The Media Manifesto
Jun 3rd, 2005 at 6:52 pm by Susie
Good thing the French Resistance didn’t say, ‘We’re not going to stoop to their level.’
- Me to another activist at the Take Back America conference.
I was sitting in this media strategy meeting this morning, getting more and more frustrated. Finally, with ten minutes left, it was my turn to speak. (And speak I did - really, really fast, before they cut me off.)
1) I started out by reminding them of the success Newt Gingrich had in pushing conservative op-ed pieces to small newspapers. “Didn’t you listen to Howard Dean yesterday?” I said. “You can’t run an 18-state presidential campaign, and you can’t run an 18-state media campaign, either. You’re preaching to the choir.”
2) I told them every single non-profit doesn’t need its own PR person. “You should hire one big PR firm and coordinate the messages through a central clearinghouse,” I said. “When a small group has its own PR person, they write a bunch of stuff that isn’t news to justify their own paycheck, and when they come across the editor’s desk, they go right in the trash. I know - I did it.”
3) “You need to nurture new talent and push it out there. You’re talking about getting liberals on TV shows, but you need to look instead at the people you put out. The tendency is always to use these academic or P.C. types when you need people who are sharp, funny and think fast on their feet,” I said. “This is show business! It’s professional wrestling.”
4) I told them to take advantage of newspaper funding cuts and fill the void with free liberal op-eds.
And I cornered one of the Democratic pollsters, too. “When was the last time you polled ‘The Democrats fight for people like me’?” I said.
Not since the election, he said, sheepish.
“You need to start polling it again,” I said. “It’s the best indicator of what’s working.”
“Well, we’re polling ‘Democrats care about people like me,’” he said. “That’s really the same thing.”
“No, it isn’t,” I said. “Not at all.” Arghhh.
Then a woman with an extensive media background working for a women’s organization told me it was a good idea to use a central PR firm, “but they’re all men.”
She seemed like a nice lady, so I was gentle with her. “Then you stipulate in the contract that they use some woman as subcontractors or whatever you have to do,” I said.
I don’t care if they’re ex-Nazis. If they can help stop these bastards from raping and pillaging our democracy, let’s do it.
Can I scream now?
Go ahead Susie. Scream whenever you need to.
does having a woman or women on the PR project make that much of a difference?
–stupid male–
You can scream, but they won’t hear you. They are stuck in an all too distant past. When you say, “This is show business! It’s professional wrestling.â€? You could not be more on target. They just don’t get it. Isn’t it ironic? Hollywood is on our side but our people don’t fucking get it.
Dennis Kucinich? Give me a freaking break. John Kerry? Are you kidding? Clinton understood it. When he went on Arsenio Hall’s show and played that sax, I knew he understood it. That one appearance did more for him than any stump speech.
Very good job there.
Seriously, what’s with the Nazi comment? I don’t understand the reference.
I agree with what you (reported that you) said at the conference.
and fwiw, I really hate this comment format–I much prefer the pop-ups.
The Nazi comment sums up my frustration with activists who want to keep using the same tactics they always did (the ones that didn’t work) because “we don’t want to stoop to the Republicans’ level.”
Or that they’re more focused on a P.C. litmus test. Yeah, in D.C., most of the heavy-hitter P.R. firms are run by men. So what? I don’t care who we use - as long as it works.
Great advice, Susie. I hope someone was listening because you had some really excellent and workable suggestions.
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