Rushworth, Callum (2024) An alternative lens of Leeds – The Leeds Other Paper 1980-89. Masters thesis, York St John University.

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Abstract

The Leeds Other Paper was an alternative Leeds newspaper that ran from 1974-1994. It was part of a larger movement of alternative newspapers dissatisfied with the established press in many British cities. Though the people working on these papers had no formal journalistic training they were, nevertheless, equipped to produce meaningful coverage of stories and people that would have gone voiceless in the mainstream media. LOP editorials and articles illustrate a continued commitment to reporting on people and groups struggling to take control of their own lives and encouraging the ‘agency’ of their readership to take more control of their own lives or assist in the struggles of others.

This thesis analyses three themes from the 1980s era of the paper through the lens of this agency. In Chapter 1, it argues that LOP’s special report on Protect and Survive was effective in informing people of how little agency they actually had in a nuclear attack, encouraging the view that the only way to defend against nuclear weapons was to get rid of them completely. Chapter 2 looks at the reporting immediately after the 1984-5 miners’ strike ended in March 1985, arguing that the papers focus on the cost of the strike and the idea of the miners up against the state attempts to salvage and justify the agency of the community over the previous year. Finally, Chapter 3 focuses on the campaign against Section 28 in December 1988, arguing that LOP was effective in informing its readership of the threat of Section 28 and encouraging them to get involved in the campaign against it.

Item Type:	Thesis (Masters)
Status:	Published
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > D History (General) D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain > DA566 20th century
School/Department:	School of Humanities
URI:	https://ray.yorksj.ac.uk/id/eprint/12013

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