By Emma MaierTo the uneducated eye, Take a Break magazine, with its busy, brightly coloured pages and shock-horror headlines, could be mistaken for a tabloid newspaper supplement. But that perception couldn't be further from the truth. In fact, the magazine's editor John Dale doesn't think much of some tabloid reporting.
The top-selling 'real-life' magazine is supporting our Stand Up Now for
Social Work campaign with its own "Thank God for Social Workers"
campaign, complete with positive articles about the profession and give
away badges. It is a stance that couldn't be further from tabloids, including The Sun, which ran a hate-fueled witch hunt of social workers earlier this year.
Take a Break editor John Dale may have come from a newspaoer background (in the 70s he worked for the Dail Mail) but he is scathing about today's tabloid approach. I met him yesterday to talk about his developing campaign and he was critical about the papers' desire to pin the blame someone whenever a serious case occurs.
Unlike many of the editors on the nationals, he also well understands the difficulties of running stories based on tip-offs from disgruntled service users (the "social serivces snatched my child without warning and I had no-idea why" type stories that we see so often). He appreciated that local authorities are usually unable to respond to queries about specific cases because of client confidentiality and that running only one side of a story is usually problematic.
More than anything, he understands the predicament that many social workers face - "I wouldn't trust the tabloids" he told me.
So if Take a Break isn't like the tabloids, what is it? Dale says it deals with serious issues but in an accessible way. I wouldn't disagree. Take this week's issue: it covers post natal depression, domestic violence, the benefits of breast-feeding, breast cancer and arthritis, to name bit a few. Articles are written in an engaging way - mainly told through the voices of real people who have been affected.
If you ignore the over hyped headlines, which are deliberately written to make the front cover stand out on the newsagents' shelves, most articles are informative and thought provoking.
Whatsmore, while many of Take a Break's million-plus weekly readers don't read a national newspaper, the men in their lives tend to read the Sun or another red top. This makes Take a Break the perfect antidote to the tabloid article they might otherwise be reading.
That is why I am so excited that Take a Break has taken an interest in social work and why I think it is vital to support their work. John Dale wants to run more articles about social workers and what they do in their every day jobs. But he can only do it is social workers andf service users are prepared to talk to his reporters.
I have written personally to all directors of children's and adults services in England to ask their support. Many have kindly replied to say they will ask social workers' in their teams to come forward. Are you prepared to Stand Up Now for Social Work by contributing?
More information or to volunteer, contact me.
Take a Break editor John Dale may have come from a newspaoer background (in the 70s he worked for the Dail Mail) but he is scathing about today's tabloid approach. I met him yesterday to talk about his developing campaign and he was critical about the papers' desire to pin the blame someone whenever a serious case occurs.
Unlike many of the editors on the nationals, he also well understands the difficulties of running stories based on tip-offs from disgruntled service users (the "social serivces snatched my child without warning and I had no-idea why" type stories that we see so often). He appreciated that local authorities are usually unable to respond to queries about specific cases because of client confidentiality and that running only one side of a story is usually problematic.
More than anything, he understands the predicament that many social workers face - "I wouldn't trust the tabloids" he told me.
So if Take a Break isn't like the tabloids, what is it? Dale says it deals with serious issues but in an accessible way. I wouldn't disagree. Take this week's issue: it covers post natal depression, domestic violence, the benefits of breast-feeding, breast cancer and arthritis, to name bit a few. Articles are written in an engaging way - mainly told through the voices of real people who have been affected.
If you ignore the over hyped headlines, which are deliberately written to make the front cover stand out on the newsagents' shelves, most articles are informative and thought provoking.
Whatsmore, while many of Take a Break's million-plus weekly readers don't read a national newspaper, the men in their lives tend to read the Sun or another red top. This makes Take a Break the perfect antidote to the tabloid article they might otherwise be reading.
That is why I am so excited that Take a Break has taken an interest in social work and why I think it is vital to support their work. John Dale wants to run more articles about social workers and what they do in their every day jobs. But he can only do it is social workers andf service users are prepared to talk to his reporters.
I have written personally to all directors of children's and adults services in England to ask their support. Many have kindly replied to say they will ask social workers' in their teams to come forward. Are you prepared to Stand Up Now for Social Work by contributing?
More information or to volunteer, contact me.
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