Pro wrestler-turned-journalist starts YouTube channel to advocate free speech

Seb Whitehouse started his YouTube account several years ago to promote his former career in professional wrestling.

The 31-year-old from Bedminster has since swapped his spandex for a smartphone, filming videos on the streets of our city as a reporter for Bristol TV, for who he once accidentally interviewed the father of Bristol City midfielder Han-Noah Massengo outside Ashton Gate.

The freelance journalist now plans to use YouTube to spread the importance of free speech, with his first video on the subject filmed on the top of Trenchard Street car park:

His newly renamed YouTube channel, The Seb Whitehouse Show, will see him deliver more monologues about subjects close to his heart.

“Bristol is a very left wing city which has never shied away from standing up to the system, whether that be government, police or anyone in positions of authority,” Seb told Bristol24/7.

“In this sense, I think free speech has always thrived here. That being said, when any one geographical area – nationwide or globally – is dominated by one socio-political worldview, there is a risk that decent, principled, perspectives which challenge that socio-political world view are either drowned out completely, or even ridiculed in shame.

“This actually makes it harder for people to think for themselves because they don’t find themselves exposed to different opinions enough.

“When this happens, a sort of indoctrination takes place where people are only exposed to one side of a conversation in which there may be several differing perspectives worth discussing.

“Bristol is a brilliant place, it’s my hometown and I love it, but sometimes I think it falls into that trap. I don’t think this is a free speech issue per se, but perhaps it increases the chance of being met with impatience or intolerance when expressing a carefully formed view which challenges more widely held perspectives.”

Seb has previously made headlines for painting the side of his house in tribute to the heroes of the NHS:

Seb told Bristol24/7 that he thinks “there is a shocking lack of impartial news reporting in this country. I think many people realise this with their rational brains, but still succumb to it.

“It’s very difficult to avoid succumbing to it, because unless you choose to extensively read and research in your own time, or consume media from a wide range of sources, you are susceptible to forming opinions based on the cultural osmosis of what media you happen to consume the most – whether that be from your friends on social media, the evening news, the Daily Mail or the Guardian, for example.

“These are all wildly different methods of obtaining information in regards to the narratives they push. Most people are busy – they have too much going on to spend any significant amount of time combing through wide selection of different media and resources in order to form a balanced opinion.”

Seb added: “We are in the midst of a moral panic where people are fundamentally unable to agree on the very facts of reality itself. The media has a lot to do with this.

“Whether or not there is anything sinister at play is specific to each journalist and institution that they work for, so I can’t generalise.

“No doubt some are consciously biased, disingenuous, and misleading. Others are simply humans falling into the same trap we all do, forming opinions based on the information they’ve been exposed to, often unaware that there’s more to consider.”

So what can ordinary people do to ensure free speech continues?

“As I said in my video, I think we all need to remember that we are living through unprecedented times and that the principles of free speech have never been challenged within the unprecedented scale and uniqueness of social media.

“It’s easy to forget that we are still in the teething stages of social media. With this knowledge, I think it’s important to approach the conversation with a bit of humility and not rush into conclusions on what is an exceedingly complex issue.

“I believe the issue of free speech online is one of the most important ethical conversations of our times.

“In normal life, I would always encourage people to be more patient with those who have opinions that we deem to incorrect, unworthy or stupid. Free speech degrades when people are afraid to speak for fear of being shamed. I believe the solution to bad conversation is more conversation.”

Main photo: Seb Whitehouse / YouTube

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