Scenario: You have been asked by Social Action Community Monthly (SCAM) to create a magazine article, which shows the reader how producing a piece of SCAM work can be very effective way of rising awareness of charity or community issues and identify why techniques are effective.
Task 1
This assignment covers the following:
- Define the purpose of social action media and community media.
- Choose 4 areas of social action and community media and explain how they can either…
Bring about local, national or global change; change attitudes; raise awareness; create access to media production for non-traditional groups; challenge dominant representations and agendas; create or strengthen community ties; provide information; campaign; change voting behavior; or infiltrate mainstream media.
Task 2
Explore the impact of the work:
- Provide evidence of any change being brought about through projects.
- Provide a detailed analysis of your 4 examples of SCAM work - identify how they are constructed to effectively achieve their purpose.
The magazine itself is not necessary, only the article content.
Social and Community Media Impact
Social action is often defined as “taking steps to change the things that are wrong in our society and introducing new ideas and processes for doing things better in the future”. Meanwhile, community media is defined as “any form of media that is created and controlled by a community, either a geographic community or a community of identity or interest. Community media is separate from commercial media, state run media, or public broadcasting.”
The purpose of social action is to raise public awareness on specific issues in order to mobilize activity that works towards those issues being solved, investigated or researched. Much like social action it aims to raise awareness though often among a particular group or community, unlike social action which is aimed more globally.
One example of social media bringing about a change in attitudes is the platform of Community Channel. Community Channel describes itself as “the only TV station totally dedicated to highlighting issues from both local and international communities as well as the voluntary and charitable sectors.” Banners on website, as well as ads, advertise such issues in local and international communities, such as those that express resolve for black minorities to be given a voice and listen to their problems.
In addition to this, the LGBT community are also expressed, with the website advertising documentaries and videos that highlight issues being tackled. So how does this change attitudes? Well the whole point of Community Channel is to give a focus on the issues of local and international communities, so anyone willing to educate themselves on issues either involving minorities or other groups, as well as contemporary issues, may gain a new perspective on things.
An example from the website itself would be the We Are Poets section, which “presents a timely and radical exploration of youth, language and education, as a remarkable team of six British teenagers are chosen to represent the UK at Brave New Voices: the most prestigious Poetry Slam competition in the world.” The aim of this particular documentary is to show-off the creativity that comes with poetry and make it so it is a testament “to the power of creativity, community and the dynamism of young people”, as well as attempting to change the attitude of the following: “Anyone tempted to dismiss today’s youth as politically apathetic better pay heed: here is electrifying evidence to the contrary.”
Another example of social media raising awareness is Twitter’s attempts at showing who are behind political ads that target users. According to Adweek, this comes days after the legislation of the Honest Ads Act was implemented, as an attempt to inform the public and those on social who are those who run political ads on their social media and why. A lot of this, of course, can be linked back to being based off of a person’s interests and search history; however, many may not have political interests or affiliations at all. Thus, many are left wondering as to why this happens.
“ The Transparency Center, as Twitter’s feature will be called, will also include information about total campaign spend by an advertiser, information about the organization buying the ad, targeting demographics the buyer used and historical data about electioneering ad spending for a candidate by the advertiser. The updates will first be rolled out in the U.S. and then globally. “
The above quote details what this transparent feature aims to achieve. So then, what does this do to raise awareness? Quite simply, the data collected by the Transparency Center will be used as statistics and records in order to tell the public who is running these ads, their political ideologies and what demographics they seek etc. This can all be used to raise public awareness on the controversies surrounding political ad funding and other areas of political intrigue. As mentioned in Adweek:
“ Twitter is the first of the major platforms to roll out its own disclosures in response to Russian actors buying ads on Twitter, Facebook and other platforms as a way to sway misinformation before and after the U.S. election. “
The reasoning behind this raising awareness in turn informs the public on why the Transparency Center is taking action, pointing to the involvement of Russian actions who may or may not have swayed information before and after the 2016 U.S. election. The impact this is bound to have is to perhaps have economists or data collectors jump on the information collected and allocate it for use, as well as the public discussing more of the intrigue surrounding the use of political ads and how they can be used.
An example of community media bringing about local change is Brighter Futures Together: Tackle climate change in your community. The website and movement itself also aims at the internationality of the issue, but also dedicates a section to local action that can be taken. This is so to make an impact on a local level, more specifically in the North East of England. In order to help guide and inform one on the issue of climate change, as well as better combat it, suggested activities are listed.
Advice given as part of the suggested activities include the following: save energy, consider renewable and low carbon energy; recycle; save water; choice of transport etc. This is all meant to be apart of a greater good that helps push the planet towards a more environmentally healthy place, with impact taken from localities all the way to the international spectrum, thus making a positive impact.
One other example of community media providing information is the Consent Is Everything campaign. This is intended to inform the public on the issue of consent, as cases of secual assault and rape have long been on the criminal record, thus leaving it to campaigns such as these to help combat the issue. One tab has a page dedicated to what exactly consent is, where a number of bulletins are made.
The tagline states: “Sex without consent is rape”. These are some of bullet points made, “Make sure the other person is participating freely and readily… You can confirm if you have consent both verbally and by checking the other person’s body language… Someone on drugs or too drunk to make decisions doesn’t have the mental capacity to give consent… If someone is on drugs or seems too drunk to consent, or you’re not sure, stop. Wait until they are sober and ask them again… Somebody who is asleep or unconscious cannot give consent.”
The page also has a tab dedicated on how to get consent properly, as well as a section entitled “Myths vs. Facts”. Furthermore, a short video with a little analogue about tea and consent is present on the front page, acting as a simple reminder on what consent is. This is all intended to inform the public, with the desired impact meaning there will be more consent and less rape.
