Media and Activism: Online Assignment 1

For this assignment, Tom Wickham, Fran Pugh and myself will be looking at how Joanna Lumley's backing of the Gurkha justice campaign is a form of 'media activism'.

Help(s/d) the evolution of an independent and participatory media;

The Gurkha justice campaign was set-up to provide all Gurkha veterans who served the British army before 1997 the right to settle in Britain. Joanna Lumley became the public face of the campaign in 2008 and brought high public attention to the campaign.
She offered a no holds barred way of fighting for the issue by pushing it into government and held a march with members from all political parties and including Gurkhas from Parliament square to Downing street with a petition signed by 250,000 people. She offered a face and leadership to the campaign that would not lie down and take it, she would fight no matter what and bring the ugly truths to the public's attention by stunts such as her following of Phil Woolas around the BBC Westminster offices until he stopped and held an impromptu press conference which could be seen as "Ms Lumley appearing to be leading the government a merry dance on the issue." - BBC News

This campaign united media attention from all angles because of her forceful approach and no fear of humiliating the government.
Guardian.co.uk has an article stating: “What's unusual about this campaign is that it is supported by newspapers – such as the Sun, Daily Mail and Daily Telegraph – that are not normally in favour of relaxing rules on immigration.”
Newspapers reportings of her actions and high public interest in the campaign meant that it trended on news sites and twitter. The campaign's official twitter page allowed for people interested in the campaign to be updated directly with all developments as the campaign progressed, and videos posted to the campaign's official YouTube. The youTube profile allows for uncensored personal messages directly from Joanna herself and help to rally-up support for the campaign.