reporting


Gavin Aitchison of Church Action on Poverty explains how his charity helped to bring people together to put the ‘human’ into human interest stories


Bringing issues to life


C


harlotte had never spoken up in the media before – but her story is now helping to improve housing services in her community. John and Dave were also media novices but are now helping others to press for change.


Tammy and Anne, too, were new to all of this but are now helping others to access greater support and be heard. Five people, all of whom had reasons to be wary of


journalists, are now speaking up and helping to change the systems that hindered their own lives. Charlotte, John, Dave, Tammy and Anne were the five contributors to Unheard York, an experimental media collaboration that took place in the city this summer. It involved YorkMix (an independent local media outlet), Lived Insights (a grassroots group of people who have been through homelessness, addiction or other difficulties) and Church Action on Poverty (the charity I work for). Lived Insights knew they had powerful and important


stories, but saw speaking to a journalist as a daunting prospect for most of their members. YorkMix earnestly wanted to share stories from people who


had experienced acute challenges but, like all local outlets, has a small, stretched team. Church Action on Poverty always wants to amplify the voices of people who have experienced poverty, and knows


“


We’re aware a lot of our news coverage is reactive, but resources limit how much long-form journalism we can do, writes Chris Titley, YorkMix editor’. Being able to work with


14 | theJournalist


Gavin and a team of people rich in talent, insight and lived experience was a wonderful opportunity. Tourists who see the


‘chocolate box’ image of York are rarely aware the city has


The media often reduce stories to single elements and rarely convey the voices of people affected


An editor’s view: making a difference


some serious social issues. The team worked with the


storytellers to build trust and get a true insight into their lives and challenges. The Unheard York articles not only gave voice to these


residents but also revealed flaws in the national and local support systems that compounded their problems. The stories generated a lot


of positive comments from readers, who shared their


own experiences. It’s been


a positive experience, and proves long-form human interest journalism still has a place and can make a real difference in a city like York.


that people with first-hand insight need to be at the heart of any attempt to improve systems – but is aware that its own channels have a limited audience. So we got together and asked: could we team up to tell new


stories and make change happen? If so – how? The idea was several years in the making. In early 2020, just before Covid-19 arrived in the UK, a research report landed in my inbox and immediately challenged and inspired me. Lankelly Chase’s Telling A Different Story looks at how the media report on people facing multiple disadvantages. In a nutshell, it found the media tended to be pretty lousy at covering how complex issues interconnect. They often reduce stories to single elements, rarely convey the voices of people actually facing the issues and often lack empathy. That report also highlighted opportunities, including:


maintaining a local focus; working especially with online media; striving to foster trust between journalists, charities and people with experience of social issues; and deliberately putting ‘multiplicity’ at the heart of stories, rather than over-simplifying unsimple situations. One of the report authors wrote: “A striking conclusion


made in this report is that the majority of articles lacked the diversity of views and voices of people with direct lived experience of severe disadvantage. Coupled with an apparent lack of trust between journalists, people with lived experience and the charity sector, one of the most important recommendations is the undeniable need to form stronger and deeper relationships. If we can create empathy amongst ourselves, then it will make it easier to bring in distinctive voices, and different types of stories into mainstream media.” So, several years and one pandemic later, a few of us in York decided to see if we could make these recommendations work.


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