Volunteer Education: Media Masterclass

From Friday 5th March to Sunday 7th March, we presented our Media Masterclass to MEND volunteers across the country.

Our first session was on ‘The Media: its influence & reporting’ and introduced the attendees to the different types of media that we have access to. We looked at which UK media organisations had the biggest reach and audience and who owned the different organisations. Our volunteers were then shown how print media often have different political leanings which influences how the same story is reported differently depending on who is doing the reporting. Attendees were then shown trends when it came to reporting on Muslims and how the reporting is overwhelmingly negative.

The second session of the weekend was titled ‘Regulating and challenging print media’. The aim of this session was to show how Print media is regulated and the challenges that come with the current regulatory bodies. During the presentation, we touched on the Leveson Inquiry and the significant events that led to the inquiry itself. We spoke about the recommendations of it and the roadblocks that have been introduced since that have made it difficult to implement all the recommendations. We also looked at IPSO as a regulator, how to complain to IPSO, and the problems associated with IPSO in its current form. IMPRESS as a regulatory body was also discussed and the challenges it faces were highlighted too.

Our third and final session looked at ‘Regulating and challenging the broadcast media’ which aimed to show how broadcast media is currently regulating and how individuals can challenge when reporting breaks the code as laid out by the regulatory body. We took a look at OFCOM’s regulation and remit, providing a number of case studies that show how broadcast media has been successfully and unsuccessfully challenged. We also highlighted how the BBC is regulated and how this differs from other broadcasting media.

These sessions provided our volunteers with an opportunity to deep dive into the media in the UK and the influence it has. Attendees were able to see how they can engage with media to ensure that inaccurate reporting is challenged.

Many thanks to the attendees and to our presenters! If you’d like to volunteer with MEND so you can participate in our education and training, then get in touch at mend.org.uk/volunteer