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Ignite
2 newspapers on "big oil" - 1996 and 1997
Everday billions reach for a news paper. They are windows through which
we see a vast and complex world. But, today these windows are controlled
by an all-powerful few. In a vast city like London, the majority of
us bury our heads in such papers as we sit on our buses, tubes and
trains: people often leave their papers for others to read, and many
of us use the public space to pick up and peruse papers we would never
usually read, especially free newspapers. For these reasons, PLATFORM
decided to launch a free commuter newspaper entitled ‘Ignite’,
designed to put out our research about the oil industry into the bloodstream
of the city.
Published in two editions in November 1996 and December
1997 and produced by an interdisciplinary team of scientists,
journalists, artists, campaigners and researchers, each edition
was themed. Ignite 1: how the oil industry impacts on human rights;
Ignite 2: how transnational corporations impact on climate change.
Combining serious journalism with populist writing,
imaginative design, subvertising and an innovative editorial
style, and playing on commuter behaviour outlined above, readers
were invited to be drawn into debates they might often ignore. ‘Ignite’ emphasises
individual responsibility and connectedness to the challenge
of oil dependency, so that all London citizens can begin to
feel how we are part of the problem, through the things we buy,
the jobs we do, the flights we take, and the money we invest.
With over 15,000 copies distributed each time, a challenge was
made to the media’s culture of complacency. When the project
closed, some contributors to Ignite went on to collaborate with
Reclaim the Streets to create a series of spoof activist newspapers
such as "Evading Standards", "Financial Crimes" , "The
Spun" and "Maybe"...
Publication:
IGNITE, reporting on big oil, (London
commuter newspaper), PLATFORM, Nov/Dec 1997, 15,000 copies
distributed during period of Kyoto Climate Change Conference,
funded by the Arts Council of England. Headline: ‘Smogbusters
! Let’s make this London history’
IGNITE, reporting on big oil, (London commuter newspaper), PLATFORM, Tuesday 10th December 1996, 13,000 copies distributed on Human Rights Day, funded by the Arts Council of England. Headline :‘London company in dirty deal shock’ on BP in Colombia
Collaborators:
Cindy Baxter - environmental campaigner, Nolan Fell - environment journalist,
Dan Gretton, John Jordan, Emma McFarland, James Marriott, Tim Nunn
- photographer/designer, Jane Trowell
Ignite was funded by the Arts Council
of England.