“I’m doing what I’m doing for the right reasons” — Selene Nelson
An interview with the iconic vegan journalist on veganism in the mainstream media and how you can take a leaf out of her book when reporting online.
Powerful but proficient. Honest, but inspiring. Passionate but always professional. A true elocutionist. Just a few of the words I’d use to describe Selene Nelson, amid a room of everyday professionals up on the stage at the Kruger Cowne Breakfast Club— also my first acquaintance with Selene, not in person but instead, through an everlasting YouTube archive and a stream of #Foodactivism videos. I not only felt inspired, but shocked, so calm and suppressive. How could anyone respond to her emails the way the infamous William Sitwell once did… and how did the acquaintance make it from an email thread to a storm both in mainstream media and on socials?
Back in December I had the honour of interviewing Nelson to find out exactly the impact of these outlets and what to do online as an activist. The journalist, up and coming author and public speaker became a vegan three and half years ago and has never looked back since.
The Independent defined her as “The Vegan who bit back” while radio host Niall Boylan opted for “irritating” and “annoying”. The exposed email also sparked comments such as “Selene Nelson is a vile disgusting b***h”. This was just part of Selene’s career over the last two years all after unknowingly creating an iconic online debate with The former Waitrose Editor, William Sitwell, after he responded to her pitch with a rather vicious email.
After the email was leaked via twitter a storm occurred in both mainstream media and on socials as Selene became a name at the forefront of Buzzfeed, The Telegraph and even featured on The One Show. The journalist now, amid lockdowns across the UK, uses these experiences to her advantage through public speaking, blogs and in January of 2020 brought out the blue print for vegan living; ‘Yes-Vegan’. Other than her pop ups in the main stream tabloids in 2018, what is Selene Nelsons opinion on veganism in mainstream media outlets?
In a recent blog post I looked into the negative impact of the ongoing journalist effect on vegans. When I asked the iconic journalist if this ever affected her work she exclaimed that one of the sole purposes of her writing was educating. “I’m doing what I’m doing for the right reasons, so if people are angry about articles I write or share I can’t let that bother me”, this powerful yet influential female was using her knowledge for good. Selene almost resonated with other non-vegans, “I couldn’t imagine life without cheese” she exclaimed at the Kruger Cowne Breakfast Club, and wants to shine the light on animal agriculture, despite the negativity in the news sphere.
“I’m doing what I’m doing for the right reasons, so if people are angry about articles I write or share I can’t let that bother me” — Selene Nelson
“I think certain portions of the media like to focus on the so-called ‘extremist, militant’ vegans”, she continued, working her way through my list of emailed questions, corona style some may call it. The now vegan jargon has been used not so sparingly in the comments sections on various articles. Despite this, the controversy has generated a huge spark and topic of conversation and over the past few years and has started to change the view point towards veganism. “For a long time vegans and vegans have been treated like the butt of the joke, and I do think there is more balanced, respectful coverage in the news today”, Selene observed.
“These people represent a tiny, tiny portion of vegan activists, and I don’t know any vegans who do that or think that’s a good idea” — Selene Nelson
For me the headlines are often created for clickbait purposes, but news outlets aren’t utilising the power they hold to help sustainability. It makes me wonder, how can peoples diets become so newsworthy. And then I realised, it’s not the diets people are so interested in, but instead the NEGATIVE news value. Negativity is said to be an essential part of the news formula and along with conflict engages us emotionally in a story. Showcasing the power of journalism. Are these headline stimulating the negative comments and social media posts? When I asked Selene about her thoughts on this she mentioned that “I think the people who hold strong negative views against veganism do so for their own reasons and don’t really need any encouragement”. No matter what we write people may still share their negative thoughts and opinions, but this brings us back to education. The key to tackling the responses online. “Veganism is rising rapidly” Selene continued, “so I don’t think the opinions of people like that hold much weight, to be honest — especially because their attacks on veganism tend to be quite personal, e.g. ‘I find them annoying’ or ‘I think they’re hypocrites’”.
Ultimately there “should be more coverage” Selene commented , “if only to educate people about the effect meat, dairy, fishing etc are having on our planet” she extended. A side from opinions and scandals mainstream media coverage should be adapted to educate audiences rather than turn them against each other.
“The biggest ever study on climate change found that the biggest thing anyone can do to reduce their impact on earth is to switch to a plant-based diet, so on that basis alone, there needs to be more mainstream coverage.” — Selene Nelson
When I asked Selene what advise she’d give to others online worried about sharing their vegan views she simply exclaimed that using animal cruelty as a catalyst to your conversation is a calm but a rationale approach. “Pretty much everyone is against animal cruelty” she began to exclaim, “that’s usually something that people can accept”, finding a common ground seems to be the key.
But always remember:
“You’re never going to please everyone, so just own your decision!” — Selene Nelson
For more vegan content check out my Instagram, Twitter and Facebook and of course take a look at Selene Nelson’s Website!
WEEK 6— TEDxTalk of the week
In this week’s ‘TEDxTalk of the week’ I’ve step away from the theme of journalism directly and decided to share with you a talk from Amanda Little that I found not only inspiring but educational as she talks about some of the solutions to climate change. Happy watching.
