Cash flow problem: newspapers are only interested when credit hurts 'people like them'
Last week, Transact, the forum for financial inclusion, found itself at the centre of a media storm. Broadcast and print media couldn't get enough of a press release saying some Transact members who give free debt advice were being overwhelmed by demand for help from middle class people.
Poorer clients risked being pushed out by professional people and homeowners queuing up at advice centres with money problems brought on by the credit crunch.
My feet didn't touch the ground. National live TV and radio appearances throughout Sunday were followed by relentless demands for case studies and more interviews. The story made the front page of the Daily Mail on Monday and was covered in virtually every national daily.
What was happening? I've put out tens of news releases, for Transact and others in the voluntary sector about injustices and problems affecting poorer people - strong human interest stories with case studies willing to talk.
Getting coverage for these issues has always been a struggle. At Christmas, for instance, a story about how thousands of poor and already indebted people were being enticed by a doorstep lender to take out loans at 187% interest to buy Christmas presents for their kids raised hardly a whisper.
The difference this time was that the story was about middle class people. Journalists are predominantly middle class and so too is much of their audience.
This story had personal resonance for the people reporting it. One news reader confessed to me that she knew she should go easy on her credit card, but said the thought of cutting back made her depressed. Most other journalists had their own tales of rising debt, or knew someone else who was struggling.
Demand for case studies was very specific. Examples had to fit the readership of the media concerned. One upmarket national Sunday paper was desperate for a real person to illustrate the story. But when I offered them a senior housing officer, on £29,000pa, with a daughter at university, they rejected her because, they said, she was in too low an income bracket. The fact that she perfectly illustrated the problem we were raising was neither here nor there. Her face didn't fit for their readers.
So what does this mean for charities working with poor and marginalised people who want to make their voice heard? One option is to accept that only the more liberal media will pick up your news. But that will limit your reach.
The other is to package stories and case studies in a way that pushes the buttons of journalists who, like it or not, are largely removed from the day-to day concerns of the people you represent.
Perhaps I should have made a link in my Christmas doorstep-lending story to the way personal debt can result in health problems and homelessness and ultimately puts a greater burden on public services and the tax payer?
There are usually various angles to any story, so pick the one you think will appeal most. There again, you could always just take to the streets.
Jamie Elliott is a freelance journalist and coordinator of Transact, the national forum for financial inclusion.
