Knowledge is Power: Instagram, Politics and Accessibility

Journalist Joanne Fong chats with the founders of Cheek Media to discuss how accessible political information can empower voters.

In our busy lives, we barely have time to keep up with our favourite Netflix shows let alone what’s going on in Australian politics. It can be difficult to sift through chunks of information and to figure out what is relevant, biassed or even true. However, being in the loop and making informed political decisions is more important than ever to ensure the future of Australians. We all saw what happened in the infamous 2016 US elections, with Donald Trump winning in part due to uninformed voters. 

Research carried out by political scientists at MIT and George Mason University has shown that uninformed voters are more likely to make voting mistakes by not fully understanding the electoral choices on offer or how these relate to their interests and preferences. Access to reliable, easy to understand political information is critical to help Australians be informed voters. And what source of information is as accessible as social media?

Online media platforms such as Cheek Media, Daily Aus, and Triple J Hack are forerunners in  increasing equity and accessibility of political knowledge. Founders of Cheek Media Co. Kristen Perissinotto, Hannah Ferguson, and Catherine Stubbs sat down with us to chat about how they use their online platform to break down complex political information into easily digestible digital content.

Image Courtesy of the Cheek Media Co.

With the recent election and results still fresh in our minds, the importance of our vote in creating change is more prevalent than ever. What drove you to start posting political content on your platforms? Was there an evolution of this over time and why?

When we started Cheek, we initially had intentions of spreading ourselves thinly over a wide variety of content. Within a few months we became hyper-aware of the content our growing audience was keen on. For us, hardline opinion pieces on feminist and socio-political issues are our strong suit and our progressive audience loves to engage with our conflicting positions. While the federal election is over, for us this is a new opportunity to raise the bar for political critique, but also as a chance for us to change gears and have broader feminist discussions.

How do you avoid the pitfalls of bias and spreading misinformation that come with sharing political content?

Our political content is always opinion-based and relies on us having an accurate and ongoing understanding of political systems and the news that is breaking, but that also does not mean that we always get it right. Our priority is to source our information from the right places, understand the biases of other publications and ensure we are consistently checking in with ourselves about our positions and having the flexibility to constantly challenge our own views as new information and perspectives emerge. We aren’t always going to get it right, but making sure we are open to criticism and constantly engage with a range of sources is a crucial first step.

Have you had any feedback from readers that stands out to you on how your progressive political information posts have had a direct impact on them?

We regularly receive feedback, both brutal and complimentary, and love chatting with our followers about what engages them and their relative positions and thoughts on our content. When it comes to political information specifically, we have had followers let us know that they have started volunteering with a particular candidate because of our content, or even just had a hard conversation with a family member after learning something new from our posts. 

At the other end of the spectrum, we have also had people critique our positions, accuse us of being funded by political parties or tell us we’re ‘selling-out’ whenever we post something that isn’t political. Our goal for Cheek is never to tell people who to vote for or what to believe, but to ask questions that spark real interactions and get people thinking. We put our opinions out there not because we think people should take what we say as gospel, but because we enjoy providing nuance to big ideas and when followers challenge us on that it feels like success.

Social media, particularly Instagram, allows for heavy engagement in the comment sections of your political posts. Have you had any issues with moderating these conversations?

Definitely. Often social media can be a toxic wasteland of infighting, with people mis-reading the tone of a comment or idea or offering personal judgement on the experience of another. Honestly, we do struggle with navigating how to moderate these conversations and care for our own mental health, but these challenges are something that comes with the privilege of having an audience to voice your ideas to.

Research conducted by the Australian Election Study shows that Australians from vulnerable backgrounds are the most likely to be politically uninformed. What are your thoughts on this, and do you specifically target these demographics to bridge the knowledge gap with your content?

Image Courtesy of the Cheek Media Co.

Obviously our thoughts are that it’s a shame! Australian politicians largely don’t attempt to involve people from vulnerable backgrounds in their decision-making, policies, or communications. And that’s most likely purposeful. It also should be noted that politics disproportionately affects people from marginalised backgrounds. We always hope our content resonates with a more diverse group of people, and we always try our best to make sure content is accessible to people who don’t have much, or any, background knowledge on the topic at hand. We certainly hope that our content helps inform people who weren’t politically engaged prior, and we have heard from a lot of people that this has been the case.

An interesting take on intentionally being uninformed that you touch upon in your podcast “The Weekly Cheek” is burnout and activism burnout. How has this played a role in not only how you create but consume political media?

As a team, we are incredibly good at recognising burnout and mental health challenges in each other and this means we are great at balancing the work and actively letting each other know when we need to take a day to ourselves. As a small platform, we are selective about what content we create and can be picky with what we think our followers are likely to find engaging and conversational. We think deeply about particular issues and don’t need to engage with every news story every day, meaning we have more time to unpack a big topic and then switch off.

Do you have any future plans to expand or change your political coverage post-election and beyond?

Cheek has expanded at a pace we could not have foreseen, but we absolutely have plans underway to expand our content. While most of our plans are currently just ‘in the works’ and we aren’t really in a position to reveal them (secrets - how exciting!), we have collaborated on a new limited podcast series to be released later this year. For the moment, we are just really excited to engage with our followers on topics that go beyond the election. Honestly, it is so refreshing to not have to talk about Scott Morrison every single day.

To support or learn more about the work Cheek Media does, you can visit their website, share and follow them on social media or check out their podcast “The Weekly Cheek.”

WORDS: JOANNE FONG
PHOTOGRAPHY: THE CHEEK MEDIA CO.