Read on Twitter
1/ This piece is a product of some work i've been doing over the last few years on how we can begin to democratise the media and alter the balance of class power in it - still so heavily stacked against the left. Please give it a read if you have the time. https://twitter.com/NewSocialistUK/status/1284137000325361665
2/ It's about 2 main things. First, why we on the left need to do more than personally support socialist media (like @NewSocialistUK) and radical media policies - by getting our *institutions* to support media too, in democratic ways controlled by members instead of leaders.
3/ Second, it sets out a concrete proposal for how to do it. In the article, I suggest Momentum does it as part of the process of re-founding the organisation its new NCG is committed to. But any labour movement or left institution could put this idea into practice.
4/ The proposal:
- Momentum's constitution should reserve 10-15% of income (members' subs, donations, etc.) for a Media Fund.
- Members get an annual vote on how Fund money gets divided up among participating organisations. Votes could be optionally divisible into, say, quarters.
- Momentum's constitution should reserve 10-15% of income (members' subs, donations, etc.) for a Media Fund.
- Members get an annual vote on how Fund money gets divided up among participating organisations. Votes could be optionally divisible into, say, quarters.
5/
- Votes would be added up and the money divided proportionally.
- To participate, media orgs would have to meet some basic conditions: standards, transparency, published plans, no advertising.
- Everything made with MMF money would have to be freely available to everyone.
- Votes would be added up and the money divided proportionally.
- To participate, media orgs would have to meet some basic conditions: standards, transparency, published plans, no advertising.
- Everything made with MMF money would have to be freely available to everyone.
6/ The piece explains why we have to organise institutional support for left media now. Obviously the way we’re getting outgunned by the right-wing media is one factor - but so too is the need for reliable reports on what’s going on in our own institutions - basic scrutiny etc.
7/ The capitalist press - key to the whole news media - is in deep commercial crisis, but that shows clearer than ever why we can’t keep waiting for the market or donations to solve our problem. The market is working more and more against *any* news media paying for itself.
8/ For over a century now, the British labour movement hasn't done much to counteract the bias in media markets against the left - e.g. by providing organised support for movement media. We have to end that neglect - the last 5 years shows us that clearer than ever.
9/ The sad thing is, the radical press was once a vital asset to the British working class - in the early-to-mid 19th century, before capitalism had totally commercialised, industrialised and concentrated media production. So much so, the British state fought to suppress it.
10/ Even in the 20th century, there are some smaller-scale examples of the kind of radical or socialist journalism we need, which we should look at and learn from. This article is about one great example: https://twitter.com/leowatkins91/status/1283707688422178816
11/ The nature of digital media production now means even funding which pales in comparison to established media budgets could still have a transformative impact, helping the socialist media we already have to expand into new areas, or allowing new outlets to launch.
12/ Finally, while my proposal focuses on digital media, and looks in particular at what more socialist news reporting could do, it’s not strictly limited to funding that - it could fund political education projects like @TWT_NOW too - if that's what members vote for.
13/ Thanks to @NewSocialistUK for publishing it, and for their work generally - i've cited some of it in the article as the kind of work we need, or as work my thinking has benefited from. Lastly, thanks very much to @Tom_Gann and @shirleymush for improving it.
