New campaign from The Irish Sun aims to tackle violence against women
We spoke with Fiona Wynne, Deputy Editor of The Irish Sun, who told us more about the new ‘Call This Out’ campaign.
Why did The Irish Sun start this campaign? We wanted to do something meaningful to reflect the huge outpouring of grief and anger – and the desire for change – following the tragic death of Ashling Murphy. We felt the time was right to launch the Call This Out campaign to allow those who have been directly affected by violence against women to talk openly about how it has impacted their lives and to reflect the views of the hundreds of thousands of people who showed up to vigils and spoke out about the need for a national conversation and for a change in the behaviour and the culture which can directly or indirectly contribute to violence against women. As always, we wanted to help people make their voices heard.
What are you hoping to achieve from it? The ultimate aim is to help facilitate a societal change in the way we think and speak about women. We want people to examine their own behaviour and ask themselves what can they do to make a difference, how can they be part of the solution, rather than part of the problem. And we want people to realise that it will take all of us, acting together, to bring about a meaningful change, whether that’s by calling out the lewd joke or the seemingly harmless banter, or really listening to the women in their lives speak about their own fears and hopes. We also want to give a voice to people who are living in the wake of violence against women, and call on those in authority to listen and to act to make changes for the better.
What has been the reaction from readers? It’s been extremely positive, it’s very clear there’s a huge appetite to keep the conversation going in the wake of Ashling’s death and there’s a massive desire for change. On thesun.ie, over just two days, we had 15,000 page views, a reach of 43,000 and 3,650 engagements, along with countless comments from people sympathising with the families who bravely spoke out and demanding that action must be taken. The nation is clear in its message – enough is enough.
Anything else you’d like to add? The fact that we have put huge resources and time into the Call This Out campaign shows how much we believe in it. It’s a joint venture with our sister company Wireless, who are also rolling it out across their 7 radio stations nationwide, as well as across both our digital and social platforms, so there’s the potential to reach a huge amount of people and firmly put our combined strengths behind a really important drive for change.
