The Big Issue - UK (2020-03-02)

REPORTINGSOME

RELEVANTSTATISTICS

• Aquarterof 10 and11-year-oldsinEngland
  didn’treachtheexpectedattainmentlevelin
  reading,whilenearlyasmanystruggledwith
  grammarandspelling


• UKTVjournalistsare 76 percentwhite,
  accordingtoOfcomdata


• 43 percentË£ æ©g;ɸÞ ÃËÞæ¬ÄĉêÄ欽¬æËÚÞ
  wenttoprivateschool

T

henewgenerationofnewshoundsisbeingrearedin

GreaterManchester.MediawhizzesKirstyDayandGrace

DykelaunchedMediaCubs,a pioneeringyouthproject

thattakesthedemandformorediversemediaandturnsitintofun

workshopsforunderprivilegedsevento11-year-olds.“Youcan’tbe

whatyoucan’tsee,”co-founderDaytellsTheBigIssue,ona mission

toshowworking-classkidstheycansetthesameambitionsas

ƸŊĪŏƣƠƣŏǜŏŧĪŃĪģƠĪĪƣƫ᠇rĪģŏÿ ǀěƫŏƫÿŧƫżÿŲ ĪdzłżƣƸƸż ŏŰƠƣżǜĪ

ŧŏƸĪƣÿĜǣÿŲģ ĜżŲǿģĪŲĜĪŏŲƫĜŊżżŧƫłĪĪŧŏŲŃƸŊĪĪdzłĪĜƸƫżł ĜǀƸƫÿŲģ

squeezedbudgets.

Day,a journalistbytrade,metDykewhileworkingat

ŧǭŊĪŏŰĪƣᡉƫ®żĜŏĪƸǣ᠇ǽƸĪƣ ŊŏƸƸŏŲŃŏƸżdzł ƸŊĪƠÿŏƣƫĪƸǀƠæĪŧŧżǝdŏŃƫÿǝ

in2014,a socialchange-focusedPRagency.Butby2018,mum-of-

twoDaywasitchingtocreatesomethingthatmarriedherpassion

formediaandherconcernthattheschoolcurriculumwasn’t

żdzłĪƣŏŲŃƸŊĪƫƠÿĜĪƸż Ńƣżǝ ÿƫÿĜżŰŰǀŲŏĜÿƸżƣƸŊÿƸŏƸżŲĜĪ ģŏģ᠇ᡆSƸ

seemedlikeallthecreativitywasbeingsappedoutofclassrooms

intermsofwriting,”shesays.“Ithought,what’swrongwithbeing

abletocreatea greatstoryandlettingeverythingelsecome

ÿǽƸĪƣ ƸŊÿƸ᠈ᡇ

Theco-founderknowsalltoowellthatworking-classpeople

areunder-representedinmanynewsroomsandworrieditwas

contributingtogrowingmistrustinthemedia.Keentoencourage

ĜŊŏŧģƣĪŲᡉƫĜżŲǿģĪŲĜĪÿŲģ ŊĪŧƠƸŊĪŰěĪŧŏĪǜĪƸŊÿƸƸŊĪǣĜÿŲ ŰÿŤĪÿ

ģŏdzłĪƣĪŲĜĪŲżŰÿƸƸĪƣƸŊĪŏƣěÿĜŤŃƣżǀŲģ᠁rĪģŏÿ ǀěƫǝÿƫ ģĪƫŏŃŲĪģ

totransformanyspaceintoa newsroomandpop-upTVstudio.

Itletskidssharetheirviewsandmakethenews,whetherthey

wanttobeinfrontofthecamera,takingphotographsorwriting

ŲĪǝƫƣĪƠżƣƸƫ᠇ᡆ¼ŊÿƸᡉƫÿŧŧƸŊĪƫĪƣŏżǀƫƫƸǀdzł᠁ᡇ'ÿǣ ƫÿǣƫ᠇ ᡆŲ ƸżƠ żł ƸŊÿƸ᠁

it’sjustloadsoffun.”

Thechildreninvolvedareencouragedtoexploretheirinterests,

“whichrangefromPokémontopolitics”,andcreatenewsstories,

reviewsandpiecestocameraaboutthem– thereareevenweather

forecasts.Theco-foundersweresurprisedbyhowmedia-savvy

thekidsturnedouttobe,andhavelearnedtoembracethelikesof

TikTokasa newplatformchildrenarefamiliarwithandkeentoget

creativeon.“They’remuchbetteratthingslikespottingfakenews

changemakers.

The thinkers. The creators. The agitators

Illustration

:Matthew

Brazier

aschildrenthanasadults,”Daysays.

“Theydon’tceasetoamazemewith

howmedia-literatetheyare.”

Theprojectbeganasa coupleof

pilotsinschoolsrunalongsideparent

focusgroups.WhattheMediaCubs

teamfoundwasthatwhileparents

ǝĪƣĪ ĪǢĜŏƸĪģÿěżǀƸƸŊĪŧŏƸĪƣÿĜǣěĪŲĪǿƸƫ

thatwouldcomefromthescheme,

whattheyreallywantedwaseven

moresimple– toseetheirchildren

ŏŲĜƣĪÿƫĪŏŲĜżŲǿģĪŲĜĪ᠇SƸ ǝżǀŧģŃżżŲ

toproveparticularlyvaluableforkids

whoweren’tdrawntostandard

ÿǽƸĪƣᠵƫĜŊżżŧÿĜƸŏǜŏƸŏĪƫƠǀƸżŲ ěǣ ƸŊĪŏƣ

school,Daysays.

Theresponsehasbeenmassively

positive.Schoolswereimmediately

keentogetinvolvedandparentshave

ěĪĪŲěŧżǝŲÿǝÿǣ ěǣ ƸŊĪģŏdzłĪƣĪŲĜĪ

gettinginvolvedina mini-newsroom

hasmadetootherwiseshychildren

• manyofwhomwentfromsitting
  quietly,determinedtoonlywrite,to
  shiningoncamera.
  Thepilotsweresosuccessfulthat
  DayandDykeknewtheyhadtogofor
  itandhaveworkedwithmorethan 150
  schoolsandcommunitygroupssince.
  MediaCubshaverun‘takeoverdays’
  insomeschools,whentheyhelped
  classessetuptheirownYouTube
  channelsorrecordtheirownpodcasts
  aboutsubjectsthatmatteredto
  them.Theprojectisinitsinfancy– the
  websiteonlywentlivelastweek– but
  therehasalreadybeeninterestfrom
  journalistsaroundthecountrywho

wanttosignupaslicenseesso

theycangointoschoolsanddeliver

sessionstoo.

“Thosearethenextstepsforus,

expandingintotherestoftheUKand

beingabletolicenceittopeople,”Day

says.“Toparentstoo!Sometoldus

they’dliketotakethisonassome

ƠÿƣƸᠵƸŏŰĪǝżƣŤ ÿƸÿǽƸĪƣᠵƫĜŊżżŧĜŧǀěƫ᠇ᡇ

ThepairarerunningMediaCubs

alongsidetheirfull-timedayjobs,

whichhasprovedchallenging– that

andlearningtoadaptfromschool

toschooldependingontheirneeds.

Butthey’rekeennottobelimitedto

schools,lookingtodomoreevening

andweekendsessionsincommunity

centres.Lastyeartheorganisation

teamedupwiththeManchester

UnitedFoundationtoruna summer

schoolinsportsreporting,evengiving

somekidstheopportunitytointerview

playersandtakepartina press

conference.

Inthenearfuturethereare

plansforjournaliststovisitschool

classesandshowthemthatpeople

frombackgroundssimilartotheirs

canmakeitinthemediatoo.Inthe

meantime,kidsinEnglandwillcut

theirteethonMediaCubschallenges

thatcombineskillandfun– like

rewritingfairytalesasnewsreports.

Interview:HannahWestwater

@hannahjtw

Helping

kids make

the news

FINDOUTMORE

mediacubs.co.uk

Kirsty Day

& Grace Dyke

Media Cubs

ǻǽɯǻȃCY+ǽǻǽǻ .&.]]gJCʸ 15