Jaldeep Katwala shares some reflections about indie news coverage of the riots spreading across the UK, and a round-up of some work from providers in our network.
Riot police facing a mob. Photo credit - The Lancashire Lead
It’s in the nature of journalists that when big stories happen there is an adrenalin rush. Sometimes, though, the sheer horror of the story brings you back to earth with a crashing bump and the realisation that there is work to be done to shield against misinformation and disinformation.
Hosting a network of independent media organisations around the United Kingdom, one way we saw the tragic events in Southport and the subsequent rioting around the country reflected was in the conversations between independent news providers in our WhatsApp group.
When journalists, for example, were targeted covering the riots there were reflections on the toxicity of the platform X and its role in publicising disinformation and the dangers that that posed for the media. Then there were calls for independent media to stop engaging with X, with providers saying they were swearing off the app that ‘has become an ever more vile sewer of hate.’ Providers also shared tips with each other on safety and ways to source information remotely.
Here’s a roundup of some of the coverage these outlets produced in the last few weeks, followed by some reflections on what it means to be an indie provider in these trying times.
Whether they were covering riots on their patch, supporting other indies in their coverage, focusing on anti-racist counter-demonstrations or penning open letters to show solidarity, here’s what we know: the UK’s indie sector really rose to the occasion, and showed us the many different ways this sector serves UK communities and values collective well-being.
Blurbs have been edited for length and clarity.
Blog Preston
We had various social media posts shared with us of potential far-right protests in the centre of Preston, so we got a pre-emptive statement from police.
The timing and location was then confirmed by the city council on the morning of the 'protest'.
We had also covered some of the events in Southport, as it's just down the road from us and we signposted to fellow independent news title Stand Up For Southport (editor Andy Brown did a superb job in the circumstances).
Some more examples of coverage include an event round up, a Preston/Lancashire-wide line, a small-scale protest, a counter-demo, and a piece summing up the far right protests failure to materialise in Preston.
Ahead of this we had shared with us a selection of images naming a Preston legal service which advises on immigration cases as being one of dozens of locations to potentially be targeted. We chose not to publish the date/time/location- but focused on the likely police response.
Lessons learned:
The balance of what to share and when, and trying to stand up how credible the intel was in regards to potential protests (police/council were generally very helpful/useful here).
We couldn't get on the ground for the Saturday protest due to childcare/holidays etc, so had to rely on remote reporting and thankfully some of our very engaged contributors were sending lots of photos. Even had my neighbour WhatsApp me a pic when he was in town!
We made sure to continue reporting on other news/events/business as usual alongside this, important we didn't become BlogRiots, people still want to read about other things too. Our most read piece during the 'riots period' was an unrelated incident in Preston, a standard crime story really.
The Blackpool Lead & The Lancashire Lead
Southport is 'historically' in Lancashire, so we did cover this. Jamie Lopez lives on the street where the riot took place on Tue 30 July, so wrote a very poignant first-person piece.
This is comfortably the most-read so far in Lancashire Lead's short history
When at first we only had preview posts on social media of disorder in Blackpool, we followed up with on the ground reports here and here with help from a freelancer. This was followed by a newsletter which had strong open and engagement rates. Further reflections came from Lopez on the events unfolding across the country here and here.
We produced more coverage in the following days, and more projects are in the works, including a riots charges tracker by Luke Beardsworth.
In conjunction with Andy Brown at Stand Up For Southport, we launched an open letter to Southport to show Solidarity, It's been backed by MPs and the keyboard player of Echo And The Bunnymen!
Lessons learned:
Photography was very important from Blackpool and made a big difference in how we were able to push and share the stories on social. The freelancer is a photojournalist, win-win.
I've seen a few calls for 'open justice reporters' and the pressure dealing with all the riot cases will place on newsrooms (of any size) is a good talking point to consider. Very conceivable that police press offices will be relied upon in many places, or the cases may be missed entirely. We'll be using freelance to do it as best we can. But that's a large drain in terms of time/resource for likely little reward in terms of how the platforms treat the content (despite its importance in justice being seen to be done, and clearly the impact those early sentences have had in dampening down the disorder the other week).
Wiltshire 999s
We managed to avoid a riot, but there was speculation on socials. A few people turned up at the mosque to cause issues, but it was over quickly.
Greenwich Wire
Non-riot in Lewisham - as far as I could tell there was no other media there, despite other titles trying to stir things up (off the back of terrible police communications).
VIEWDigital
We produced a video report on the anti-racist rally in Belfast.
Publishers shared more examples of the work they did, and we’re sure they’ll continue the brilliant work they’re doing to make sure we can learn from a deeply unsettling period in our recent history.
What does all of this say about the role of indie journalism?
We couldn’t put it better than this, from the Great Central Gazette’s editorial:
The role of independent, public interest media has never been more crucial. Many newspapers, like our own, strive to provide accurate reporting and context, countering the harmful effects of fake news. In stark contrast to the wild west of social media, local journalism can, and must, serve as a vital resource for communities seeking to navigate the complexities of the current climate. Whether it’s fact-checking claims online, investigating hate and discrimination, or shining a light in the dark when everything else seems so bleak.
Jaldeep Katwala is Network Manager at PINF.
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