Earlier this year, Stop Funding Hate supporters donated over £80,000 to help take the campaign to a new level.
Since then, we’ve been working with RAW Pictures on a series of new videos, exploring some of the wider questions around the Stop Funding Hate campaign.
We’ve interviewed hate crime experts, advertising and media insiders, as well as people whose lives have been directly affected by hate within the media.
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The first of these videos features Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, one of the UK’s leading Muslim public figures, who has been outspoken about the negative impact of Islamophobia in the press.
Next we released an interview with Professor Neil Chakraborti of Leicester University’s Centre for Hate Studies, discussing the link between media hate and hate crime.
The role of the British press in fuelling hate and extremism is still rarely discussed in the UK media. You can help to spread the word by sharing the video on Facebook or Twitter.
A growing global movement for ethical advertising
This new video series comes amid a growing global debate over the role that advertisers can play in bringing about a healthier and fairer media. Last month over 190 UN member states finalised a new global agreement which endorses the principle of “stopping allocation of public funding or material support to media outlets that systematically promote intolerance, xenophobia, racism and other forms of discrimination towards migrants”.
Last year over £22 billion was spent on advertising in the UK alone. Globally that figure was more than £400 billion. If even a small proportion of this money could be directed away from media outlets that fuel hatred, and towards those that report accurately and fairly, this could have a transformative effect.
Alongside our campaigning in the UK, Stop Funding Hate has been working with the United Nations to make the case for change at the international level. We’re hoping to have more to report later in the year – in the meantime please do join our email list if you’d like to stay updated.