The Canary needs you to help amplify marginalised people's voices

At The Canary, we’ve been busy amplifying the voices of a new generation of young, working-class journalists. And now, we’re also doing the same for chronically ill and disabled people. We need you, our readers, to help carry this groundbreaking work on – we’re about to amplify more voices that really need to be heard.

Journalism for the rich

The UK media is stuffed with middle and upper class journalists. 75% of everyone who works in the industry had a parent in one of the three highest occupational groups – they’re middle and upper class, you could say. It’s no wonder then that the rest of us feel like the media doesn’t really speak for us – because just 8% of journalists come from the poorest backgrounds. The impact of this is that the media ridicule working-class people and ignore their concerns.

Now, it’s time for change. The Canary wants to be on the frontline. As an outlet, we’re proud that the majority of our staff are working class. So, we’re really aware of the systemic barriers people from our backgrounds face.

That’s why we’ve launched Amplify – a mentoring and training programme for marginalised voices.

Welcome to Amplify

The first round, aimed at working-class 16-25 year olds, happened between January and March 2022. Our young participants took part in workshops covering many aspects of media work. Then, a member of The Canary team mentored them to produce a piece of work. We wanted the young people involved to amplify their own and their peers’ voices. So, the topic of the work was entirely up to them – whatever they felt passionate about. Now, they’ve finished!

There’s a dedicated page on our website to showcase and celebrate the work that’s come out of Amplify. You can read and watch our young people’s amazing work here. This is what one of our participants, NJ, thought of Amplify:

We’ve already recruited over 20 participants for round two – which starts in April. This time, chronically ill and disabled people of any age, who are not in work applied as well.

All the training and mentoring is free. The Canary staff are currently doing this on a voluntary basis. But we want to pay the participants for their finished work and the mentors for their support. That’s where you, our readers and members, come in.

Help us make systemic change in the media

We want to raise £1,500 to be able to pay the participants in Amplify a fair amount – and to secure funding for the project moving forwards. We want to be able to run Amplify again and again: pay the team, make it bigger and better, and benefit more people.

This is a great opportunity for you to be involved in a project that will prepare tomorrow’s generation to take on the entrenched privilege of today’s media. Your donation will go directly to a participant for their work, inspiring them to change the media and society.

You can donate to our crowdfunding here.

So, if you want to help The Canary amplify the voices of the people who we all need to hear from, then please support us: