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Media coverage of tenants can often be ill-informed, says Kath Grant


Toweringigno T


he fierce blaze at Grenfell Tower in London in June exposed a shocking disregard for the safety of tenants – and, arguably, this dismissive attitude was partly rooted in the negative and simplistic media coverage of


social housing that has developed over the past two decades. Tenant campaigner Moyra Samuels lives 300 metres away from the tower block which has become a grim symbol of the failure of the UK’s housing system. “Three nearby blocks of flats are at risk of gentrification. We


were fighting the plans and had linked up with similar housing campaigns but we hadn’t had much media coverage. It was only Grenfell that moved social housing onto the front page.” There was little informed media coverage about social housing before the Grenfell fire but one publication has consistently reported on its most important stories. Trade magazine Inside Housing warned about poor fire safety in tower blocks following the 2009 Lakanal House fire in south London, and reported tenants’ concerns such as those publicised on the Grenfell Action Group’s blog. “Catastrophic failings led to the Lakanal House fire and we


wanted to make sure it didn’t happen again,” says Emma Maier, editor-in-chief of Inside Housing. Despite widespread backing for their campaign from tenants and the housing sector, change was slow. Then, in 2016, came a similar fire in Shepherd’s Bush, although fortunately no one was killed. The response to a freedom of information request showed that the London Fire Brigade had warned social landlords about external cladding. An FOI request in 2015 revealed that only a few council tower blocks had sprinklers fitted. With this background knowledge, Inside Housing staff were


horrified to wake up on 14 June to news of the Grenfell fire. Since then, they have stepped up their “Never Again” campaign, which is based on recommendations made by the coroner at the Lakanal House inquest, and includes a call for sprinklers to be installed as well as an overhaul of building regulations. “Looking back at stories and editorials since 2009, there


were some prophetic headlines in our coverage and what happened at Grenfell made us pretty sick. It has been hard to watch it all unfolding,” Maier admits. She agrees that both social housing and the people who live


in it have been subjected to negative media coverage. “But it’s not just the news media – in TV dramas and even documentaries, it is hard to find positive and non-stereotypical portrayals of people who live in social housing,” Maier notes. “The trade press has an informed readership and we have to be as knowledgeable as them. We don’t have to be simplistic like the mainstream media because we are writing for people who know – although I sometimes think the mainstream media underestimates their readers’ ability to understand the issues.” Negative stereotyping of social housing has been a concern


16 | theJournalist


of Richard Peacock’s for many years. As chief executive of Oxford-based Soha Housing, he is angry and irritated by media coverage, particularly in national tabloid newspapers. “There are four million social housing tenants in this


country and the vast majority of them are ordinary people, many working in low paid industries. To read some sections of the media, you would think they were all on drugs and engaging in anti-social behaviour.” When he talked to colleagues in other housing bodies, they agreed. Tenants said they felt the same and a tenant-led steering group was formed, resulting in the Benefit to Society campaign. Thirteen housing organisations have signed up to it. As part of the project, the London School of Economics is doing research with tenants in Chester due to be published early next year. Tenants have also worked with journalist Rachel Broady to produce a Fair Press for Tenants guide for the media. She is a member of the Manchester and Salford NUJ Branch and a social housing tenant herself. The work, backed by her branch, has resulted in some powerful messages.


Council houses: once a positive choice


Attitudes to social housing have changed radically since the postwar Labour government’s council house building programme provided an escape from privately rented slum dwellings. Forty years ago, one in


three people lived in a council home; today it is just one in 10. Richard Peacock, chief


executive of Oxford-based Soha Housing, a not-for profit housing association, believes social housing tenants have become marginalised. Private rented accommodation is often unsafe,


inadequate and has little protection – yet it is not stigmatised like social housing. Housing activist and NUJ member Eileen Short, who was involved in a campaign to save her council estate from privatisation, says council housing used to be the accommodation of choice. “But political decisions


over the last 30 years have driven through sell-offs, privatisation, demolition and underfunding. “Fewer council houses


and growing waiting lists mean that only those in the greatest need – rightly


– get priority. Everyone else has been forced into market housing and they are increasingly trapped in unregulated private renting.” Short adds: “We saw


how the political climate, the myths, and the power of money influenced media and TV drama as well as politics. “But one of the big


changes in the last 10 years is that younger journalists are struggling over housing themselves, trapped into paying huge private rents – sometimes in ex-council flats. “As more housing battles


break out and tenants stand up for themselves, I think media attitudes are changing. And the horrors of Grenfell are crystallising that.”


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