Membership service for journalists who cover Southampton and Hampshire.

Our Version Media exists to increase authentic representation of the south’s black British, African and Caribbean communities. This includes in traditional media.

Our 2020 media survey of black people in Southampton revealed that more than three quarters said they do not feel fairly and accurately represented in local news coverage.

75% felt there was a negative bias against black people in local news coverage, with the majority saying the media was more likely to cover stories about black people that were crime, violence or drugs related.

Respondents said this made them feel “depressed”, “under-represented”, “sad, misunderstood and stereotyped”, “concerned for the younger generation”, and “unwanted, angry and frustrated”. 

The survey revealed a link between the type of coverage and people’s wellbeing: on seeing a positive local black story, respondents said it made them feel “fantastic and included”, “uplifted and proud”, and “inspired”.

Our Version Media has responded to that by introducing a Black Community Coverage Clinic, to equip local people with media skills to tell their own stories and developed a Media Reporting Tool to encourage the city’s residents to report negative racially-biased reporting. We’ve also been working with journalists across the region.

Now we’ve created an Our Version Media membership for journalists who are committed to genuinely increasing diversity in their news reports and coverage. We connect our member journalists with diverse contributors, lead-worthy stories, case studies and expert speakers for their news reports.

If you’d like details about Membership, please complete the form below.