The Image of Social Work
One of the aims of the upcoming GSCC conference is to improve the image of social work:
to discuss the status of social work and how its public image can be improved
Ed Balls, in a press statement about the social work Taskforce said:
Our ambition is for social work to be a high quality, self-confident profession, with the confidence, support and esteem of the public.
I’ve got nothing against social work having a better image but over the years there seem to have been a number of efforts to raise the image and and always by turning to journalists and politicians. If one were to look for professions held in even less esteem than social work then politicians, journalists (and estate agents) would immediately spring to mind. Why on earth would we think that journalists can help our image when they clearly are unable to improve their own?
What journalists could do is to stop writing stories intended to smear social workers such as the story about the child fostered with a terrorist. This was untrue in several different ways but that did not stop the Mail, the Sun, the Star and the Express all spinning this non-story into a tabloid storm of abuse directed at social workers. This fine example of gutter journalism is forensically picked apart by Anorak.
Our problem is not over getting newspapers to say nice things about us; it is to stop them printing insulting and abusive rubbish about us and to stop politicians jumping on the same rotten bandwagon.
I completely agree – for what it’s worth!
cb your agreement is worth a lot to me.
I wonder if BASW and Haringey Council have lodged complaints with the Press Complaints Commission about this outrageous tabloid coverage or are we all so demoralised that we just can’t raise the energy?
I doubt they have. The Press Complaints Commission is exceptionally toothless. And really, nothing is going to change mind or attitude of The Daily Mail..
You are absolutely right cb.
But on the other hand, ‘Qui tacet consentiret’ – Silence gives consent.