Socal Action and Community Media

What is social action and community media?
Social action is addressing a topic that is never or hardly spoken about and makes people aware and the opportunity to do something to help make a change. Any group of people despite geographical location, interests and identity create a form of media. For example, a community could create a documentary on abortion.

The purpose of social action and community media is to inform and educate people on things happening around them or all over the world on a media platform. This can help encourage viewers to do something to help as many topics are able to be changed if large numbers of people get involved and fight for it. For instance, Comic Relief started of Sudan in 1985 and through the years many brands and charities got involved and helped fight poverty and social injustice by raising money in different ways. From celebrity endorsements to marathons, the great British public get involved in anyway they can. Every year Comic Relief is broadcasted on BBC One and on the show viewers watch quite a few stories from people suffering in Africa and Asia but also her in the UK. Comic relief also show how the money they raise every year helps the people they give it to and this encourages people to donate money as they see a difference that something little as £5 can do to them. Comic Relief is one of the biggest social action campaigns.

Comic Relief like to get celebrities to raise money doing fun and sport activities but also like people to know what and who they are raising money for. Comedian John Bishop went to talk to people who have a hard life in the UK, some women and men were in a abusive relationships, or being trafficked by their own parents and homeless. Using comedian John Bishop as the presenter showed that although he was a comedian these situations were not funny and should be taken seriously by viewers.

Close up of the items connate that
children live in this environment 

When he went to a women's house who had been abused and ran away from that situation with her children. It's clear to see that her children must be under 5 as a number of insert shots are added when they are talking to clarify that there are children living there.

Most of these people had their faces hidden to protect their identity but we as viewers were able to see how uncomfortable they felt talking about themselves because of their movements. There were many jump shots to




Throughout the clip we see John Bishop often reacting to the stories being told by every individual and as a viewer watching that, it makes you feel empathic towards the individuals who have had to go through what they have been through and John's facial expressions express that.

Reacting Shot / Close up to show his facial expressions. 

Long Shot to show his surroundings

A lot of topics are discussed on daily basis, topics such as abortion, sexuality and religion etc. But other things are left unspoken such as Female Genital Mutilation. I had never heard of Female Genital Mutilation until I was introduced to Cruel Cut broadcasted on Channel 4. This documentary educated me and lot of other people on the taboo subject and made me want to help stop it happen.
 How did Leyla Hussein, the presenter of Cruel Cut, make me feel this way?
She spoke about her experience in graphic detail and how it affected her life and how it still does. Other woman also spoke about their experiences, they were all so different but it all came back to the same result and the suffering they are still experiencing because of female genital mutilation. Leyla also presented viewers with statics, more than 24,000 women are at risk and over 66,000 women are living with the consequences in the UK alone. Throughout the show Leyla tried in many ways to get people in higher positions to listen to her campaign but she wasn't successful as they didn't take her seriously or was not interested in the topic. Leyla knew what she had to do to get them to listen and that was to get the public involved and she did by setting up a petition. Over 10,000 signed and that got the attention of the government and even got a response. The government have made is clear that female genital mutilation is considered as child abuse and it is in fact illegal but also they have chose to fund a new study into the prevalence rates of female genital mutilation and has joined forces with NSPCC and the metropolitan service to provide a FGM helpline. Leyla Hussein has made a change by addressing the subject and fighting to make a difference and she did that in 2014. This is what social action and community media is about.

The clip showed Leyla Hussein interviewing her family on Female Genital Mutilation and how it affected the family as the same experience happened not only to her sister but also her mother. Her mother and sister spoke about their experiences. Leyla and her sister asked their mother open questions to which her mother give a detailed response that kept viewers interested. Throughout the clip, many close ups and mid-shots of their faces were shown while they spoke about their experiences and it showed how it affected themselves but also how their family members felt listening to it. The brother was the only one who couldn't speak from first hand experience but he give his opinion on the subject and the community who are known to in force FGM, so there was a variety of discussions and opinions.This whole clip subtly encourages people who have been through FGM to speak to their family and friends about the subject as they may not be the only ones going through it.

The interview was intimate and personal which was very raw and emotional, it made viewers emphatic and moved them and that was the whole purpose, the whole purpose of the documentary is to make people want to do something to change what happens to women all around the world. As I said Leyla Hussein made a change in the UK.

Close up shows how they felt while their mother was speaking about her experience.

Establishing Shot shows us location

This establishing shot shows viewers her surroundings, as this shot is shown there is a voice over of Leyla speaking telling viewers that she's back home going to speak to her family about the subject. As viewers we get a glimpse of her childhood home.

Close up shows relationship

The shot above is a close up of Leyla and her mother seeking comfort from each other by holding hands as they discuss FGM, it shows their relationship and the subject is quite difficult to speak about and how they are dealing with it.

In conclusion, both subjects get people emotional and eager to make a change but in different ways. Comic Relief is about raising money in order to help others but The cruel cut documentary is about the public signing a petition to stop FGM. This is what social media and community media is about, making a change and helping others.