Dear Reader,
As the Guardian’s Gary Younge said at our event in April, storytelling can mean life or death. Just days later, as a result of the Guardian’s incessant reporting on Windrush-era immigrants facing deportation and other injustices, Amber Rudd resigned as home secretary and the government changed its policy. Quality journalism can make a difference.
This is the kind of public interest journalism we aspire to – to defend the interests of Bristolians and make our city a better and fairer place to live.
The Bristol Cable is owned by 2,000 members not a media conglomerate, which means we don’t have to chase clicks online to survive financially.
This issue we’ve invested time and resources into investigating several important issues affecting people in Bristol.
When news is often doom and gloom, we also want to celebrate the city of Bristol, by looking at St Pauls Carnival through the ages and collecting community stories where local people are making things happen for themselves.
Last year our members voted at our AGM for us to do more campaigning journalism, which we’re putting into practice. Last edition we launched a campaign to stop Bristol City Council using bailiffs to collect council tax debts. After a number of moving personal accounts and growing political support, the council is under increasing pressure to take action. Will the mayor act?
We also grapple with the issues of the day, from the debates around whether high rises should be part of the solution to the housing crisis following the Grenfell Tower disaster, to trying to get to the bottom of the widely-publicised problems with mental health at Bristol University.
This year we’ve also been running our free media training course, Media Lab. This year’s trainees have already produced articles about privatisation of probation services and threats to Filwood Community Centre. This edition another trainee takes a look at Bristol’s other zoo.
And, as with all our issues, we would not be able to dedicate the time that stories deserve without the support and input from our 2,000 members. We were recently highly commended at the Regional Press Awards, proving that we’ve come a long way since 2014 and can now compete with the big players of local media.
It is becoming increasingly clear that cooperatively owned media can have serious impact. Imagine what we’ll be able to do with even more members!
Onwards!
The Cable Team
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- The Bristol Cable is media co-operative – created and owned by over 2,100 (and counting) people in the city.
With free events and trainings, a multimedia website and a free quarterly print edition, The Bristol Cable is redefining local journalism through challenging multimedia, community action and cooperative ownership. Online, in print and on the street.
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The Emergency Covid Winter Fund has been set up as fuel poverty charities deal with ‘unprecedented’ numbers of referrals.
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Helping people from Bristol’s Somali community deal with lockdown 2
For members of Bristol’s Somali community already living in difficult circumstances, the second lockdown has made life even harder. But the Bristol Somali Resource Centre has stepped in.
Edition 23 Black History Month Film Banner Home Page
Watch: Vulnerability, escapism and creativity, my experiences of lockdown as a young Bristolian
Lockdown left young people in the city feeling stranded, dislocated from their usual connections. Here, a young aspiring writer reflects on school, writing and the new sense of self-confidence that grew over those months
City Film Banner Home Page
Watch: The struggle for the future of Britain’s best street
A furore has kicked off over proposals to pedestrianise one of Bristol's most iconic streets, St Marks Road, with famous shop Sweetmart threatening to leave! Easton native Neil Maggs investigates whats going on behind the headlines.
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Watch: Resilience – An uplifting story of young mums on one of the UK’s oldest council estates
A short documentary of young mums overcoming stigma through friendship on one of the UK's oldest council estates, Hillfields in Bristol.