My #GE2015 Journey with Media Trust

It’s fair to say that, in the run up to and during the General Election process, I went a bit hashtag crazy on Twitter! I’d always thought that I was politically apathetic. This all seemed to change after going on an Introduction to Journalism course run by Media Trust at the Birmingham Mail offices in Fort Dunlop.

Armed with enthusiasm: Media Trust vloggers at Birmingham Mail’s offices

We started off the 2-day course with a few ice-breaker activities to get to know each other and then we got straight into debating different topics, from the ethnics of beauty pageants to whether or not old people are a waste of space (that’s the blunt way of putting it – obviously I was inclined to disagree completely!). We then brainstormed ideas for stories that could potentially feature online for Birmingham Mail’s website. One of the ideas I liked centred around Save IdeasTap, where people across the country joined together in order to try and stop the free arts and creative industries website from closing. Although it is sadly due to close in July 2015, a collaboration with organisation Hiive means that IdeasTap will still be able to provide some of the events and services it offers.

The most valuable part of the Media Trust experience was the chance to make my own vlogs about the General Election, which featured on several articles for the Birmingham Mail alongside other vloggers’ work. But what did I know about politics? At the time very little. But in order to keep up with the requests for videos, I decided to do my research! There is an overwhelming amount of information out there. A simple Google search of “General Election 2015” brings up 38.4 million results and quite frankly…

Anyway I watched a series of election-related TV programmes, from the 1st Leaders Debate broadcast on ITV to the full elections results coverage on BBC 1. I even attended a series of high-profile events at the University of Birmingham to broaden my horizons. From the BBC Asian Network’s Big Asian Election Debate (and yes I was the only white person in the audience!) and The Guardian’s live discussion on Immigration to Sky New’s Stand Up Be Counted van where I was able to voice my opinions.

Taking a selfie in the Sky News #SUBCTour van

Meeting Rick Edwards at the Guardian event

I wrote some summaries of the events for the university radio station, BURN FM. The Online Live Election Blog can be viewed here. I also went out and asked students around whether or not they were rooting for any party to win the election and if so whether it was an easy choice for them to make, with varied – and sometimes amusing – responses…

I even took the Birmingham Mail’s Who Should I Vote For? quiz in a desperate attempt to cure my political apathy!

In the end, none of it mattered because when it came to casting my vote (I’m starting to sound like an X Factor viewer now), I was in Birmingham and not London where I had registered and it was too late for me to register by proxy. So I didn’t even get to be a first time voter in the end. Which is ironic considering the number of “first-time voter” vlogs I did for the Birmingham Mail!

1 in a series of election-related vlogs I filmed

But in true cynical fashion, does one vote REALLY make a difference? On that note, I’ll leave you with my favourite video from the whole campaign which features on ITV’s satirical programme Newzoids. Enjoy!

Index of Birmingham Mail General Election 2015 vlogs:

What first time voters thought of The Battle for Number 10

What young people think leaders should say to win their vote

What young people think leaders should say in the TV debate

First-time voters reveal what they would do as Prime Minister

What first-time voters think of the new Conservative government

“SilliBrand” – A Rant About Russell

I have a bone to pick with Russell Brand, as I’m sure many of his supporters do. In his upcoming film ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes’, Brand believes all the political parties are powerless in tackling the larger economic problems we face. And just 3 weeks ago, he was urging us all NOT to vote AT ALL. He was calling for a “revolution”:

So what does he do 3 weeks later and with just days to go before polling day? Do a COMPLETE U-TURN and decide “oh actually, I change my mind people. Vote Labour, just because” (not his actual words but words to that effect). He seemed to really warm to the Green Party’s policies in conversations on his YouTube channel with Caroline Lucas and Natalie Bennett. But for some strange reason he decided to actively endorse Labour. Who knows if he had made some financial deal with Miliband at the last minute. Whatever the reason, with such a quick and unexpected change in his message to his viewers, what was anyone supposed to think of him?

It doesn’t seem like he thought through his actions properly. Luckily Brand’s preaching isn’t (and never was) going to make me come to a decision over who to vote for. For a start, he’s not the most reliable source of information, as he keeps banging on about the same issues, particularly banker bonuses (valid point but what about every other political issue?!)

All in all, I’ve decided I still like Russell Brand. He makes discussions on politics, which can be extremely dry sometimes, engaging. But what I have also realised is that perhaps he is better off being a comedian/political commentator than a serious political activist! Forget Milibrand, I think this new political power couple should be called “Sillibrand”.

What did other people think about Mr.Brand? I was curious to know. To my surprise a lot of people couldn’t care less…