LO1 Checklist

How can a social action bring about local, national or global change?
By creating a social action video, it allows the audience/viewers to be informed
and to be educated on a particular issue or topic. This way, people are more
likely to do something about it and try to pursue a life-changing goal. For
example, the supersize me documentary informed people on the health related
issue based around McDonalds. As McDonalds is massive franchiser, it easy for
people to consume McDonalds and therefor are effected by the documentary.
How can a social action change attitudes?
Social action can change attitudes by giving the viewers something controversial
to think about which they may not usual see as an issue. For example Louis
Therouxs documentaries are produced in a way that the viewers can create their
own opinion as he is notoriously known for being biased.
How can a social action raise awareness?
Social action can raise awareness by highlighting issues that may not have been
raised to the attention of the public. These videos can often be quite shocking
and raw, which is why people become so emotionally attached to the subject.
How can a social action create access to media production for non-traditional
groups?
It is so important for Social action to access media production in order for more
people to see what really goes on behind closed doors and get a bigger
impression within the issues going on in the world currently without it going
through big commercial channels such as Sky, Channel four etc. A good example
of this is the current loss of independent shops in Henley on Thames, which is
our current project also, and we are trying to fight the issue of Henley being filled
with constant coffee shops and charity shops.
How can a social action challenge dominant representations and agendas?
In order for a social action to challenge and already solid representation of
something, it would be very difficult due to them having a big name and being
trusted by so many audiences. When the Blackfish documentary was created, it
was a very controversial subject due to SeaWorld being such a household brand
and known well by so many people. So when this documentary was created it got
so much attention because of how honest it was about the truth of the livelihood
of the animals kept there and became a massive breakthrough for controversial
documentaries.
How can a social action create or strengthen community ties?
Social action can bring people together when a strong opinion is created
between people because it motivates people to make a change and fight for

what they believe in due to the strength in numbers. A prime example is when
Donald Trump was elected president and the petitions and marches that were
created were incredible because of what certain people believed in.
How can a social action provide information?
Social Action can provide information by including facts, figures and statistics. It
also helps to include plenty of interviews showing both good or bad and trying to
be as controversial as possible; and going on location helps to prove the
information true and backs up the evidence, which makes it more entertaining.
For example, with the Kony campaign the producers have interviewed someone
who has been affected by Konys actions first hand which therefore highlights the
reality and the information comes through effectively.
How can a social action campaign?
A social action can campaign in so many different ways, some examples are
peaceful protests, posters, petitions, interviews and social media groups are also
formed a lot of the time too. During 2012 when the Kony project came about
there was so much campaigning used in order to gain publicity for the project.
Huge posters were used to cover the town, graffiti was used, small posters were
also put up and talks were put on which finally caught attention of Barack
Obama.
How can a social action change voting behaviour?
Voting behaviour can be changed by social action by the activists voicing their
opinions and thoughts to the extremity that others then tend to change their
thoughts on what they think about the topic. A clear observation of this was
when Donald Trump became President through using persuasive techniques
within the media; he said exactly what people wanted to hear (Make America
great again). This was effective because it was exactly what Americans wanted
to hear and he managed to manipulate the population into believing America
would become great again.
How can a social action infiltrate mainstream media?
Social action helps infiltrate social media by targeting the younger generation
who use social media a lot to express opinions. They become targeted by saying
that they are the future which entices them to continue with what they put out
on social media. In the Kony campaign, posters and riots were used to get the
attention of the American Government and Obamas troops.
How can a social action build relationships with subjects?
A good example of relationships through social action are the Louis Theroux
documentaries. Louis Theroux appears very biased and therefore the subjects of
the documentary are not threatened and can open up to him. This is very
effective because it provides the viewers with a back-story of the history of the
people as to why they committed the crime.