Space Summary
The Twitter Space Last day to nominate in #TheTrashies Awards for Bad Journalism hosted by WritersofColour. In the #TheTrashies Awards space, writers are urged to band together to nominate for the awards before the deadline. Drawing inspiration from Toni Morrison's powerful words, the discussion emphasizes the need for a united writer's movement for change in journalism. The space encourages writers to shift from lone efforts to collaborative action, stressing the impact of collective advocacy in reshaping journalism practices. It reflects a vision where individual writers play a vital role in fostering a more assertive and pugnacious writing community.
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Questions
Q: What is the deadline for nominating in #TheTrashies Awards?
A: The deadline for nominations is emphasized for participation in #TheTrashies Awards.
Q: How does Toni Morrison's quote influence the call for collective action?
A: Toni Morrison's quote inspires a call for writers to unite in a militant and assertive movement.
Q: Why is collective action important in reshaping journalism?
A: Collective action fosters impactful change and challenges individualistic approaches in journalism.
Q: What role do writers play in advocating for better journalism standards?
A: Writers can be agents of change by participating in movements that aim to improve journalistic practices.
Q: How can individual writers contribute to a larger writer's movement?
A: Individual writers can join forces with others to form a robust collective advocating for change in the journalistic landscape.
Highlights
Time: 00:15:22
Deadline Reminder for Nominations Emphasizing the importance of submitting nominations before the deadline for #TheTrashies Awards.
Time: 00:25:45
Toni Morrison's Influence on Collective Action Discussing how Morrison's words inspire a more assertive and united writer's movement.
Time: 00:35:10
Unifying Writers for Change Exploring the power of writers coming together to drive significant transformations in journalism.
Time: 00:45:55
Moving from Solitary Heroes to Collective Impact Highlighting the shift towards collaborative efforts for a more impactful writer's movement.
Key Takeaways
- Deadline awareness is crucial for nominating in #TheTrashies Awards for Bad Journalism.
- The significance of writers coming together as a collective for impactful change.
- Inspiration from Toni Morrison's call for a bold and assertive writer's movement.
- Awareness of the need for a shift from individual heroics to collective efforts in journalism.
- Exploration of how writers can be agents of change in reshaping journalism practices.
- Encouragement for writers to participate in movements advocating for better journalism standards.
Behind the Mic
Opening Remarks
Be. The food and let me grow. The rest of the angel we got. To be. Never get behind empty be. Sound. When y'all hungry. When we are. Thirsty when there's no one that you. Won'T keep them from praising town we. Never stop praising town shall we go by? All right. Good night.
Discussion on Blame
Why muster is red children bright alone and most of all the wicked are so strong my brethren my sister don't blame me something I know my bread is my sister don't blame for birds don't blame the blame. Can people hear me, Jonathan? Yes, I can hear you. Okay, 1 second. I'm just going to put my headphones in and see. You can if you can still hear me. Can you still? Yeah. Yes, you can. I just saw Zandi. He put a hand up. Okay, fantastic. Let's get a started. So today is the last day you can nominate trashy in the trashy Awards.
Introduction to the Trashy Awards
And I'm just going to explain a little bit about the trashies and then I'm going to introduce Jonathan and we're going to get on with it. So give me a second while I introduce this year's trashy awards. So, yes, the trashies is a news media equivalent to Hollywood's razzies. They were created because we believe in the importance of a free, fair, and representative press. We have been doing them every spring since 2014. Obviously, we've closed various times over the years, so we haven't done it every year, and it's been quite a while since we last did it. Basically, the awards are to challenge journalism that's lazy, bigoted, ill researched, and misinforming.
Importance of Audience Engagement
It's easy for writers to avoid reading the comments and to swerve their quick critics on Twitter or now it's called x. But we want audiences, especially audiences of color, to come into the conversation and discuss the problems of journalism. That makes space for racism, xenophobia, transphobia, islamophobia. Yeah, every kind of phobia, including also a few isms as well. Classism. That's something that we've put onto the agenda this year as well, because it's important, because I believe 97% is it of our press, or last time, or maybe 94% last time I heard, were white and mostly middle class.
Challenges in Media Representation
So it's hard for a black or brown or even white working class person to get into the media and, you know, and make a difference. Because, you know, if you want to do media, you'd hopefully make a difference in whichever area you're in, whether it's arts or investigative journalism or documentary, whatever you want to make a difference. So it's hard for people. Maybe they get onto the ladder, but they may not climb that ladder. You know, I have this thing where so often we are always interns but never the actually sort of employed. It's an issue.
The Trashy Awards History
So, I mean, in 2018 we awarded the trashies. So the trashiest article was awarded to the Guardian View on Gender Recognition act, where rights collide. And also it was a double whammy. And it also went to is it possible to draw Serena Williams without being racist at the Spectator? No surprise. And Rod Liddell, sorry, won that. And Kath Viner for the editorial because it was the guardian of you. So that was the whole Guardian decided to be what they were. And we got the trashiest publication was the Spectator. You say, no surprise.
Recent Developments in UK
But, you know, sometimes you do get a little bit surprised. So this year we've got lots on the agenda, not to mention just for the fact that we've just had some of the most tumultuous weeks in our history, in British history, in UK history, with far right racist xenophobes and fellow travelers, all sorts on the streets attacking people at random. I'm sure you've seen the videos, I'm sure you've seen the head. What's come out of that is various headlines, various articles that haven't been any better than really, the people on the streets attacking us.
The Objective of the Trashies
You know, that's the reason we're doing the trashies at the moment. We usually would have done them in the spring if were around, but I just want to read a little bit more and then bring Jonathan in. So, in previous years, scrolling articles nominated for the trashies yields a quite depressing but unsurprising number of examples where the mainstream media dehumanize, patronize and direct blame towards people of color. Muslims must flush out killers in their midst, says Daniel Finkelstein. I should say Lord Finkelstein in the Times.
Media Bias and Its Consequences
Islamophobia is a reasonable reaction to jihadi violence in Islam's aversion to criticism, said an Australian journalist called Ted Lapkin. And Nick Cohen, on the other hand, of one of our homegrown Islamophobes, he might say. So he said how liberal Britain is betraying ex Muslims. He rates ex Muslims, but actual Muslims, it seems, were not in part of his what he was interested in. So the tragedies help to unpick this depressing, misinformed consensus.
The Role of Media in Social Narratives
Reminding everyone that the media is dominated by a white and usually privileged class is, after all, a factor at play. Here. But the movement isn't just about disrupting accepted narratives. So we want to, you know, we want to provide a base of solidarity for people of color, for anybody who's, who's targeted on the basis of race or religion or, you know, we're not a single track kind of organization. So when the mainstream media tells a story that's impossible to identify with, this kind of support is borrowed from James Baldwin.
Engaging the Public
Indispensable. So we are having this tweet storm so that we can get a few more nominations, because in two days time, we are going to have created a poll where we will have collected all these nominations that you see under the hashtag, and we will have put them in the poll for you to vote for. The public will get to vote. They also get to vote for, you know, the columnist of the year, the publication of the year, and the broadcast of the year. When I say of the year, you know, the worst.
Voting and Public Awareness
So we get all the articles and all these other categories as well. But then after that, so we'll give you a couple of weeks to vote for that. And we'll be keeping an eye on the numbers very closely, trust me. We'll send out some sort of press release so all the people who are actually nominated get to know that they were nominated for the trashiest articles of the year, the trashiest broadcast of the year. And then we're gonna have a little bit of a party in September, details to come.
Jonathan's Insights
So what I'm gonna do now is bring in Jonathan. Jonathan, I asked you to have a look at some of the nominations. What did you want to talk about, please? Well, I mean, I think what I'd like to say is perhaps a bit more general and sort of take a step back from themes which you've well outlined over the last few years, and sort of have a look at where the current debate is on what we're seeing in our press and on our screens, of course.
Role of Social Media
And because I think the debate over the last couple of weeks has been very interesting about the role of social media and in particular, of course, the platform we're currently using and its owner. Because on the one hand, I think it is absolutely right to point out that, for example, the misinformation that was the immediate cause of the recent riots and particular, the anti-muslim aspect of those riots was spread on Twitter. And people are, I think, understandably concerned about that.
Connection Between Platforms
It isn't just Twitter. And I think, drawing the connection what's happening on social media and in particular, the role of Elon Musk is deeply worrying. But equally, it cannot be separated from what's happened in the mainstream media over the past few years, which you've just talked about. These two things are not separate. And I do worry that some of the focus on Musk and Twitter, while it is justified, detracts from the fact that this sort of wider media ecosystem, equally, if we just talk about the spectator, or whatever it is, after all, a fairly small magazine, as people keep on pointing out to me on Twitter x, people who read this spectator aren't the people who go out and try and burn down hotels with people in them.
Explaining Connections
But that doesn't mean that there isn't a connection and trying, and I think the sort of key challenge for those of us to worry about. Well, there are several challenges here. One is, first of all, explaining and understanding that connection. Right. Those connections exist. Stuff which begins life in the spectator finds its way in, perhaps in a distorted form, onto Twitter X and then into the. Into the streets. And each stuff from the furthest receives of Twitterx finds its way, one way or another, into the mainstream press that goes both ways.
Resistance in Media Leadership
So, first of all, is trying to understand and communicate that it's not, you know, you can't look at these things in isolation and certainly know what's been happening over there. And then do you think that there's. A resistance from the editors in chief of all these magazines to look at it? They don't want to see it in isolation. Absolutely. I mean, as I and Sundar cut. Well, I've been pointing out for some time, you can actually say in the British press stuff, which most people would think is, most people probably assume you couldn't get away with either legally or under the codes of conduct.
Free Speech and Media Conduct
But because of the way that the ipso code works, it's perfectly legal or it's perfectly permissible to be racist or indeed sexist or transphobic or ableist or whatever, in a way which most of us would think unacceptable and which you aren't allowed to direct an individual person. So the ipso code does not stop you saying views and Muslims are vermin. Quite literally, those words are perfectly permissible in the mainstream press. Hang on, has there been a test case on this? Is that how you know this? Several.
Loopholes in Press Regulation
But, you know, there's no ambiguity in the way that the ipso code works here. Right. It's very clear. You cannot say, Jonathan Portis is jewish scum. That's a. I could make a complaint and I'd probably win, depending on the context. But if you say all jews are scum, that's fine, right? Are you serious? Oh, my God. If you put people as a class. It means that's only attacks on individuals are subject to the code.
Legal Challenges in Media
So that's quite a. It's an absolutely massive loophole. And that accounts for, I think, some of what, much of what some of the press has got away with in recent years is that there is this, the current institutional framework, which is part of the way that they think, is that free speech means that you should be able to express these opinions about groups, and there is effectively little or no sanction for doing so. And something like the trashies is, as you said, it's a way of imposing that sanction.
Future Directions
But how you get that narrative across to the whiteboard. And then the question, I think, and the even more difficult, much harder question is, of course, what you do about it, because I think we all, especially those of us who come, those who come from excluded or marginalized communities, free speech is a weapon, and it's a value. It's something we need. We do not. And I'm quite careful never to call, in my many years of criticizing both the spectator as an institution and the numerous individuals who write for it, I've never called it to be.
Promoting Discussion and Change
For it to be shut down. No, no. Right. Yeah. Okay. Because at this point, you know, they're very much resisting some of the. There's been calls to arrest one of them, their associate editors. There's been people saying he's incited violence. I mean, and then we've got the chair, Andrew Neil, completely trying to deflect from it. He went a little bit strange about it. Indeed. So is it not time to talk about. I think that's interesting because, you know, I did not call for.
Intellectual Tensions
I think you were the person who found Murray's video. And via me, it became very much a mainstream thing for a couple of days. I didn't. I was careful not to say that I thought Murray should be arrested, although what he does was pretty clearly inciting violence, because I think it would for several reasons. First of all, I'm genuinely not sure exactly where you should draw the line between direct incitement to violence and the sort of stuff he was saying.
Impacts of Arrest and Prosecution
Second of all, because even leaving aside that, I think any attempt to arrest and prosecute him would have made him, in the eyes of the people who he claims to represent, a martyr and would have backfired. And third, I think it is much more effective. As you said, Andrew Neil got quite rattled, yeah, very much so. That is the sort of action that is required. You need people like, you know, you need people to stop going to spectator garden parties.
Challenge of Normalization
You need people to start treating these people as, you know, you need to be able to push the boundary of what is socially and politically acceptable. And while, you know, I think there almost certainly is a case for using the law against some of what Elon Musk has been doing and permitting in the last few. Few weeks, the law clearly does need to be tightened there. That is not the same as saying we should be that the right way, either morally or politically, but.
Contextual Changes in Society
Or tactically, is to start trying to close down publications as opposed to making. And these things go together. It is much less, except you do get much less visible public racism in this country than you do 30 or 40 years ago. Right. Well, I would have said that a month ago, perhaps. I still think it's the case, as my friend and colleague Anand Menon said on the BBC show he was on this week, if you'd asked me, he's my age, 57, he said, if you'd asked me 40 years ago when I was growing up in Wakefield, would I take, you know, would I take people being a bit racist behind my back in exchange for not being punched?
Addressing Everyday Racism
I'd have said, yes, I'll take the not being punched. That. But I think the point I was making is that progress, and there has been progress, was made by a combination of legal means. So the Race Relations act and other things that have come through it, right past it up to the Equality act. But at the same time, it's also because we've made it socially and politically unacceptable to be overtly racist in most open public social situations. But do you know what, Jonathan?
Navigating Workplace Racism
I would say that there's a lot of black people, at least, you know, and Asian people, who would say they'd rather have someone be racist to their face and upfront with it than what we get at the moment in workplaces, where you're undermined, where you're not promoted and all of this stuff. So, I don't know, what do you think about that? I think that's a very fair point and an understandable one.
Calling Attention to Bias
And I have sort of. I have sort of said it myself, that, you know, people. People should just come out and say it. And there are, you know, to get. You asked for specific examples. And, I mean, I, you know, to make the sort of point that you were making there. There was an article which I tweeted from the Atlantic, an American news magazine, published yesterday. I don't know whether anyone else has seen it about the riots.
Analyzing Media Coverage
And it is a classic example of that. It is full of, you can find it on my Twitter feed from this morning or last night by somebody called Robert Forth. It's a classic example of that. It's full of dog. There's nothing overtly racist. Well, it comes close in some places, actually, but it is very much that sort of dog whistle nod. This is what people really think. This is what working-class brackets, that is, people who aren't working class but not, but are white are really thinking, this is what, you know, this is what the, and so on.
Open Racism vs. Implicit Bias
And you do sort of think, well, actually, sometimes you prefer the sort of fairly open racism of somebody like Max Daniel. Yeah. I mean, we've all faced it, I should think. But just, you know, that feeling that you're never going to get on in a job and even if you make a complaint, they won't take you seriously. All of this stuff is, you know, it's all sort of a drain on us, isn't it? You know, that everyday racism, I think there used to be an account that used to, you know, everyday sexism and everyday racism that would go through that stuff.
Social Responsibility
I mean, at the moment, we just won't want to be. That's something on which I'm clearly not the best person to talk about for obvious reasons. So I won't presume. But, but again, but I still sort of think that, you know, the way to combat that is a sort of, it's a combination of legal and regulatory change and social and cultural change that you have to, you know, that has to be, you have to embed it in society because, you know, okay, so let's suppose, let's agree that's a problem for a lot of people, and I'm quite prepared to accept that.
Transforming Perspectives
What do you do about it? You can't make it illegal. You know, that's not, and I think there is a bit of a problem here on the left, as you sort of think, well, this thing is bad. It has unfortunate consequences. It leads to people being discriminated against. So we have to make it illegal. But the problem is you can't. Right. You can make direct discrimination legal, illegal. And we have, and we're, you know, mostly do better than most countries in enforcing that.
Cultural Change
But if you want to do something about that sort of, the sort of thing that you're talking about, the law is not the right way. It's unenforceable so you have to change the culture. You have to change the way people think, and that's hard. And it takes a lot of work. Yeah, the sort of thing. And what you're doing here is the sort of thing that, you know, I think helps, actually, because you sort of by calling attention to things which by calling, and I think this is important, by calling attention to things which many people who are white or male or generally not disadvantaged wouldn't at first glance perceive as being racist or sexist or whatever.
The Role of Critical Discourse
And the article I was just talking about is, I think it's a good example of that lots of people who white people read it might think, oh, well, I'm not sure whether I agree with all of this, but it's perfectly within the rounds of reasonable debate. So calling attention to that sort of stuff and calling it out, I do think it's very important. A little bit of history, actually. So we started in 2014 and, you know, we got lots of nominations.
Nomination Process
We sort of opened it beyond just a year or, you know, a short period of time, you know, from the beginning of time, people to nominate the article. And there was some over the years, some people that always turned up. You'd always get Rod Liddell, obviously. You'd pretty much always get Douglas Murray. And actually quite often in the early days, David Aronovich as well. And. But then, you know, what happened is we had people like, what is it?
Argumentation in Media
James Kirkup and Suzanne Moore and David Aronovic coming to our Twitter and arguing about why am I nominated? And all of this sort of thing, you know. And then I did find over the years, you did get less nominations for David Aronovich. And he's had some sort of Damascene conversion of late, a conversion that has conveniently wiped his memory of all the things that he wrote whilst he was at the times.
Engaging Diverse Voices
But nonetheless, we want to bring people in rather than push them away. So, yeah, I think it does make a difference. People speaking, you know, the below the line people getting a chance to speak to the above line people. But obviously, we need this to go to a bigger audience. It can't just be us all the time. It's, you know, we have to have the white male, whoever, listening to this.
Expanding the Audience
What do we do? Do you think, Jonathan, about that, getting to a bigger audience, making the people who need to listen? Well, I wish I knew the answer to that, yes. I mean, I think, you know, part of this is just about plugging away. Part of it is about taking platforms wherever and whenever you can find them, particularly even in publications or outlets that you don't necessarily like.
Utilizing Social Media Effectively
And part of it. Yes. And I mean, and things like Twitter are good for this. I mean, as I said, you know, you were the one who spotted the Murray thing, and that has come to the attention of millions of people. And I have to lose. Is it now? Bloody hell. I didn't know that. I saw offline a little bit at the moment, so I haven't seen everything.
Discussion on the Impact of Naming
And I think, you know, that sort of illustrates, you know, and that does help because I think there were, you know, you people, you and I have had the same opinion about Murray for some years, but there are lots of people who thought, well, he's a bit out there, but some of what he says makes sense, and at least some of them will have seen this and thought, oh, God, what have. I done over the years?
Final Thoughts
I understand that. Yeah. Well, do you know what? I'm just looking at something. So have you heard of the center for media monitoring? Now, they're a new account that I hadn't seen. Oh, well, they've been around since 2018. And what they do is they clip, I guess, host, like, talk TV, GB News, BBC. They clip all these shows and they sort of dissect it. And so I saw one that they did upon GB news, and I tagged it the trashies.
Media Monitoring and Accountability
And I'm gonna. What's it called? I'm gonna retweet it now so you can see it if you're able to. But I'll read what they say. They say, take note of this language on GB News. Far right, who burned hotels, looted high streets, attacked mosques, violently assaulted police and minorities are described as protesters. Muslims, who are mainly being attacked by racists, are Islamic thugs. And that's literally what these two people on GB News have said.
Being Critical of Media
I mean, they're a great account to keep an eye on what's going on in the media. And there's other people that do the same, but I've just noticed them a lot recently. So, I mean, they're great, but again, they haven't got many followers. Not everybody's seeing this. There's a great person called Saul Sanathus, I think he's called. I might even then invite him to the space.
Encouraging Engagement
There are quite a few accounts like Saul and, like, there's, you know, haggis. Haggis. I don't know that one, but, okay, great. Tweet these clips and so on. So, and all that helps. But I think, you know, it isn't you know, and particularly given where x is going, one has to be on it. I'm afraid I have to go in a couple of minutes.
Concluding Remarks
No, no problem. Is there any, like, final words? Because obviously we have had this big week with the Spectator associate editor, if I'm allowed to talk, to call him that, possibly not, according to Andrew Neal, but was there anything you want to say about that? Just that I think, you know, every challenge is an opportunity, and the last couple of weeks have indeed been quite revealing.
Future Discussions
But I think there is an opportunity to, I mean, I wrote Anand and I wrote an article today which is in the Independent, but more generally about, not so much about the media, but about, you know, where next for immigration. Tweet that out so I can retweet that, please. We talk about immigration and what we could do.
Reframing the Debate
But, you know, I think there, you know, there is an opportunity to reframe the debate and we just need to be tried to take it. Absolutely. Absolutely. Thank you so much for joining us, Jonathan. I will see you on the Twitter streets. I know you'll be fighting the good fight, as you always do. So thank you again. Yeah. All right. Take care. Yeah. So let's see who's around and anybody who wants to speak, put their hand up so that I can know what to do. I'm just, I'm a bit of a newbie at spaces. But in the meantime, while I'm waiting for people to put their hands up and all of that stuff, I will ask you all to go to your favorite website. I don't know, whatever, the Times, the Telegraph, the Independent, the Daily Mail, or whatever.
Addressing Media Issues
Find an article that perpetuates transphobia, xenophobia, racism, etc. Etc. And nominate, use the hashtag and put the trashies, which is the hashtag, and nominate these articles. We want you to be able to vote. We want the public to be able to vote. And we know from previous years that people get into this. They get really into this if you haven't done it before. So, yeah, I need you to start nominating. So I will retweet you as you nominate these things. Go and look at that website that I just mentioned. Sorry, that Twitter account that I mentioned, the center for Media monitoring, there's also media lens. I don't know if they're still around. They do some of that stuff.
Engaging the Community
Cage also highlights some of the stuff in the media. We obviously do. So you can even just find it very easily. If there's any broadcast, people click shows. So the center for Media monitoring their twitter handle is cfMmuk. I'm just retweeting them now so you'll see it on the timeline. But, yeah, please do nominate. And so what I wanted to also say is just that, you know, so, I mean, I said a little bit about it earlier, but it's not just about disrupting the accepted media, accepted narratives of the mainstream media. We want to be able to build some solidarity around this movement or whatever we're doing.
The Trashies Initiative
I don't know what you want to call it, but yes, we really just want this to be the biggest and bestest, the trashies that we've ever done. So is anybody. I see Michael's there. Michael, can I bring you in to speak? Would that be all right? Give me a hands, thumbs up, if that's okay with you. Oh, I've lost. Well, I'm just going to invite you anyway. There you go. I'm going to invite a few people. Zung Lee. There we go. Who's there? Yeah, Faisal, I've invited you as well. I'm afraid I don't really know the other people, so I won't do it for now. But if you've got something to say, just put your hands up and I will let you speak, because it's a free flowing thing today.
Community Support and Engagement
So, Michael, you've got a invitation. Wherever those invitation goes, Faisal, you've also got an invitation. Zunling, you've got an invitation. So would you like to speak? Just let me know. In the meantime, I'll just do a little bit more talking, I suppose, if you're not sick of me already. Probably are, but, yeah. So we're just here for the time being, just whilst these. Whilst it's so volatile in the UK, well, in England especially, but also very much the Northern Ireland as well, we're here just to try and support our community as our communities, as we.
Discussion on Structural Issues
As we navigate all of this stuff. So I think I just had a message. Let me see if I can look at it so that I can see what's going on. I don't know how I do that. Give me a second. Michael, you've sent me a message. I don't know what it was, so bear with me as I stumble through trying to figure out how to get speakers and stuff. Don't you worry about that. All right? Michael's in the middle of the dinner, but. So maybe later, I hope. But I have sent some invitations to other people, so just put your hands up. If there's anything that you want to say.
Engaging with Peter
I see? Peter. Peter, are you still at your byline times? Aren't you? I'm going to send you an invitation because I think it'd be interesting to speak to someone from byline. So bear with me a second while I give Peter jukes a invitation to speak. And maybe he will, maybe he won't, I don't know. But the invitation is there. Is there for him. So I've got another DM. Oh, Michael Morgan says he's having jerk chicken. Lucky, lucky you. I had some prawn something and it was very quick because I rushed out and I was meeting a friend. Rushed to come back in.
Continuing the Conversation
But anyway, you didn't need to know that. I'm just going to keep talking until we sort all this out, get some more speakers and people joining in. So. So one of our old columnists, Raf, you might know on Twitter, is uncle Trash. He wrote a little article for us to launch off the trashies and he's a great writer who was a communist for us for years. And so he, you know, he started. I found him. He was just someone who made me laugh on Twitter a lot. And I said to him, why don't you just thread some of those tweets together and put it in an article and I'll publish you?
Prominent Issues in Journalism
And, you know, and, yeah, that was it. He was a colonist for years. I think over time he got very popular, so people started to poach him. But he was loyal and brilliant and he always stayed with us despite all the offers. So I'll just read a little bit of what he said in this article he did for us just earlier, just last week. So he said, like a Labour government and white race riots, the trashies are back for 2024 to cast a critical look at the journalism and mediataindeen class and what they consider legitimate as journalism and comment pieces. For those who don't know, atrushes are awards for bad journalism.
Recognizing Media Bias
particularly work that's prejudiced at best and straight up hate speech at its worst. There's a note of humor to it because it's run by those of us who often bear the brunt of some of this bile. I mean, you have to laugh, don't you? But the trashies also serve as a buffer against the gaslighting of minorities by groups of journalists that refuse to. To take their concerns seriously or are concerned seriously, as in the case of transit transgender activists. But trashies also seeks to highlight systems and structures, and that is an important term, structures in mainstream publications that perpetuate a spectrum of negative tropes towards groups that are underrepresented in our newsrooms.
Targeting Systemic Issues
from antipathy. I can never say that word. And antipathy to outright hostility. So there is no crisis of speaking about legitimate concerns about, say, there being too much immigration in the UK. The trashies hopes to facilitate discussions on how minority groups, and we say minority groups, but, you know, people of color are a global majority, are portrayed in the press and how newspapers from left to right, I'm going to repeat that, actually, and, you know, flip it and reverse it from right to left as well. Left to right. You know, these left and independent publications aren't, you know, they too can perpetuate this stuff, obviously.
Media Responsibility and Impact
We've just had BBC Radio four. They platformed Matthew Goodwin at the height of the race riots and went on with Ash Shakar. Yeah, I think that's how you pronounce it. My apologies if I got that wrong. But yeah. So it's not just your right wing, nominally right wing papers like the Spectator, Daily Mail and so on. There's other people on the left as well who can do damage too. So let me see what the stage of the speakers and all of that is. Give me a second. yeah. Hey, Peter. Hi. How you doing? I don't want to follow Jonathan another.
Discussing Structural Dynamics
Not at all. We like expertise and experience here. Tell me what you'd like to talk about. Well, I was going to actually. Really hardeep. Our editors should be there here because very much you talk about these structural things. That's kind of the emphasis. You know, it's not the discrimination in the street, it's the structural stuff which still goes on. You know, we saw these riots, but we have, you know, 30 years of newspapers creating islamophobia and racism. I would say we used to do work together with you back in 2017. The trash is combined with awards.
Reflecting on Past Collaborations
Yes, I know. I mean, yeah, I was on a sabbatical then, so it wasn't me that you actually went with directly, but yes, the organization, you did. And there's some great pictures of you guys. I think you had it at an awards ceremony. I'm not sure. John Cleese. Yeah, yeah. But a problem himself. Oh, well, he says probably about London not being for the English about a year later. So we had to sort of distance ourselves. Right. We love what you're doing. We should think about collaborating. Collaborating again.
Discussing Sociopolitical Context
But I just want to say, you know, that you're right, it's kind of a problem. The left and right, there's a sort of. I'm hearing my echo here. But the left does it in a patronizing way. The right is more averse. But I was just thinking today what a lot of this reaction is from Musk and all these right wing riots is there. You know, the US and the UK, they cannot integrate with whatever you call that, a multicultural society, which is inevitable. Right. You know, we are now living demographically in the US and the UK in a multicultural society and just the problems of integration are on the right.
Challenges of Integration
They're not with us. I mean, I agree with that. That's the thing. It seems to be the problem of the people who say it's a problem and that we're the problem, but actually it's them creating and perpetuating and making it all very difficult for us. That's something. I mean, that's hard to sort of comprehend in some ways. But. No, I agree with you. But I do. I agreed also with Jonathan that Musk isn't just. He's not only the problem, you know, and you, I think, said 30 years and it might even. I mean, it's longer than that.
Historical Context of Tensions
If you look at stuff like the NF and before that, whoever that was and whatever, and all the collaboration with Northern Ireland when it comes to far right activism, if that's the right word. Probably not the right word, but. Yeah, yeah, no, sorry I interrupted, carry on. I. No, no, I'm interested hearing what you say. My kid brother, my doctor Kid brother, was half bayesian and definitely the levels of racism in the seventies were much higher. But I think what I'm saying is, you look at the success of London and Manchester and Leeds and Bristol, that's what they cannot abide.
Celebrating Diversity
And they say London's a foreign place, it is now our home. This kind of society is our home and the future is on our side, that's all I'm saying. Yeah, yeah, I appreciate that. Appreciate that. It's hard deep around as well. It'd be great to get her on if she is. I mean, I guess this was all a bit late notice. I only just found this. She's editing our print edition very much about who lit the fuses of the riots. You know, Nafeez Ahmed has had a brilliant investigation into the.
Prominent Investigations
Yes, I started reading it. I haven't finished, but I always read the fees, so. So I will be reading that without. A doubt for the print edition. But we must, you know, get you involved in the festival again and, you know, working together because. Yeah, it's been a long time since we've been in content. Well, we've kind of closed, to be honest, but there's some things happening, so maybe we'll be back. I'm not sure that's breaking news for everybody who's listening, but yes, we closed in 2022 and we just came back for the far right riots and because we thought we had a moral duty, too.
Future Collaborations
But, you know, never say never. We'll see what happens. Well, I also, yeah, maybe write a regular column first or do something. No, I'm just laughing because this, earlier this morning, I told my editor at the canary that I hate writing in the went quiet, and I find it quite torturous. But I only do it because I feel, you know, when I feel I have a need to. But there's lots of our writers over the years need platforms, so I would definitely send them your way. Do not worry. And you're doing great to have you back.
Continuing the Discussions
I miss you guys. Somebody else speak. Okay. Okay. Thanks, Peter. I appreciate you coming in for that. Thank you. Take care. Bye. Hi. Oh, look, we've got another speaker actor. Hello. You can unmute yourself. How are you doing? Not too bad. How are you guys? Yeah, not too bad at all. We're just trying to do a tweet storm and get you guys nominating some more trashy articles. Yeah, basically. Yeah. So tell me. So one of the things that I asked Jonathan before he came in was just to have a look at some of the nominations that are already out there and to maybe talk me through some stuff.
Discussing Specific Nominations
But what did you want to say specifically? And just to say a phrase, I just invited you, by the way. Oh, acha, you've muted yourself. Come back. Come back. So what did you tell me what you wanted to say to. Well, to be honest, I don't even know where to start. So I think so many things have been said. So I'm probably going to be repeating what others have said. I do want to say this, that saying in the finance world that when the president speaks, the markets move.
Impact of Leadership on Perception
Right. So when someone like Kirk, he speaks, obviously he can move the markets as well. So seeing. Move the markets, is that what you just said? Move the market? Yeah. You know, any announcements governments make, anything the leader of a country says, it does have an impact. It ripples through the air waves and reported in the press. So, so ks Tamarind and this Labour party, it is so loathe to actually call a spade. Yeah. And I, this is, I mean, I can only conclude that this is because they instinctively believe in this stuff, that the grievances are real and these people have to be mollycoddled and all the rest of it.
The Role of Political Discourse
Otherwise, if. If he stands up and he says that this is not who we see ourselves as, this is not what the UK is meant to be, this is not the project on the. On the world scene. But to be honest, in a way, this is. This. You know, this. This train has left the station. You think it's too late? Well, the lead of the 2016 Brexit election. Right. It was really clear. It was really clear what the referendum was about.
Reflections on Brexit and Its Consequences
It was you basically ask a stupid question of radicalized people and they're going to give you a stupid answer. So. So even then, the Tory party, the labor, the Labour party, they didn't really want to tell the truth about Europe. They demonized Europe. Obviously, that's out of the system now, in a way. Not entirely, but at least Brexit is done. So they moved on to the next target and. Oh, hello.
Final Remarks and Community Engagement
Hello. Actually, you went quiet. I. Can anybody else hear me? Actor okay. A froze. Can you come in? Hi, there. Hey. Yeah. Can hear you. Fantastic. I'm not sure what happened to actor. Good to see you. Yeah, good to see you. I saw that you nominated earlier today, so that's great to have you here, because I'd like you to talk us through what you nominated and why, please.
Nominating Articles for Discussion
Yeah. So it was an article from the BBC, and I. I just, you know, felt like given the BBC's coverage of the genocide in Palestine, I think they. We couldn't not nominate them, to be honest. So you nominated the BBC as a, you know, as a platform as well as you nominated the article, is that right? Yeah, yeah. I mean, I think that anybody who has been paying attention will confirm that article is only one of many examples of the BBC's blatant pro Israel bias of, you know, minimizing the damage that Israel has caused in Gaza.
Critique of Media Representations
Tell us what was the article called and just talk us. Yeah.
Discussion About Article Headlines
Through it. Yeah, let me. Sorry, let me just bring it up. So it was the link, actually, there's a different headline for the. The link preview that shows on Twitter. It says, dozens reportedly killed in israeli strike on Gaza. And the actual headline on the article says, israeli strike in Gaza kills more than 70. Hospital head says more than 70. We say the word, people. Yep. Yeah. It doesn't. You know, it says. It goes on to say it in the article. Oh, you've gone quiet again, people. Sorry. Go ahead. Yeah. Yeah. So obviously there's the issue of, I think it was a tweet by Frankie Boyle. He was like, oh, you would think anywhere else, if it had happened, they would have mentioned that this happened at the school. Of course, they did not mention that in the headline.
Discussion on Media Reporting
So I just want to sort of unpick this. Are you saying that the papers shouldn't report what they say word for word? Are you saying that they should have a different angle on how they report it? No, I'm just saying the trashes should also include what they choose not to report. The western press has consistently not reported what has been coming out of Israel itself, even the supposedly liberal heritage newspaper. It is more, it would be considered anti semitic definition. In Germany, the BBC states possibly these kind of statements and the government, they just don't even bother to report. Right. Okay, so you think things are missing in the reporting? Well, I mean, yeah, I agree with that, but I mean, that's where independent media comes in. So what? So shouldn't, if the mainstream are getting it wrong, why it should be up to the independence to get it right?
Role of Independent Media
You know, the independents are often funded by the people. I know media diversified was often, you know, funded by donations and so on and sometimes grants. Not often, sadly, but I think byline news is the same canary funded by the readers. Do you think, what are you looking at when you see the independent platforms? The lefty, more lefties. So do you think they're not reporting very well as well? No, no, I think they do. They do. They do a better job. It's not a question of that. The point I was trying to make was that trashes are about the spin that the likes of BBC put on certain stories and articles. Yeah. Trash is obviously cannot be about something which is not there. And the thing that is not there is a lack of reporting that the likes of BBC deliberately, in my view, deliberately.
Trust in Mainstream Media
Do they take this as a policy that they would. They are not going to report what's being said in Israel? This is true. I agree with you. So we actually kind of COVID that with the trashies. I'll tell you how. So as well as articles that can be nominated, what we will do, we will put all of the publications, so, including the BBC, the ITV Daily Mail, the Independent, all, every publication, every mainstream publication and broadcast, we put them into a poll and people will vote for the worst, you know, the worst platform. If it's the BBC, maybe they'll vote for that and so on. So there's going to be, there's four different polls that are going to come out and I think maybe we haven't explained that enough. So I'm going to tell you because I think that's where we, where we're at cross purposes.
Polls and Nominations
So, so one, we've got the articles. You can, you can nominate, and then two, we're also this year going to have columnists of the year. So you, so we will just put all the names of the colonists, the mainstream colonists. So we're talking Marina Hyde, Ian Dunt, all of them. Catelyn Moran, Susan Moore, all the colonists that you know, that the publications promote vote. We're going to put them all into a list and you can vote for the worst columnist. We're also going to do broadcast. So some of the little clips you see, like the GB news one that I talked about before or whatever, clips we see GMB have featured a lot recently because of Ed Balls and John Ashworth. So you can find a clip of what they said at some point and you can nominate as that as the worst.
Critique of Current Media
Yeah, you can nominate it as the worst broadcast as well. And then lastly. Or is that it? Maybe that's it. Maybe there's only three, but you get me at her. Yeah, no, I certainly do. Yeah. It's unfortunate that the western press has basically decided to close the size in. Yes. They keep saying, they keep saying when they have somebody on the news show or some kind of news story from the Palestinian side saying, okay, this is what happened. This is what's going on and on. And then they go and say, at least the Israelis are going to dispute this. And at least the Israelis are. What? Sorry, repeat that.
Lack of Context in Reporting
The Israelis are going to dispute this. Right. Right. Yes. The school story. Right from yesterday, they will always repeat Israeli propaganda, like. But they will never say something like this. And then they write stuff like this we cannot verify. Right. But they will never say the next thing, which is this thing that Israel has prohibited any independent journalists to go to Gaza. Right. Two things are linked. You have a story, you have. There are people saying this is what happened. Israeli propaganda comes on air, they repeat the Israeli propaganda. Then they say that we cannot verify. But the really important piece missing is that the reason we cannot verify because Israelis do not allow BBC journalists to go to.
Understanding Media Bias
Wow, you're right. Yeah. That needs to be said. And they never say that. I wonder why they're specifically sympathetic to Israel or they just bad journalists and don't know that this is, you know, that is context. Because us as readers and as consumers of news, we do appreciate some context, which is what you've given by what you've just said. Why are the BBC and Sky and all these places, why are they not giving context? I think it's a mix of few things. There's certainly lack of representation, especially in senior positions. There's also some malfeasance and, you know, professional malpractice and also just bad journalism as well. Right, right.
Impact of News Consumption Habits
Yeah. Okay. So I have to say. So I don't have, I mean, I've got a tv, but I don't put it on. So I don't often see the, like, live broadcasts and so on. I just see clips here and there, especially if they go viral. So I think I missed a lot, which perhaps you see more of, and some of our listeners see more of the whole context. So I feel like I don't get all the context because often I just see things on Twitter, videos, whatever, because when I'm watching something, I watch films, I watch tv, I read a lot, but I don't watch broadcast news, which is what a lot of people do.
Challenges with Understanding News
So, I mean, there's two things going on there. For one, me, as somebody who is an avid news consumer, doesn't find all these broadcasters very interesting. But then, you know, so I don't watch them. But then, too, I do get these out of context clips. And so that's a skewed vision of stuff. So really, someone like Saul, is it Saul Sannafwerf or whoever, and all these people who do clips. Yeah, I'm getting my news really filtered through them. And he's a good person if you're going to do it. But what about all the other people who maybe aren't that interested in news and just see these broadcasts which don't have the context?
Public Awareness and Media Accountability
What do we do about them? I'm not really sure there's much can be done, really. It's just like a thing with most newspapers. Just read the headline and move on. So if you leave out, if you say 70 killed in the, it was like a joke. So this Macron Starmer, Olaf Schultz of Germany, they put out a statement saying dial down and begin to hostages. And all the rest of it's almost like you write these three leaders from supposedly three theorists with some of the economies put out a joint statement and they, and you reading that statement, and I kind of tweeted this, saying, reading the statement, if you did not know any of the content, you would think the belligerents were Gaza itself, Iran and its allies.
Media Representation and Political Commentary
It's like this statement doesn't even mention, this is a joint official communique from these three leaders, which, when talks about returning hostages, does not even mention Israel, even then. I mean, like, Israel is completely missing from this statement, protected by. Yeah, I did see that. I did see that. I mean, a lot of people picked up on it, didn't they? But those are the normal anti racist people who picked up on that. I wonder, I wonder if anybody, the wider public realized what was going on there. So this writer, I think, is a Portuguese philosopher, and he's a writer for the New Statesman, I think.
Insights on Media Narrative
And he said, if I read this, had not been following the news for a year, I would think Iran. Iran had invaded Gaza. So I said. I said, my reading is Hamas was fighting the people in Gaza and holding hostages from Iran, which was trying to retrieve them. Oh, Jesus. Yeah, yeah. And there's a lot of people who actually probably do think that at this point and that is the fault of. Who was it? David Lammy and whoever put those statements out of his dharma as well. Maybe we need a trashies award for the politicians as well, but I'm not sure if we get away with that or not. But I will think about it for next time.
Reflections on Media and Events
Definitely. Definitely. Okay, let's see. Is there anybody else you wanted to speak? Obviously, I've invited a few people, but also, you know, just put your hand up if you did want to speak, Faisal, it would be great to speak to you, considering were chatting earlier. I think I sent you an invitation, so if you'd like to come, do come, but, yeah, but in the meantime. So I just tweeted out the article that Afrosi. Afrosi wrote for us back in 2019, actually. And she. The title of it is called institutional Islamophobia is far from the only problem with the conservative party.
Contextual Political Discussion
And I thought it was an important article to tweet out in this moment, considering, you know, all of this sort of all the. What's happening right now is seeded by 14 years of a Tory government, I would say. And so I'll just read out a little bit of what she wrote. So she's talking about Warsi, Cedar Warsi. And so, for me, as a politically engaged Muslim woman of Pakistani heritage in the UK, Warsi being a woman from the same background is of relevance. Her contribution to politics means little in terms of representation. If the party of which she continues to be a member has proven itself time and time again to be fundamentally unjust in its treatment of the most marginalized and vulnerable groups within British society.
Critique of Political History
So I think what the context is that Warsaw had come out and that she had said, well, I'm actually. I'm not sure what she said. She has also been told, anyway, you know, who Baroness said Warsi. And some of the statements she's made about the Tory party over the years. Obviously, she was right in the middle of the establishment for quite a long time until she became. She left the left, the inner chamber, and sort of went outside as more of an agitator to try and look at their. What she called institutional Islamophobia, as far as I remember. And so she goes on to say, while I sympathize with Wolsey's efforts, because it can't be easy being an Asian Muslim woman trying to address bigotry against her own people in a party that is overwhelmingly white, both racially and ideologically.
Addressing Societal Issues
I do have a message for all British Muslims. Is the conservative party institutionally Islamophobic? Or how deep does the problem of Islamophobia run in the party and not the questions we should be asking? If our bar for establishing the merit of. Sorry. If our bar for establishing the merit of a political party is only based on how it serves our own people, then this is a very low bar indeed. So political engagement, at its core, is not just about being concerned with how decisions made by those in power affect me or my loved ones. Rather, it is about how those in power serve society at large in all its multiple facets, including and especially those at its margins, who have historically, at best, been ignored and at worst, been left to die.
Discourse on Governance and Policy
I think that's so interesting. I don't think I've read this article before, and I'm glad I am doing it now. So a phrase goes on to say, cuts to health care spending were linked to a reported 10,000 additional deaths during January to March 2018 alone. 10,000 additional deaths. Good lord. Tory policy has been directly linked to what is now being referred to as a homelessness crisis. And between 2013 and 2017, homelessness caused 230 deaths. The annual rate of people dying doubled in this five year period. Yeah, the Tory party, really, I'm going to just use the word. They fucked us over.
Reflections on Political Responsibility
Let's say, maybe you could unmute for a minute, unmute and just talk us a bit about that article you wrote just five years ago. Yeah, I don't know. Five years. I'm not sure if it's a long time in terms of the Internet, but it's still, you know, as relevant. I think maybe the main kind of update is that we have labor and power and actually, they are not much better, unfortunately. They've literally. They have. They ran on a plan. Oh, you cut out for a second. Come back. Come back, artist. You cut out for a second. Can you start that point again, please? Sorry, sorry.
Current Political Climate
I was just saying about the Labour party, how they ran on a platform of being anti immigration. They've tried their hardest while in opposition to kind of win over Tory voters by basically becoming another version of the Tories, and that is what they are now. So really, what we have now in government, the party that we have, is not much better than the Tories, unfortunately. We've already seen cuts. You know, announcements about cuts to welfare, to pensions, to, you know, benefits for pensioners and all of these things. And they're all, unfortunately, part of this agenda of moving further to the right of the political spectrum.
Predictions of Future Governance
So I think, actually, in a lot of ways, all the stuff that I've said about the Tory party applies now ideologically to the labour party, differences that, with the Tories, they've been in power this whole time, policies that harmed people. I'm willing to put money on the fact that if this Labour party doesn't change and stays in power over the next ten years, we will have the same sort of track record golf for the Labour party as well. I mean, what it feels like they're sort of Tory light, but more efficient, and want to be seen as the adults in the room.
Efficiency vs. Responsibility
That phrase keeps turning, going around, but really. I mean, I think it's only come out now how inefficient the Tories were with money and spending and all of this stuff, where they could have helped a lot of people. They decided not to, but they were inefficient in not helping. I think the Labour Party seems to be very efficient at not helping. And I would say if there's anybody who attaches children, perhaps that's who we have in the cabinet now. Possibly. Yeah. Yeah.
Economic Policies and Public Benefit
I mean, I think that the. The biggest kind of. I mean, I'm not sure if you meant efficiency in the sense, but in terms of large economic efficiency, one of the worst things that is draining public. You know. Oh, you cut out again for a second phrase. Sorry. What point did I cut? What? Draining public efficiency. Yeah. So one of the. One of the biggest things that's draining public spending at the moment is investment in sort of private, you know, allowing the private sector to take over public assets.
Discussion on Public Infrastructure
That includes the NHS, that includes, you know, public transport facilities, utilities, you know, all of these things that are actually ending up costing the government more money. It's very weird. They're doing things like outsourcing. It's actually ideological. What they're doing more than efficient is what you're saying. Very much. Yeah. It's not, you know, because they. They came out and said, I'm pretty sure west reading came out and spoke in favor of privatization in the NHS.
Reflections on Policy Direction
Yeah, he did. Which is not at all efficient, but it is. It's very much ideological. Yeah. Why do they call themselves labor, then? What the hell is going on? Labor was always that. You know, they're called labor because the party, the workers and unions, I believe, rather than. Yeah, I historically, yes, but that's just not the case anymore, unfortunately. What happened? Where did it go wrong? It can't have just been since Corbyn came in and went.
Analyzing Political Changes
I mean, yeah, I think it's just, you know, creeping like capitalism, neoliberalism, you know, the influence of private business interests on politicians, which is demonstrable. You know, there's, you can see like there's a money trail with private sector, private businesses supporting politicians that they think will serve their interests, parliament. And that's how they end up staying in power. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, maybe that 14 year break was just them, you know, gathering their, whatever they wanted to do to continue Tony Blair's legacy because he was going that way, I guess, back in the early 2000, whenever he left, I can't remember now what year.
Concluding Thoughts
Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Okay. Okay. So I can't remember. I think I said that we would, I've just had a message saying I thought you were ending at nine and I guess we were ending at nine and that is okay to do. Obviously we've recorded the space and so on. What I really, really want from people is to start like nominate. I'm gonna, I'm gonna extend nominations till 10:00 p.m. and so you have an hour and act. I'm speaking to you as well because you had a lot to say, but I haven't seen you nominate anything, whoever that James is on board, Peter, Ellenie, Sharon, Helen, Zaina, everybody who's on here, I want you all to nominate an article or a broadcast clip that you've seen around and put the trashies hashtag on.
Final Call for Engagement
Yeah. So just to thank you all so much for coming, was there anything last words you had to say? I don't want to not come back to you if you've got. Well, if there is, put your hand. Okay. You. So thank you. Yeah, I think that, no, it's really good to see the trashies back, I think, especially in this day and age. With, and with, oh, you cut out, you know, race riots basically in the UK. Everything that's been going on currently, we've seen blatantly and quite obviously the role of Mediaev. So I think the trashies play a really important role in sort of accountability in that regard.
Looking Ahead
Yeah. So, yeah, so it's, it's great to see. Yay. Well, you're definitely invited to the party, I'll tell you that. Okay. Okay. We'll announce all that stuff in the coming days. Yeah. So the polls will open on Wednesday. Actor. Was there anything you last wanted to say? No, I'm good. Thank you. You're good? All right. Well, thank you all so much. I am going to end it here. Here. I'm going to have. I don't know. I'm going to put some loud music on and I'm going to do something.
Closure of the Discussion
I don't know. So thank you. And I'm going to end it there. Take care. Good night. Nominate. Nominate. Nominate. Bye.
