A number of creators have had their say on a controversial thinkpiece in The Guardian.
On 24 February, the newspaper published an article titled “Zoe Sugg: the vlogger blamed for declining teenage literacy“. In the piece, writer Zoe Williams refers to Zoella as an “artist of self-engrossment”, and focuses on what she sees as Zoe’s self-obsession. The article has proved controversial in the YouTube community, causing many creators to speak out about their issues with the piece.
Vlogbrother and VidCon creator Hank Green responded to The Guardian’s tweet directly, pointing out the disparity between the article’s headline and its contents:
@guardian Like…BY WHOM!? The headline makes a statement that is never backed up in the article. This is weird, right?
— Hank Green (@hankgreen) February 26, 2017
Furthermore, he responded to Emma Blackery’s tweet about her thoughts on the whole situation. In response to both of them, Dodie Clark spoke of her plans to write a video about the article:
Imagine being this level of bitter about someone daring to make a success of themselves https://t.co/oCylntoCSz
— Emma Blackery (@emmablackery) February 26, 2017
@hankgreen @emmablackery me writing a video to this pic.twitter.com/XzKTvU58vo
— dodie (@doddleoddle) February 26, 2017
Hannah Witton pointed out a major omission in the article, while Luke Cutforth decided that the newspaper had done enough for him to unsubscribe:
Yet they fail to mention @Zoella's Book Club 🙄 https://t.co/fKPfMemuQr
— Hannah Witton (@hannahwitton) February 26, 2017
I subscribed to @guardian months ago as I respected their intelligence and integrity. Time to cancel my subscription https://t.co/Y0dwSljwAq
— luke cutforth ✨ (@LukeIsNotSexy) February 26, 2017
Hannah Rutherford made a comment on other reasons why the UK’s literacy standards are falling, stating that she believes societal issues are to blame and that it is “disgraceful” to blame Zoe:
@emmablackery @guardian maybe it's just me but closing public libraries/low literacy in primary schools might have something to do with it?
— Hannah Rutherford (@lomadia) February 26, 2017
Tom Ridgewell pointed out what he sees as the absurdity of focusing on Zoe as a target in our current political climate, while Daniel J. Layton pulled no punches with his thoughts:
We tryna nuke ourselves into oblivion & y'all wanna blame the world's least offensive woman for the ills of mankind https://t.co/27VHPydehl
— TomSka (@thetomska) February 26, 2017
@emmablackery This is the most egregious drivel I've read in a good long while. It's almost impressively bad.
— Daniel J. Layton (@DanielJLayton) February 26, 2017
And the opinions didn’t stop there, as many other creators came out of the woodwork to speak on their issues with the piece:
Me: Ehh, I don't really pay attention to Zoella
News: [Baseless accusation about Zoella]
Me: pic.twitter.com/tEQ6TBomvb
— khan (@KhanStopMe) February 26, 2017
Zoe = devil pt 101. Shouldn't we be glad teenagers are reading? When I was at school most only read the Eng Lit books they were forced to 📚 pic.twitter.com/7FLhsKxuHq
— Gary C (@oohgaryc) February 26, 2017
Zoe herself also tweeted her thoughts on the matter, focusing largely on her gratitude for the support she has received:
Its refreshing to see how many people roll their eyes at some of the things the main stream media write! I'm almost used to it now 😂
— Zoë (@Zoella) February 26, 2017
Want more?
Ant and Dec have collab’d with YouTubers for the new series of Saturday Night Takeaway, or you can check out the Wall of Comedy Panel at Niche’s recent Creator Day.
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