Facebook to end knife crime...

The suits in Westminster, Whitehall to be precise, look like they've finally tapped into the well of secret knowledge that separates the clued-in from mere mortals. In the fight against youth knife crime it seems that it may finally have dawned upon campaigners that young Britons don't acquire information from papers such as the Daily Mail, but instead consume media titles that are actually aimed at them (such as Facebook & something called 'MTV').

Former Whitehall comms chief Mike Granatt has stated that the government's attempts at knife amnesties and campaigns have so far been ineffective and that more should be done to speak to young people directly. Charities have also asked the government to be more direct in the ways that they target potential knife crime victims or malefactors.

Granatt said: ‘It won't make any difference having an article in the Daily Mail. They need to be speaking to them on MTV and Facebook and using the media that they use.'

The Prince's Trust has agreed with the points made by Granatt, arguing that media coverage in the nationals is only effective to a certain point. Westmonster has to agree also - the majority of government campaigns tend to try and speak at or for kids instead of to them...

Deputy comms director Rob Cope said: ‘Media coverage is used to communicate to the public who we rely on for financial support. Word of mouth from other young people who have been on our programmes is the most effective way to communicate with them.'

It just might work...

Written by Oli Anderson on 10 Jul 2008 2:02 PM. Permalink