Atttending to the ‘inward wells’
Jill Segger writes about how Friends can approach the media
So shins up further Firbank
Drinks water, preaches to a thousand
These lines from UA Fanthorpe’s poem ‘Fox Unearthed’ contain everything necessary for good media practice among Friends: determination, attending to the ‘inward wells’ and taking the moment.
Journalists rate fairly low in the register of public esteem and a certain amount of suspicion towards my trade can be found among Friends. So, when nominations committe asked me to take on the role of media officer of my Local and Area Meetings, I was glad to accept the challenge of doing what I could to bring about some shift in opinion. This is not easy in a Quaker context, as the need for responses that are alert to the around-the-clock connected society, and to a media cycle that is sometimes fickle and always quick moving, does not dovetail naturally with our manner of decision-making.
With this in mind, I offered a short paper to our Meeting for Worship for Business, suggesting a means of enabling prompt responses to current affairs that would not be detrimental to discernment or accountability, but which would enable a Quaker voice on current issues to be heard in our town. The response was positive and a media group was formed with devolved responsibility to act in a timely manner, with referral to elders if we felt in need of guidance.
The group, which has varied between three to five members, does much of its work via email, although we gather two or three times a year to take stock and consider new ventures. These include setting up a social media account for the Meeting and the possibility of encouraging and assisting more Friends to feel confident about speaking on local radio from time to time.
Our usual method, once an issue about which we feel led to comment has been identified, is to produce a draft text, which is then circulated around the group for suggestions and amendments. The agreed text is then communicated – sometimes in the form of a letter, sometimes as a press release – to the local print and broadcast media. This has proved successful and we have had consistently good take-up from these media outlets.
In 2014, we proposed to the Meeting that the brief of the media group should be extended to include meetings with the local MP in which we would raise issues that were of concern to us, and he, in turn, could communicate insights that might inform our awareness and action. The now rather grandly named media and parliamentary liaison group developed a good working relationship with the then MP and, although we differed on many issues, it was also one of mutual respect. Since the change of MP (though not of party) at the 2015 general election, we have found that our new representative appears less willing to engage with us. We are, however, persistent.
The choosing of a group of this nature requires careful thought. The qualities that have made it work well for us lie in our group being constituted of seasoned Friends who are all well-informed on current affairs and – most important of all – able to put party political allegiance second to making the Quaker testimonies the touchstone of our public comment.
If we are to ‘convince many’ in our own day, we have to use the media well. Had George Fox been daunted by the gradient of Firbank Fell, mumbled his message, or arrived when the assembly had grown tired of waiting, the world might well have heard no more of the Westmorland Seekers.
