Workshops and Training
Masterclasses with Samantha Asumadu
Workshops for aspiring journalists, lawyers, radical new media and campaigners
Learn from my experience
This workshop gives campaigners, journalists, law firms and media organisations a well-rounded understanding of online publishing and offline and online campaigning.
You will learn about Media Diversified, my investigative journalism work and/or my ground-breaking concept of radical organising and crisis campaigning and how it can drive truly transformational change.
I have conducted workshops/talks at:
LSE's Polis Journalism School
Kings College London
National Union of Journalists events in London and Glasgow
Private training for grassroots campaigners and more
Email samantha.asumadu@gmail.com for further information, or to arrange to talk about bespoke options.
We all have power, but few of us understand the full spectrum of where and how we can wield it, share it or combine it to create change.
Samantha Asumadu is an investigative journalist and documentary filmmaker.
She has written for the Guardian, the Telegraph, Open Democracy, New Statesman and been interviewed on Radio 4 Womans hour, LBC, BBC World and other BBC programmes.
Her decades long commitment to grassroots activism led to her campaigning about women’s representation in Theatre, child abuse by UN peacekeepers in war zones, media equity, the Nationality and Borders Bill, Sentences of Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP), missing and murdered Black women and children in the UK and Sickle cell anemia.
Samantha directed and co-produced her first film for Aljazeera English in 2009. The Super Ladies is about three Ugandan women rally drivers and a race with a dramatic outcome.
She founded Media Diversified, (2013-2022) with a mission to challenge the homogeneity of voices in UK news media, through addressing the under-representation of marginalised communities. In 2015 she co-founded the Bare Lit Festival of writing.
In 2022 she was a finalist for Private Eye's Paul Foot Investigative and Campaigning Journalism Award and the Society of Editors, National Investigation of the Year, Media Freedom Award.
In 2024 she set up TRAWL a TV and Audio Production company with award-winning TV director and producer Duncan Bulling focusing on the Criminal Justice System.
She's just wrapped up reporting for the documentary podcast series, Trapped: The IPP Prisoner Scandal. The series was a finalist in the 2024 Sandford St Martin Awards.
Find links to films, writing, workshops, podcasts and more here.
Read my full bio here.
Media Diversified’s experience will help you understand and harness your own capacity for transformational campaigning and organising for mass mobilisation and lobbying.
We will look at case studies of successful campaigns and ask what qualities they share.
This is an opportunity to get skilled as an:
Investigative journalist
Online and offline organiser
Online publisher to support grassroots direct action and protests.
A campaigning lawyer
Never forget that justice is what love looks like in public.
– Dr. Cornel West
You will learn how to
Use video, graphics and statistics to your advantage
Use AI in your investigative journalism
Write an ethical headline which doesn’t misrepresent a writer
Give a quote as a campaigner or CEO to a journalist without being misrepresented!
Gain insight into Media Diversified’s unique analysis of how social change happens through media and campaigning
Understand the basics of analysing power and learn how to start planning effective campaigning activity
Understand the habits that make change successful at an individual and organisational level.
Set goals and bring the public along with you
Use timely and effective direct action
Cut through the noise and get your voice heard
Run an organiser meeting with real results
Get journalists to run your story
You will learn transferable skills in organising and campaigning that will be invaluable when working with others in grassroots organising and the media.
Meet the Londoner working to change the face of journalism
‘Writer and filmmaker Samantha Asumadu went from the London club scene to reporting from East Africa – then returned home to give a platform to BAME journalism.’
“We should have different voices with different perspectives”
A write up by a Polis Summer School student for a presentation I gave to the London School of Economic students studying journalism
Excerpt from Why Do We Need Activism? By Shane Thomas
‘The truth is activism – when done right – isn’t a symptom of having too much time on your hands, being a killjoy, or manufacturing problems that don’t exist. It’s love actualised.
When I say love, this shouldn’t conjure fluffy images of mawkish pop music, sunny meadows, or forced politeness towards those who treat you without respect. You can’t positive-think your way out of oppression.
“Love ain’t just something you say, just this word. It’s something you do.” – Emteaz Hussain
And it’s something you have to keep doing. A constant process of renewal.
The point of activism is to create a world where the only thing preventing someone achieving their goals is natural talent and work ethic. It’s to ensure everyone gets to have a go on life’s fairground rides, rather than having a “you must be this white/male/cis/straight/thin/able-bodied/fluent in English/wealthy/educated” sign to keep people out.
FURTHER INFO
Prices
Please note: *One hour workshops run on a progressive pricing model.
PRICING TIERS
Small organisations (with a turnover of under £100,000)
Mid-sized organisations (£500,000-£2m)
Large organisations (£2m +)
* Further charges will be incurred if workshops are longer than one hour.
Contact
Email for enquiries and bookings: samantha.asumadu@gmail.com