Media Watch
Call for probe into police after apology to Channel 4
16 May - The Birmingham Post
Town Halls should map race and religion to identify 'tension hotspots', says Hazel Blears
15 May - Daily Mail
Police and CPS apologise to programme makers
15 May - The Guadian
Could I stop being a Muslim?
15 May - BBC Radio 4
Churchgoing on its knees as Christianity falls out of favour
8 May - The Times
'Caste wall' is partly demolished
6 May - BBC News
Teenage Iraqi girl who fell in love with BRITISH soldier in Basra is murdered by her own father in honour killing
29 Apr - Evening Standard
subscribe to Media WatchReuters AlertNet
Thousands flee as China lake bank feared broken
FACTBOX-Why Myanmar's generals stand firm
Bush arrives in Egypt for Palestinian talks
Zimbabwe's Tsvangirai delays return
Blast in Afghanistan kills child, wounds four
Lebanese leaders face hurdles at tense Qatar talks
ADVISORY-China quake lake story withdrawn
Zimbabwe's Tsvangirai will not return home Saturday
Myanmar death toll soars, diplomats tour delta
UK condemns Myanmar's cyclone response as "inhuman"
Consultancy & Training
LAPIDO MEDIA offers consultancy and training in media planning and issues management for faith-based organizations engaged in social change. We also offer media training, particularly to those working cross-culturally. Our connections with the media, the academy, and international agencies multiply the leaven-effect of small but vital civil society organisations, so building capacity for social and spiritual transformation at the grass roots. Travel and service in countries all over the world, together with 25 years' experience of working with BME groups in Britain give us special insights and contacts in a fast-changing scene.
Our clients have included the Nigerian-led Jesus House for all Nations, recognized by The Daily Telegraph as ‘the fastest growing church in Britain today’. A six-month consultancy to mainstream this important group’s issues at a time of controversy over African-derived churches in London resulted in a symposium in Westminster entitled ‘Christianity or the Occult? Emerging Trends in the African Diaspora’ for more than 100 professionals, journalists, Africanists and church leaders. It was sponsored by the Metropolitan Police and the Church Mission Society, and co-chaired by Richard Dowden, Director of the Royal African Society, Pete Broadbent, the Bishop of Willesden, and Constantia Pennie, Founder of the Association of Black Social Workers. Unusually, award-winning journalist Angus Stickler of the BBC Today Programme, who broke the original story of so-called ‘child witches’ in London, gave a paper about what motivated him, and he shared the platform with leaders of the Nigerian and Congolese churches, Pastor Agu Irukwu and Jean-Bosco Kanyemesha. Painstaking work building relationships across a myriad discourses resulted in a successful event that warranted seven pages on BBC Online alone – and a subtle but important shift in the national discourse that had threatened to become increasingly misinformed and inflammatory.
Keynote Speaker Anthony Gittins, Professor of Missiology from Chicago’s Catholic Theological Union said of the event:
‘In a world in which many good people do nothing, Lapido Media is a fine example of an organization not willing to be persuaded that there is nothing to be done. I was truly impressed by their determination to level mountains and raise valleys, so as to bring people to a clearer and more respectful understanding of each other and of issues that threaten to divide them. Jonathan Sacks' phrase ‘the dignity of difference’ is exemplified in their work.’
Faithworks hired us to help focus their public affairs work on diversity regulation. The result was a new focus on government intervention, and a media event in Westminster that showcased five Christian charities speaking up about local authority overkill. The heavy-handed application of well-intentioned regulation against the voluntary sector can strangle the goose that lays the golden egg. Civil society organisations know their users better than regulators, and they know what works. Public accountability through the media is essential where small groups are willing but vulnerable adjuncts of public policy. The Daily Mail, the Guardian and the BBC all covered the issues raised.
Faithworks Executive Director Joy Madeiros said of our input:
‘Jenny Taylor’s in-depth understanding of religious discourse and her grasp of the role the Church has played in interfaith relations helped us to gain an overview of the world we were entering, and a sense of confidence about our strategic intentions, neither of which would have been possible without her intervention.’
The Tropical Health and Education Trust punch way above their weight and budget, and do not have either a media strategy or a press officer. And yet the work they are doing with NHS volunteers giving their time in Africa and elsewhere to train local staff and prevent the scandalous brain drain of qualified medical staff to the West is one of the great untold stories of our time. Their reputation is formidable to the few who know – so much so that they launched the World Health Organization’s Annual Report. Lapido Media was hired – for a very small sum! - to help ensure their messages were heard amid the WHO PR din.
Contact us here to discuss your needs for media training, strategic planning, or just to help you focus on the story you want to tell.
Lapido Blog
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Downloadable Publications
Ethics in Brief
‘Women have borne the brunt of our failed multi-culturalism’, argues Jenny Taylor in Ethics in Brief Spring 2008 issue
Christianity or Occult?
As cases of kindoki or ‘child witch’ abuse re-surface in Britain, a new downloadable report brings together material by leading African and English scholars from a recent symposium that throws light on some of the allegations.
Featured Publications
Crimes of the Community
A devastating report on the rise of "honour-based" violence against women from immigrant communities in the UK. It is devastating not just because it reveals the complicity of some "community leaders" in killings, attempted murder and beatings, but also because its sources are so authoritative...
Young, British and Muslim
'A most important book on British Muslims. It explodes many contemporary stereotypes to reveal a picture which is far more complex than is often supposed. It shines a light onto both new areas of menace and new avenues of hope. Every politician and policy-maker should read it.'
Paul Vallely, The Independent
Conviction and Conflict
Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali sets out fundamental guidelines on the role of religion in society and its relationship to nationalism, ideology and political institutions, and examines Christian-Muslim dialogue with particular relationship to the rise of Arab, Indian and Turkish nationalism.
Not for Sale
This is a must read for all those seeking to understand the issues surrounding sexual exploitation and abuse in our society today - the human cost of UK prostitution today and the scourge of trafficking for sexual exploitation exposed to our senses as never before.
More information and Sample Chapters »