The Monitor: social work in the media

Com Care tries - and fails - to charm council press officers

2009-09-07T17:32:57Z

by Daniel Lombard

In my four years as a journalist I've become accustomed to the full arsenal of PR weapons used by communications professionals to 'sell' their messages to the media.

It usually starts with the charm offensive, followed by the threat of withdrawing advertising contracts, and if all else fails, full-blown harassment.

I've heard complaints from PR professionals about how rude, unreliable and patronising journalists can be in response to their calls (forget whatever you've heard, I've always remained calm and courteous).

But last week the boot was on the other foot.

]]> I spent a couple of afternoons ringing round local authority communications teams, trying to persuade them to take part in our survey about the role of local government in promoting social work, and suddenly realised how frustrating your job can be when you're totally reliant on others to deliver what you want.

In this case it was people's time as we sent invitations to complete the survey to the 206 local authorities of England, Wales and Scotland, and the five health and social care trusts of Northern Ireland. In the latest stage of our Stand Up Now for Social Work campaign we are seeking people's views on the strategies and challenges in effective and proactive PR for social work - a key strand in our efforts to improve the profession's overall image.

For this we got 44 responses - a pretty disappointing 21% response rate. So a colleague and I took to the phones to chase people up, and were met with a variety of responses.

The timing was unfortunate as lots of people were on holiday, but the comms officers who were in the office ranged from friendly and accommodating to irritable and bored. The most obvious lack of interest came from stressed-out press officers in large city authorities. Take one man's considered response: "How long does it take to complete? Twenty minutes? Forget it" (or words to that effect). Then there was the woman from a London borough whose curt tone told me to abandon all hope when I explained I had sent it to her communications team's generic email address. "We receive hundreds of emails each week in that inbox," she snapped, as if it had been ludicrous of me to expect anyone to deal with it. She asked me to re-send the invitation to one of her colleagues. Needless to say, they didn't reply.

On the other hand there were lots of detailed, enthusiastic responses from other press officers who specialise in social care for which I was very grateful.

A round-up of the responses will be featured in next week's magazine. The early findings are that few communications teams approach social workers for comment, which may be explained by the fact that only 44% of councils allow them to engage with the media as a general rule, with or without the oversight of communications professionals. Many communications professionals described social workers as reluctant to engage with the media, which is the subject of strong debate on CareSpace.

I will also be presenting an analysis of the results at the Chartered Institute for Public Relations' Local Public Services Communications Conference in Edinburgh, which runs from 14 - 16 October 2009, while the Association of Social Care Communicators will touch on similar issues at their forthcoming round of regional conferences (Dundee, 11 September; Derby, 28 September; and Bournemouth, 19 October). Later this year we will produce an information pack for all local authorities to share examples of good practice in working with the media.

Media support for social work

2009-08-16T09:08:42Z

by Bronagh Miskelly

The Independent's columnist Joan Smith has picked up on the themes of the Stand Up for Social Work campaign.

My only criticism is that yet again any discussion about social workers is concentrated on child protection, not all the otherwork and achievements.

Even balanced Baby P comment brings vitriol

2009-08-12T09:08:16Z

The BBC's Mark Easton has tackled the fraught subject of decision-making in child protection in a blog outlining the difficult balancing act involved.

This is laudable attempt at public education but if you read down some of the comments, it is clear that we all have a long way to go in ending the stereotypes and prejudices applied to social work.

All the same it is great that people like Mark continue to chip away at the barriers.

Daily Mail refuses to apologise to Edinburgh social workers

2009-08-06T08:28:42Z

by Daniel Lombard

Edinburgh Council has resolved its dispute with The Daily Mail over its coverage of a row over an adoption case.

The council issued a formal complaint to the national press watchdog, the Press Complaints Commission, on the grounds that a series of reports published in January and February were inaccurate and misleading.

]]> In particular, the authority argued that the mother's version of events - specifically in regard to a telephone conversation between her and a social worker - had been presented as fact.

The council had previously described the coverage as "sensationalised" and having the potential to destabilise children's services by deterring potential foster carers from coming forward.

Community Care would tend to agree that the newspaper's portrayal of children's social work was hostile and one-sided. So much so that we handed The Daily Mail the first ever 'Worst Coverage' award in our inaugural Media Awards for reporting of the profession at Community Care Live in May this year.

The judges took a dim view of the Mail's depressingly familiar ploy of targeting individual social workers.

The good people at Associated Newspapers refused to apologise, however, and merely published the following letter from Marilyne Maclaren, convener of education, children and families at Edinburgh Council, on page 56 of its 15 July edition.

"I would like to respond to your reporting of the adoption of two children in Edinburgh by a same-sex couple. At the heart of this matter are two vulnerable children who need stability and loving care, which we have been trying to secure for them. They are at a crucial stage in their lives.

Social workers only intervene in a family's care of children where their welfare and safety are at stake. I have confidence in the Council's staff and am proud of the work they do in circumstances that few of us would ever like to experience. The well-known problems in recruiting social workers should make it clear what a challenging role this is. Across the country, there are thousands of children who need fostering or adoption, and not nearly enough people able and willing to provide it.

The care of children has never been more regulated. The inspection of councils by independent bodies, along with due legal processes, provide the checks and balances that are needed. I welcome these measures, but find that often the full story is not considered and that individual social workers and potential carers are attacked without due cause.

Everyone involved in the care of children feels deeply about those tragic cases which are rightly reported. But there are many more that the public never see, where children's lives have been improved or saved through the efforts of social workers. When the media have moved on to 'new' stories, they will still be trying to provide safety and security for hundreds of children who would otherwise face an incredibly difficult life, or even no life at all."

Read one article from the Mail's coverage in January here, featuring a lengthy interview with the mother of the two children at the centre of the case. She describes the heartbreaking experience of having her sons removed by social services. Further down in the article, we learn she is a recovering heroin addict.

Standing up for social work in the Bromley press

2009-07-13T16:51:41Z

By Emma Maier

The local press in Bromley recently gave a rare insight into frontline social work. Ian Leadbetter, head of social care in the west half of Bomley and social worker with 18 years' experience, spoke to journalist Charlotte McDonald about many aspects of the job, from referral to shcool visits or dealing with violent parents. He also touched on the impact of reports in the media.
]]> Newsshopper.co.uk and Thisislocallondon.co.uk - both are worth a read.

They show the value of befrriending reporters on your patch - and of speaking to the local press, where one interview may end up in everal publications.

Phone hacking allegations against News of the World: all tabloid targets beware

2009-07-10T12:29:19Z

by Adam McCulloch

So, News of the World journalists, and reporters from other papers, have resorted, en masse, it is said, to phone hacking via private detectives. I don't want to be accused of making tenuous links just to get a few web hits, but as every social worker in the UK knows, The Sun and the News of the World, have often laid into the profession. So the question must be asked: have only celebrities, royalty, politicians and sports people been the target of this? What about professional people involved in cases that have attracted tabloid attention? ]]>
This led Michael Portillo on last night's This Week programme on BBC1 to describe the hold of News International over the establishment as reminiscent of Stalinism and Newsnight ran a fabulous piece on the subservient stance taken by politicians to the whims of Rebekah Wade and Rupert Murdoch. The show also featured Max Clifford, who took a very stern view of tabloid practices.

One thing is certain though, The Guardian's revelations cap off a good week for Community Care's Stand Up Now For Social Work campaign in that they will add to public scepticism over how the press operates and perhaps give people pause for thought before they join in the condemnation of figures who are suddenly made public.

Daily Mail on 'preventable child deaths'

2009-07-10T07:44:28Z

By Emma Maier
"The fact is that, contrary to public perception, social workers appear, on the whole, remarkably good at safeguarding children." Not a phrase you'd usually expect to read in a Daily Mail article, but today you can. But how does the article as a whole measure up? ]]> The article, an attempted analysis of the challenges facing social work, has mixed results. The general gist is this:

The Baby P case was dreadful but not typical
Social services tend to be pretty effective when a child is known to be at risk
The bigger problem is with children that are not on the child protection register
Children are at particular risk when their parents separate, both from their parents and their parents' new partners
Children are also at risk when their parents use drugs
Something must be done to remedy this
Early identification is key
Parents who are separating and domestic violence victims need more support

Many of these observations are not too far off the mark and in some ways the article dispels some common myths, such as the ideas that Baby P was a typical case, and that most child deaths are at the hands of strangers.

However, social workers will be concerned about some of the explanations and 'solutions' offered. They include:

Serious case reviews "shy away from blame", with the implication that they should blame more. (In reality, the blame-culture makes SCRs less effective)
The threshold for intervention is too low: more children with violent/separating parents should be put on the child protection register (interesting, given the Mail's penchant for "child snatching" stories) and all agencies need to be aware of the dangers associated with parental separation
"The vast majority of these killings are behind closed doors - and that perhaps it's time we prised open these doors"
Missed appointments should trigger concern
There is an "arrogant refusal" to speak to relatives and give weight to their concerns
Laming's recommendations post Victoria Climbie and Baby P haven't all been acted on (with the implication that if they were things would be different)
Social services claim they can't meet Laming's recommendations because of a lack of funding
It takes will and attitude to change, not extra funding

The article displays some important inconsistencies and a lack of understanding of some of the issues.

Early on it points out that the Baby P case was not typical and focusing on it could risk missing the real problems, yet later it suggests that the answer is implementing changes from reviews conducted after Baby P.

The article suggests that funding is the "excuse" offered by social services for "lack of progress". In my experience, the issue raised is not money but human resources - number of staff and how they are able/expected to use their time. To the untutored eye this may seem like a finance issue but in reality it is more complex.

Unfortunately, the complexities are ignored in this article, perhaps because it doesn't suit the Mail's agenda and because even a cursory examination would reveal that it is often part of the problem. In reality resource issues relate to vacancy rates (which are linked to the public standing of the profession, driven down by papers like the Mail) and the amount of time that social workers are required to spend in the office at their computer screens (which could be partly a result of Laming's 2000 recommendations, the same recommendations that the Mail has decided would solve everything).

Meanwhile the article misses some of the more sticky issues. It mentions the various agencies involved in child protection in addition to social services but never mentions the clear problems with finding an effective way to work together, share information and make decisive decisions. It also fails to acknowledge that parents, family members and the public have an ethical responsibility to do more, rather than ceding all responsibility to "the authorities".

The piece itself is related to a programme to be shown on Channel 4 next week. Hopefully it will avoid the pitfalls of the Mail and instead speak to frontline social workers about the real issues.

Telegraph attacks social workers

2009-07-06T11:31:04Z

by Simeon Brody

The state, aka social workers, are guilty of kidnapping children. That is the general thrust of Christopher Booker's opinion piece masquerading as a kind of news story in The Telegraph.
]]>

One of the most disturbing features of life in modern Britain has been the extraordinary powers given to social workers to seize children from their parents, too often - when those powers are abused - supported by the police and family courts.

I won't go into the article in detail and it's obviously very difficult to comment without all the information but it has been analysed very effectively over on Fighting Monsters.

However, I did find some interesting information about the author Christopher Booker on Wikipedia. Apparently, he has claimed that man-made climate change has been "disproved", that white asbestos is "chemically identical to talcum powder" and believes in intelligent design. Perhaps that shouldn't colour my opinion of this particular article but I'm afraid it just does.

"Tabloid blame game is poor journalism"

2009-06-30T12:40:45Z

By Emma Maier

To 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.

]]>
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.

Your campaign needs you...

2009-06-25T18:50:27Z

Our Stand Up Now for Social Work campaign has had a major breakthrough this week: top 'real-life' magazine Take a Break is supporting our work with its own campaign, titled "Thank God for Social Workers".

This is a bid deal - Take a Break is read by more than a million people a week. But to really help to turn around the public's opinion of social work we all need to act now to take advantage of this unique opportunity. There are six small things you can do to make a difference...

]]> The 2 July issue of Take a Break, in shops from 25 June, includes an overwhelming positive article, which is mentioned on the cover, and there are more articles planned. The magazine is also giving away "Thank God For Social Work" badges. I strongly urge you to buy a copy and read the piece on p17 (read our story here).

But to really make the most of the opportunity, each and every social worker must act. Please take a few moments to:

Request a badge (or several to give to colleagues/friends/family/strangers...). Get hold of yours by emailing Take a Break: thankgodforsocialworkers@bauer.co.uk
Wear your badge with pride.
Take a photo of yourself wearing your badge and send it to comcare.campaign@rbi.co.uk or load it up at www.communitycare.co.uk/carespace/photos/. Take a Break is also collecting photos - we hope to publish them in some form in the coming weeks.
Consider sharing a social work success story with Community Care and/or Take a Break. Community Care is running a series of articles giving positive images of social work and we are working with the wider media to get your stories out there. Take a Break wants to publish more success stories, but can only do so if it gets some volunteers. Have you got a story to tell? If you are a director, can you find a willing frontline social worker from your authority? If you are unsure, here are ten reasons why you should tell your tale!
Email this request on to anyone who may be able to help - the more people the better. If you have an email newsletter, please include this information. You can download suggested email text here: EmailText.doc
Act now. Do not delay - we all know that yesterday's papers are tomorrow chip-wrapping: this is a unique opportunity to make a difference but it won't last long. Please act now.

If you have any thoughts, suggestions or comments, please do email me. For more on the campaign, see www.communitycare.co.uk/stand.

More
Community Care's article about the Take a Break campaign
Blog: why this is such a huge opportunity
Read the Take Break article? Have you say on CareSpace, our discussion forum
More on Community Care's Stand Up Now for Social Work campaign, which is calling for more balanced media coverage of social work to boost public perceptions of the profession

The Daily Mail spies Shoesmith

2009-06-09T10:15:19Z

Writes Vern Pitt

The Daily Mail have decided to demonstrate once again just how they won Community Care's Worst Coverage of social work award. The paper has published a picture of former Haringey head of children's services Sharon Shoesmith perusing the Guardian jobs section.

]]> This seems like a rather cynical attempt to drive traffic to their site by the same section of the media who were instrumental in her having to leaf through the jobs section in the first place. But it's hardly responsible journalism to keep a story alive and titillate a few readers at the expense of Shoesmith's privacy.

What useful information does this picture add to the debate of what exactly went wrong within Haringey council for the death of baby Peter to take place? About as much as another Daily Mail top story on how another unemployed public figure, Geri Halliwell, got her curves back.

If you were in any doubt of the Mail's agenda here they helpfully remind us of the esteem with which they hold council employees describing the posts advertised in the Guardian as "non-jobs".

But it is their non-story which comes at the expense of one woman's privacy to go about her business while she tries to rebuild her life and career.

It's not really that unusual for anyone who's not got a job to be seeking one. How much more outrage would it cause the Daily Mail if Shoesmith felt she had enough money to not bother or worse still decided to claim benefits?

It seems to me that she can't win. It's quite plausible that had she been papped enjoying the summer with an ice cream in the park they would have run the pictures with a headline akin to "Baby P boss hasn't a care in the world".

As the Mail reports, Shoesmith is taking Haringey to employment tribunal after her swift dismissal as well as legal action against both Ed Balls and Ofsted.

While the Mail are invading her privacy they might do well to remember Shoesmith's readiness to take legal action to uphold her rights. Taking photos of people in a public place is something of a legal grey area. While the European courts have ruled this breaches a person's right to privacy, the UK courts have so far allowed this although recent cases suggest they are slowly leaning toward Europe's perspective.

The legal picture may not be black and white but the Mail's misplaced moralising certainly is.

Could the Queen help social work's image?

2009-06-09T09:47:42Z

By Emma Maier

I wonder how many social workers will be on the Queens birthday honours list when it is published on Saturday. When I looked at the honours website this morning, it struck me that the social work field should be better represented - and that honouring social workers in this way could help to boost the profession's standing in society.
]]> The honours website lists a number of qualities and achievements that many social workers will have, including:

Improving the lot of those less able to help themselves
Displaying moral courage and vision in making and delivering tough choices
Making a difference to their community or field of work
Changing things, with an emphasis on achievement

Honouring more social workers would help to boost the public profile of the profession and recognise the the important work that social workers do - the aim of our Stand Up Now for Social Work campaign.

This kind of celebration of an individual's achievements can benefit the whole profession, not just the individuals honoured.

Maybe social workers themselves should do more to nominate colleagues and peers who inspire them. It is easier than you might think - a nomination pack and form are available from the website, and the process essentially involved answering seven questions about the nominee.

Who would you nominate? Discuss your thoughts on our CareSpace discussion forum.

UPDATE:

So following the publication of the honours list, it looks like there was a grand total of one named social worker. Fighting against the tide, was Leicester materntiy social worker Andrea Margaret Collingridge, who was made an MBE. Congratulations to her. It would be heartening to see the numbers of social workers on the list swell next time around. There are no shortage of achievements to recognise in this important sector.

Cardiff mum threatens to superglue newborn baby to her body

2009-06-08T10:18:35Z

by Simeon Brody

I spotted this story on WalesOnline. ]]>
I didn't get the impression, as I sometimes do with these kind of stories, that the newspaper is coming down on one side without necessarily having all the facts.

It seems to me that local newspapers are often more responsible in their reporting than nationals. But you may disagree with me...

Portsmouth paper's positive social work coverage

2009-06-05T13:35:34Z

By Emma Maier

Volunteers' Week provided a welcome opportunity to recongise the positive work of one social work student. On the face of, this short story is a small victory. But a look back at recent media coverage shows that this story did not appear by chance; its the result of a decent media strategy on the part of Portsmouth Council. ]]> Unsung heroes get awards for giving up time to help others", Portsmouth paper The News told the story of 22-year-old social work student Aimee Dennis.

Dennis volunteers for three hours a week to Home Start, a charity that helps families. She began helping as part of her social work degree on a six-month placement but enjoyed it so much she decided to carry on, the paper reports.

At six lines, it is a short mention. And it sits towards the end of the story, following the rather impressive tale of 87-year-old Dot Coley, who has been a volunteer at Age Concern for 21 years.

But it is, nevertheless, valuable coverage. It gives a positive portrayal of social workers, it publicises the crucial fact that social workers are degree qualified and it shows that social workers are real people who do everyday things like volunteering.

This coverage engaged my curiosity, so I did a quick search on The News's website to see how their other social work coverage measured up. I'm pleased to say that "Unsung heroes" was not a one-off.

In the past couple of months the paper has run:

A day-in-the-life piece about a social worker
An informative and easy-to-read piece about planned changes to adult care
A positive piece about foster carers
A balanced news story about the pressures of a surge in child protection cases
An interview with Margaret Geary, Portsmouth Counil's strategic director responsible for social care about how the council was learning from the Baby P case

In fact, the list goes on and on. So how has Portsmouth Council managed all this positive coverage? It it likely that Geary's interview is the key: she and the council are clearly open about what they do and are prepared to talk about their successes and challenges. It looks like their approach is paying off.

It is a lesson that more departments and local authorities should heed.

Read more
Ten reasons to talk to the press

Should social workers listen to Max Clifford?

2009-06-02T18:16:02Z

"Talking to a full house, some felt Max Clifford was master of stating the bleeding obvious..."

Peter Beresford, chair of Shaping Our Lives

"You might not like Max Clifford. His brash image, his dubious-looking-but-almost-certainly-real tan... But like him or not, you must listen to his advice."

Community Care deputy editor Emma Maier

Max Clifford is a controversial character and divides opinion. Here we give to opposing views about his advice to the social work profession.

]]>

Peter Beresford, chair of service user organisation Shaping Our Lives

I heard mixed reports of Max Clifford's 'PR Masterclass on Improving The Image of Social Work' at Community Care Live. It was clearly an imaginative idea inviting him: getting the lion to enter the lamb's den, as it were. I hadn't trusted myself to join the audience for fear of saying the wrong thing. An earlier 'outburst' of mine when Jimmy Carr was telling discriminatory jokes at a CC Awards Ceremony had not gone unnoticed and your blogger did not want to risk any kind of excluding order being placed on him.

Talking to a full house, some felt Max Clifford was master of stating the bleeding obvious about improving social work's image. But others thought it was a good idea for social work and social care to be acting 'out of the box' as PR people like to call it. If this was a bit like sleeping with the enemy, then we might at least learn something useful as a result. And of course Mr Clifford seems quite a nice chap. He was happy to let me take his photograph (see below) and he is a beacon for how one day all of us may perhaps be able to afford world class dentistry.

But this occasion did raise for me a big question I've not yet seen asked elsewhere and which to be honest previously hadn't occurred to me. If Max Clifford is such a master of PR, how comes his own image is so bad? Isn't there a rather important contradiction here? If he is so good at polishing other people's personas, how is it that his own is so tarnished?

Most recently of course there has been the embarrassing affair of his self-proclaimed discovery of the Beatles, which Hunter Davies has dismissed, saying only that he may have "shifted a few handouts" while working for EMI at the time.

Perhaps there is a moral here for social work. Forget the specious PR. Stick to the daytime job. Do it well. Explain it honestly and clearly. Stand by your principles, especially when under attack from the less than principled strands of the media. This approach certainly seems to be making the Sun a little nervous at present. Remember the adage of that master of media relations, Corporal Jones of Dad's Army. They don't like it up 'em!!

Emma Maier, deputy editor, Community Care

"You might not like Max Clifford. His brash image, his dubious-looking-but-almost-certainly-real tan... But like him or not, if you want to change public perceptions of your profession, you must listen to his advice. Here's why.

"He has got the credentials. He is among the best in his profession; someone who can not only get stories into the press, but also keep them out. Few PRs can kill a story; he is one of them.

"He doesn't have an ulterior motive. He is pragmatic and generally supportive of social work, recognising that social work, like all professions, is not always perfect but that in the main is a hard job that benefits many in society. His agenda is not to insult social workers - his brief at the recent Community Care Live event was to give his professional opinion on how social work's image could be improved and he did just that.

"As a journalist, I can attest that his advice makes good sense. The most pertinent messages where these:

The media has the power to choose how and whether to cover your stories, so if you want to influence them you've got to play by the press's rules. You might not like it, but that's the reality - complaining that it isn't fair won't change anything
You need to get more positive stories about social work out there to counter-balance the negative coverage
Councils need to ensure there is a strong relationship between their PR people, directors and frontline social workers.
The profession needs a strong voice - a representative the media can go to who speaks plainly about the realities of social work and sets reporters straight
You must be prepared to brief newspaper editors off the record - "no comment" does not kill a story; showing the evidence that disproves it does. Other professions do it all the time.

"In short, Max Clifford is an eminent expert without an axe to grind who is offering pragmatic advice - if he can't turn around the image of social work, no-one can. That's good enough reason for me."

Have your say

They've given their views, but what do you think? Have your say on CareSpace, our discussion forum

Ten reasons why Social workers should talk to the press