Media Storm

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT: https://mediastormpodcast.com/2023/09/04/3-9-an-institutionally-racist-police-force-process-of-elimination-pt-1/

Join Media Storm LIVE at Kings Place, London, Saturday 16th Sep, 7pm: https://www.kingsplace.co.uk/whats-on/words/media-storm-2/

This is the first in a three-part Media Storm investigation into institutional racism in UK police forces. In it, we provide statistical evidence of institutional racism at a recruitment level and, with the help of lived experience, identify where it is occurring and how to fix it.

This investigation follows the conclusion of Police Uplift, a three-year initiative by the Conservative Government to recruit 20,000 new police officers. This was a once-in-a-generation opportunity to ensure police forces represent the communities they serve, an opportunity that the government and National Police Chief’s Council promised would be seized.

Yet Media Storm’s data falsifies a key assumption informing their diversity schemes, one that is also used to excuse slow progress: the idea that People of Colour are less likely to apply to be police officers than people of White British ethnicity. For Police Uplift, Media Storm reveals, Minority Ethnic groups were over-represented among police candidates, but underrepresented among those appointed.

This proves that the problem lies not with communities but with the assessment process, during which minorities are eliminated at discriminatory rates. Join Media Storm and guest experts for an in-depth dive into what is going wrong, as we ask the question: What does “institutional racism” actually mean?

The episode is created by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia). The music is by Samfire (@soundofsamfire).

Buy the team a coffee on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/MediaStormPodcast 

Guests

Sources

Media Storm first launched from the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/media-storm.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey listeners! We've launched a Patreon. If you want to support us for a small monthly fee, head to patreon.com/MediaStormPodcast

Media Storm will be LIVE at London Podcast Festival, Saturday 16th September at 7pm. BOOK your tickets now: https://www.kingsplace.co.uk/whats-on/words/media-storm-2/

Content warning: This episode features mentions of domestic abuse, self-harm, and addiction.

The definition of temporary is ‘lasting for only a limited period of time; not permanent’. Yet in the UK, more and more families are finding themselves in temporary accommodation which feels anything but short-lived.

With reports of people living for multiple years in so-called 'temporary' housing, just last month, government statistics showed that the number of households in temporary accommodation in England had hit a 25-year high: nearly 105,000 households, including more than 131,000 children. And that's not all - we've heard from families who have lived together in one hotel room for months on end, who have stayed in places with damp, mould, a lack of heating, or worse.

So how is this ever worsening crisis solved? This week, Media Storm sets out to speak to people who have lived in temporary accommodation and ask them what they think the solutions are. Plus, we hear from the chair of the London Housing Panel about bringing lived experience into policy-making, and from London's Deputy Mayor for Housing Tom Copely.

We are joined in the studio by social issues campaigner and presenter Kwajo Tweneboa, who, after experiencing the UK housing crisis first-hand, is leading the charge for meaningful housing reform.

Featured:

With thanks to Aishah Siddiqa at Heard heard.org.uk, the charity working with people and the media to inspire content and communication that changes hearts and minds, for putting us in touch with Rebecca, Aga, and Jenni.

Sources:

Your hosts are @helenawadia and @mathildamall. Music by Samfire @soundofsamfire.

Media Storm was launched by the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/media-storm.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Media Storm will be LIVE at London Podcast Festival, Saturday 16th September at 7pm. BOOK your tickets now: 

https://www.kingsplace.co.uk/whats-on/words/media-storm-2/ 

If you're a Lord of the Rings fan, you may know Nazanin Boniadi from her portrayal of Bronwyn in the Rings of Power. If you follow her online, you may be aware of her determined activism. 

Since 2008, Nazanin has represented Amnesty International’s campaigns for the restoration of stolen human rights. In the aftermath of the 1979 Iranian Revolution, Nazanin's parents fled Iran for safety in London. Her fight may have started in her mother's womb, but it certainly didn't end there. 

Since September 2022, a new revolution has been ongoing in Iran after Mahsa Amini, a 22 year-old woman, died in police custody. Her crime? Allegedly violating Iran’s strict rules requiring women to cover their hair with a hijab. Nazanin has been fighting for the voices of Iranian women & girls to be heard worldwide.

In this bonus episode, we speak to Nazanin about how to report on Iran - and crises around the world - without demonising foreign cultures.  

Buy the team a coffee on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/MediaStormPodcast 

This episode is created by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia). The music is by @soundofsamfire.

Follow Media Storm at @mediastormpod.

Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/media-storm.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Book Media Storm LIVE at the London Podcast Festival, Saturday 16th Sep at 7pm: https://www.kingsplace.co.uk/whats-on/words/media-storm-2/

Aid budgets have been hit hard by Covid and economic upheaval. But the hardest hit of all are women and girls. Just last week, UK headlines revealed the government’s slashes to humanitarian aid mean hundreds of thousands more women will face unsafe abortions and deaths from pregnancy - by their own assessment.

Why are women worse affected?

Because crisis is sexist. When disaster strikes, women are 17 times more likely to die than men. But they are underrepresented in decision-making about how aid is distributed, and so the solutions rarely reflect this.

For World Humanitarian Day, Media Storm has partnered with the International Rescue Committee to platform the lived experience of women in disaster zones— not just as victims, but as leaders of solutions. The IRC makes a conscious effort to place women at the centre of emergency responses, and has connected us with pioneers in Yemen, Pakistan and the world’s biggest refugee camp: Kakuma, in Kenya. We also hear voices from Afghanistan, Nigeria and North American indigenous communities, who reveal how conflict and climate change disproportionately impact women and girls.

We are joined in the studio by Amnesty ambassador Nazanin Boniadi (who also fights for justice in Middle Earth - see The Rings of Power), to look at how a male-dominated mainstream media and Eurocentric headlines can hide the realities facing women of the world. We look at the unique case of Iran, where women have revolted following the state murder of Jina Mahsa Amini, and the press’ crucial role in fighting for human rights for everybody.

Buy the team a coffee on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/MediaStormPodcast 

The episode is created by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia). The music is by Samfire (@soundofsamfire).

Featured

Sources

Contact us

Media Storm first launched from the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/media-storm.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Come to our LIVE SHOW at London Podcast Festival! Saturday 16th September at 7pm https://www.kingsplace.co.uk/whats-on/words/media-storm-2/

For this week's bonus episode, two podcasts have joined forces: Media Storm and Immigrantly!

Immigrantly is a podcast that discusses deeply personal conversations around race, identity, and the immigrant experience, hosted by Saadia Khan.

Media Storm host Helena was on Saadia's podcast a few weeks ago to discuss her life as a second generation immigrant in London. You can hear that episode here, but first, Mathilda and Helena sat down with Saadia to find out more about her, her life from Pakistan to America, and why she set up Immigrantly.

Get in touch:

Find out more about Immigrantly: immigrantlypod.com

Follow Saadia Khan @kh_saadi

Music by Samfire @soundofsamfire. 

Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/media-storm.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

LIVE SHOW ANNOUNCEMENT: Media Storm will be live at the London Podcast Festival this September, on Saturday 16th at 7pm! Book tickets now to join us as we breakdown the craziest headlines of 2023: https://www.kingsplace.co.uk/whats-on/words/media-storm-2/

Around the world, El Niño is causing extreme weather events and soaring global temperatures to alarming levels.

Meanwhile in the UK, Labour is playing internal blame-games after a by-election defeat in Boris Johnson’s old seat of Uxbridge and South Ruislip.

What do these two stories have in common?

Running through the UK’s political factionalism is a debate over London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s plan to expand ULEZ. This is a debate about climate policy, but climate is missing from its coverage.

In this bonus episode, Mathilda and Helena discuss the week’s top headlines and the missing links between them. We’ll then revisit a studio discussion with climate podcast producer Thimali Kodikara, to examine what the mainstream media could be doing better.

Buy the team a coffee on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/MediaStormPodcast 

This bonus episode is created by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia). The music is by Samfire (@soundofsamfire).

More on Media Storm

Media Storm was first launched the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/media-storm.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Warning: strong language and mention of rape

LIVE SHOW ANNOUNCEMENT: Media Storm will be LIVE at the London Podcast Festival this September, on Saturday 16th at 7pm! Book tickets now to join us as we breakdown the craziest headlines of 2023: https://www.kingsplace.co.uk/whats-on/words/media-storm-2/

Are trans rights a threat to women? Or is that narrative itself the real threat?

Actor, author and activist Charlie Craggs joins Helena and Mathilda in the studio for this week's bonus episode, to pick apart mainstream media efforts to pitch cis women against their trans counterparts: where has it come from, who is it serving, and how is it being weaponised against women themselves?

The hosts also spill the beans from their trip to Parliament, which took an unexpected turn for the transphobic.

Buy the girls a coffee on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/MediaStormPodcast 

This bonus episode is created by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia). The music is by Samfire (@soundofsamfire).

More on Media Storm

Media Storm was first launched the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/media-storm.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey listeners! We've launched a Patreon. If you want to support us for a small monthly fee, head to patreon.com/MediaStormPodcast

Scotland recently joined approximately 30 countries in implementing a progressive gender self-identification law. The Gender Recognition Reform Bill, aiming to streamline the process of transgender people obtaining a Gender Recognition Certificate, passed by 86 votes to 39. But the celebrations were short-lived. 

The British government - or, one member of that government, the Scottish Secretary of State Alister Jack, - blocked the Bill in an unprecedented move and constitutional first. Fears were cited that legislation could have an adverse impact on the Equality Act 2010, and therefore across the UK in areas like single sex spaces.

Transgender people do not need a Gender Recognition Certificate to access any single-sex spaces. But across the media, Scotland’s Gender Recognition Reform Bill was linked with transgender access to single-sex spaces.

So what happened? What changes did the Bill actually propose? This week, Media Storm speaks to transgender people who have applied for Gender Recognition Certificates, about what the changes mean in real life, and asks what we can learn from other countries like Iceland and Ireland that already have progressive Self-ID laws in place.

We're joined in the studio by author, actress, and activist Charlie Craggs to discuss media representation of the transgender community and gender self-ID. 

Speakers:

With thanks to Heard heard.org.uk

The voice of 'Sarah' is Theo Stinson 

Sources:

Your hosts are @helenawadia and @mathildamall. Music by Samfire @soundofsamfire.

Media Storm was launched by the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/media-storm.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week, Media Storm went to Parliament! 

Helena & Mathilda were in the halls of Westminster to speak to MPs and Parliamentarians about misogyny in the media: how the media can responsibly report on domestic abuse and gender-based violence, and why lived-experience should be at the heart of reporting. 

We were invited by Hacked Off (@hackedoffcampaign), the group calling for reform of UK press self-regulation. We were joined by Impress (@impress_org), a self-regulatory body for UK publishers, The Fawcett Society (@fawcettsociety), the UK's leading charity campaigning for gender equality and women's rights, and Melanie Skyes (@msmelaniesykes), TV presenter and Editor-in-chief of the The Frank Magazine. You can also buy Melanie's new book 'Illuminated' now!

In this bonus episode, you can hear from the amazing women who spoke in Parliament, and then listen back to part of Media Storm's third ever episode - where we spoke with two gender equality activists, Dr Leyla Hussain and Gina Martin, about how the mainstream media upholds misogyny and depicts victims of sexual assault - and what we should do about it. 

If you are a victim of domestic violence, you can call Refuge for free on 0808 2000 247

Get in touch

Music by Samfire @soundofsamfire. 

Media Storm is brought to you by the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/media-storm.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For the full uncut discussion with Leroy Logan and Chantelle Lunt, subscribe to our Patreon: patreon.com/MediaStormPodcast

The Conservatives succeeded in their manifesto pledge to recruit 20,000 new police officers by 2023. But with growing awareness of sexism, racism and violent offending within the police, is this for better or worse? Media Storm has uncovered early evidence that racist recruitment practices were at play, with Black applicants more than 40% more likely to be rejected than White applicants.

This finding is consistent with data from the College of Policing that spans forces across England and Wales, as well as averages taken across the 12 individual forces that provided Media Storm access to their records.

A spokeswoman from the College of Policing responded: “Policing is currently more diverse than it has ever been before. Our data which is based on all 43 forces within England and Wales shows an increase of 15.9% of Ethnic Minority and 19.3% of Black candidates passing the assessment process since May 2020, ensuring we are now better able than ever to represent the communities we are serving.

"College of Policing encourages all forces to interview candidates following success at the online assessment process. We provide guidance on the interview process to ensure all recruits are consistently and fairly assessed to the same high standards.

"Whilst we are proud that policing is the most diverse it has ever been, we recognise that there is more to be done to be a fully inclusive organisation. We are working hard alongside forces to understand all aspects of the recruitment process and how to ensure it is as fair and consistent as possible.”

Media Storm is off in search of police officers who will tell us what’s going on behind the PR machine. They shine a light on internal problems ranging from grassroots cultures to leadership structures, and external problems like politics and (yes, you guessed it) the mainstream media.

Mathilda and Helena are joined in the studio by Dr Leroy Logan MBE (@LeroyLogan999), founding member of the Black Police Association and one of the original officers to testify to institutional racism during the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry, and Chantelle Lunt (@chantellelunt), Merseyside police officer-turned-BLM Leader. They pick apart mainstream media mistruths and policing PR and discuss how we can work together to bring about positive change.

The episode is created by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia). The music is by Samfire (@soundofsamfire).

Learn more:

Speakers:

Media Storm was first launched the house of The Guilty Feminist and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/media-storm.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices