yet it subsequently turned out the
nurse did not work at Maidstone. Nor was
her uniform dirty. The newspaper had used
Photoshop to splatter grime over her clean
apron to give the story more impact.
Manipulating images, misusing data,
exaggerating stereotypes – none of these
will disappear in this brave new media
world. Indeed, they will almost certainly
get worse. But this makes it all the more
necessary that charities not only realise
they have the opportunity to encourage
accurate reporting, but that they now have
a responsibility to.
Dr Martin Moore is director
of the Media Standards
Trust, a new independent
not-for-profit organisation
that promotes high
standards in news.
www.mediastandardstrust.org