The Use ( and Abuse) of the Media

from

Sam Smith's Great American
Political Repair Manual

MEDIA USE

HOW YOU CAN USE THE MEDIA

Think of the Media as a stream

The first rule of media survival is use it; don't let it use you. We must ignore the role the media has prescribed for us-audience, consumer, addict-and treat it much as the trout treats a stream, a medium in which to swim and not to drown.

The trick is to stop the media from happening to you and to treat it as an environment, a carrier. Then you can cease being a consumer or a victim and become a hunter and a gatherer, foraging for signs that are good and messages that are important and data you can use. Then the zapper and the mouse become tools and weapons and not addictions. Then you turn off the TV not because it is evil but because you have gotten whatever it has to offer and now must look somewhere else.

Fly under the radar

There is a vast and frequent exchange of information and thoughts flying beneath the radar of conventional media. For example, a strong and vital community will have a powerful information flow. In some ways the Internet simply replicates the transmission of data in a healthy community. Information is sent out in many different directions with a redundancy and inefficiency that assure an efficient result: The data will actually be received. News may be transferred at church, at the barbershop, between extended family members, or on the corner. The more casual conversation there is in a culture, the more news can be transmitted.

*****

LEARN TO NARROWCAST

In fact, the mass media is often not the best way to get your message out. As a general rule, the more people your message reaches, the less impact it will have on each one. There are several reasons for this:

* Mass media encourages consumption rather than action.

* Those who respond to your message will be small compared with all the ~ couch potatoes who won't. A lot of your energy and/or money will be wasted

* In order to reach a mass audience you have to tone down, modify, or censor your message. In effect you will have to destroy some of what you are trying to transmit.

Those involved in political campaigns and lobbying understand such phenomena with scary precision. They call it narrowcasting. Someone is narrowcasting to you all the time-from the ads in your hobby or sports magazine to direct mail that comes to your house every day. Mail campaigns can be tailored for specific ethnic or geographical groups in a way a TV ad never could.

There are even elaborate propaganda factories designing pseudo-grassroots-or AstroTurf-campaigns to pressure members of Congress with carefully orchestrated "personal" phone calls.

The AstroTurf experts-with all the mass media at their command-have effectively concluded that when you come right down to it, it's hard to beat the sound of the human voice saying what it thinks. It turns out that television didn't replace all of us after all.

*****

DO IT ON THE NET.

For those seeking alternatives to the mass media, the Internet is the most phenomenal new medium of our times. Here, after all, is a system so well designed by the Defense Department to prevent its destruction that now even the Defense Department can't destroy it.

The political and social potential of the Internet has largely been an act of individual discovery by millions of individuals, thousands of organizations, and a relatively few imaginative theorists and dreamers.

The conventional media and politicians have also expressed great interest and concern, but as in so many matters, their interest and that of the public are far apart. Thus there has been considerable political and media angst concerning sex on the Internet, although on the Net itself users of all sorts have taken the existence of sex quite in stride.

The real concerns about the Net reflect less a worry over morals than a fear of competition. While both conventional and cable television posed commercial threats to the print media, the Internet does even more: it reduces the need for any centralized sources of information. With the Net, citizens no longer have to rely on the clichés of under informed and over inflated correspondents.

There is of course considerable potential for individual users or the government to spread false information. The Net is for the most part, however, a propagandist's nightmare. Unlike swastikas on the wall, hate mail, obscene phone calls, or White House spin for that matter, the lie often does not fester long before it is revealed as such by other users. The truth may be only a few hours or messages away. The effect is often like being able to read in your morning paper letters complaining about articles in the same issue.

THE INTERNET AND DEMOCRACY

* The Internet is the most powerful and least expensive new media tool for the preservation and propagation of democracy.

* Corporations, large media, intelligence agencies, and politicians know this and are working overtime to figure out how to bring it under control. Their interest in censorship is part of a larger effort to control access to, and use of, the Net.

* Information about the Net from sources such as the megamedia is deeply suspect since they have a vital economic interest in altering it. To stay abreast of issues concerning the Net, follow information in non conglomerated computer publications or on the Web sites of computer information freedom groups. In other words, trust your mouse and not the Mouse.

* One of the best assets of the Internet is that its advocates tend to be smarter than its exploiters. Within hours of Congress's proposing an onerous censorship measure, people were busy creating a new program to get round it.

* You are never too old to learn how to use e-mail, the Net news groups, and the Web. Stop saying so, and get your kid to explain it to you. Or take a course.

* You are never too poor to demand access to the Net. Instead of saying things like "Well, the Internet is just for the elite," demand that your library, schools, and other public facilities provide terminals and training. The success of the Net as a democratic catalyst will depend in no small part on the principle of computer access as a human right.

* Insist that all essential local, state, and federal government information be available at Web sites. Oppose all attempts to privatize public information by contracting out archives to corporations.

* Resist all attempts to censor the Net. There will be plenty.

* There's a lot of rumor, hyperbole, disinformation, and ignorance on the Net Treat information from unknown cybersources with the same skepticism you'd give someone on the street trying to sell you a gold watch just pulled from his pocket.

* The Net is a community as well as a medium. The same rules apply as in any healthy community. These include not boring other people to death, not screaming, and letting others have their say. We shouldn't take advantage of others' time by trying to sell them something they didn't inquire about. And if someone abuses the community by, say, using ethnic epithets, we should handle the problem within the community and not resort to the FBI or congressional legislation.

* Remember the great lesson of the Internet: We can have fun, provide and find information, and help one another without anyone being in charge. Borrow this lesson from the Internet, and apply it in your own community.

*****

24 CHEAP AND EASY WAYS TO MAKE YOUR OWN MEDIA

For couch potatoes:

1. Get a Web site. It isn't hard. Just think of it as a great big silent fax machine that doesn't tie up your phone.

2. Change your media habits-regularly. We all fall into habits of reading and watching. Shake them up periodically. Drop the subscription to that magazine you hardly read anymore, and replace it with a cheap introductory offer to something new. If you live in a city, visit the best newsstand in town, and spend some time browsing through the publications there. If you find one you like, buy it and subscribe. Look at one new TV program a week. Watch Spanish-language TV for a few minutes even if you don't speak Spanish. Hang out in bookstores. Turn on a radio station aimed at people who don't agree with you. ~ Read a columnist you hate, and argue with the points made in the column. Check out public access television. Watch a televangelist, and try to figure out why he's affecting millions and you aren't.

3. Write a letter to an editor. Editors get far fewer letters than you might think. Some have even been known to write their own. Keep yours short; a few paragraphs are enough. Make a new point; don't just vent your spleen. Localize a national issue-i.e., show how national welfare cuts can't be replaced by the social programs of churches like yours. If you can't be funny, New Yorker editor Harold Ross said, then be interesting. And sign just one name to it. Editors look at multiple signatures as a form of gang assault.

4. Road the jump page. It's one of the places newspapers hide the news.

5. Write a politician. While it is true that most politicians don't read letters, they have people who do. The president gets 40,000 to 60,000 letters a week (and about 10,000 e-mail messages) and will read about 10 or 15. But the president and his staff have a good idea of how these letters are going. Add yours to the pile. E-mail is an easy way of doing it these days. When Congress was talking about legislation to spy on electronic transmissions, the cybercommunity produced over 40,000 names on an email petition opposing this move. When President Clinton was presented with a bill mandating major wilderness timber cutting, he received 13,500 e-mails and 8,000 phone calls-along with 600 pieces of wood.

6. Call a politician. Even the president only receives about 2,000 calls a day on his comment line. Senators and city council members get far fewer. You won't be able to speak to the president and you may not be able to speak to the council member, but you can always leave a message. A good time to schedule calls to a politician is during lunch. There are fewer people in the office, so a handful of calls may seem like a lot. The pros figure that each call to a Congress member represents the views of 200 to 400 voters.

7. Ask someone, "What's happenin'?" Remember what Blanche Dubois said in A Streetcar Named Desire: "I have always relied on the kindness of strangers." Our culture increasingly discourages contact with strangers-even among adults. This makes us more suspicious of one another and denies us the knowledge that casual contact can bring.

8. Call a talk show. One of the best-kept secrets is how often people don't call talk shows. If you notice the host giving out the station number more frequently than usual, it may be because business is slow. Some times of day are easier to get on than others. For example, 11:00 RM. is when many people desert their radios for TV news. If the show is really popular, start dialing even before it's on the air. If a representative of your group is going to be on, make sure members of the group call to ask friendly questions. And don't be afraid to call shows that emphasize a viewpoint opposed to your own. Don't cede the airwaves to the other side. As 20/20 Vision points out in its guide to talk shows, "Research has shown that the listening audience for this medium is remarkably non ideological and, in fact, tunes in just to hear a diversity of opinion."

9. Watch historical documentaries on cable, or read a book about the past. The more you know about the past, the less you'll be fooled about the present. Take something that interests you, such as a hobby or an event, and find out its history. Along the way you'll learn a lot of other things as well.

FOR THE ACTIVE

10. Don't play spin doctor. The prime rule of public relations is to do it right the first time: If you are ineffective, disorganized, misinformed, or just plain wrong, don't expect PR to dig you out of your hole. Get your own act together before telling others about it.

11. Use a fax machine. Fax machines that will semi-automatically broadcast to over 100 locations are now available. Computer fax programs will handle many times more. This means your group can fax to the most important locations in town (the mayor, council, media, other groups) on a regular basis. You can reach even more with a fax tree: get others to rebroadcast your fax to their own lists. Keep the fax short and punchy. Remember, scissors cut paper, and frequency beats length. The Rainbow Coalition puts out a regular and effective fax that's just one page long.

12. Use radio. So the local daily won't cover your organization or story? Stop worrying about it. It'd probably give you only a paragraph or two at best. Go where the people are: listening to the radio. According to the Radio Advertising Bureau, "Americans average about three hours of radio listening per day. Two out of three Americans are listening to the radio during prime time and radio is the first morning news source for most people." Because radio is so taken for granted, the skill and potential involved in using it well are often discounted. Tony Schwartz, a guru in guerrilla media circles, says that the protest movements of the sixties would have been far more successful if they had put more of their money into radio and less into marches and demonstrations. Schwartz is a strong advocate of well-produced radio spots. He knows they work. Sometimes you don't even have to broadcast the spot. When the city council was considering a bill to which he was opposed, for example, Schwartz made two professionally produced spot announcements. One of the spots praised the council members for voting down the bill. The other excoriated them for approving it. Schwartz sent both spots to each member of the council with a letter saying he wanted their advice on which spot he should run. The measure was voted down.

13. Buy time on radio. It is often cheaper than you think, especially if you are careful to target your message to the right station. You can buy blocks of time at off-peak hours and create your own radio program. Though it may be a minor station, if those who support your cause know where to find you, you will be able to reach them. Ethnic and religious groups have been using buy-your-own-programming for years, sometimes supported solely by listener contributions.

14. Start a neighborhood newsletter. It doesn't have to be elaborate. Two sides of a 8 1/2 by 11 sheet will be fine (or you can go to a speedy print and do a full four-page newsletter). Start out small. In every neighborhood only a minority of people become actively involved. Aim for these people. When I was a neighborhood commissioner, with 2,000 residents in my district, I came up with a list of about 200 addresses of active people. I included people who had come to commission meetings, called me, or had signed petitions. I personally delivered the newsletter on a Saturday, leaving extra copies at the public school and library. I also asked people to contribute a small amount to help keep it going. I met lots of constituents this way, got ideas, heard lots of complaints, and received some compliments too.

15. Use public access TV. Find someone with TV or video skills, and make use of these public channels. Be careful, though. Third-generation amateur videos can make your cause look like an exhibit at a poorly maintained aquarium.

16. Join or start a study circle or salon. Study circles began in Scandinavia but are becoming increasingly popular here. The idea is for neighbors and friends to study a current issue and then come together to discuss it. Salons are informal gatherings of people with common interests. They can be organized as a meeting, party, or potluck supper. The idea in its contemporary form has received a big boost from Utne Reader magazine. National and local newsletters and Web pages about the salon movement are available. One idea would be to organize a regular gathering to which each member would bring something of importance learned since the last meeting. It might be a news story, but it might just as easily be a poem or a moving tale about some member of the community. Together these contributions would make up a living newspaper.

17. Visit editors. Ordinary citizens and their organizations are far too humble in dealing with newspaper editors and broadcast news directors. Get some groups or churches together, and request a meeting to discuss your concerns. If you have a specific agenda, lay it out. Suggest how coverage of these concerns could be improved.

18. Take a reporter out to lunch. Despite their pretenses to the contrary, reporters are human beings too. Treat them that way, and it'll start to wear down the professional pose they frequently assume. Often reporters have to be educated about the importance of an issue. It's easier to do over a drink than over a deadline. Take your time. Build trust. Be friendly and not didactic. Best of all, become a source; reporters always protect their sources.

19. Teach kids about advertising and propaganda. Nothing we teach them is more important than giving them spiel immunity at an early age. Besides, you can deconstruct the ads they come across and teach them reading at the same time. You can introduce them to propaganda's effects and run a concurrent course on statistics. Of course, you have to be prepared to have them actually enjoy class.

20. Build an e-mail list. Send out news and information to a list of friends, members, politicians and the media.

21. Hold a meeting. It still works amazingly well.

22. Use news releases and news conferences but not too often. These are highly overrated media tools. Thousands of acres of trees have died to make unread news releases. Still, they are useful for event announcements (reporters like to have something printed in order to double-check times and spellings) and complicated stories (such as in science and medicine) that need precise wording. Here are a few not-so-good ideas: telling people about an event that took place last week, deadly analyses of not-too-interesting issues, a boring news bite hidden in an wordy release. Keep it short, keep it interesting, and if you can't find a strong news peg to put in the first sentence, don't send it.

23. Stay out of the media until you're ready. Don't assume that all publicity is good publicity. For example, is your effort strong enough to withstand dismissive and disparaging treatment by the media? Do you have only a 12-hour revolution, launched with a news conference at 11:00 A.M. and last heard from on the 11:00 P.M. news? Or do you have something solid that will continue to build with or without the mass media's help?

24. Use the telephone. One of the most effective activists I ever knew was the late civil rights leader Julius Hobson. Julius used to claim that he could start a revolution with six people and a telephone booth. Since six people and a telephone booth are often all you've got, it's not a bad trick to learn.

**********

MEDIA ABUSE

EIGHT WAYS THE NEWS GETS CORPORATIZED

1. There is now only one daily in most American cities. Stories can be ignored without fear that the competition will run them.

2. The labor beat, once an important assignment in major print media, has been eliminated. Workers are now primarily covered as consumers, not as employees.

3. Important stories are hidden in the business or real estate sections.

4. There is poor coverage of environmental and worker safety stories that might adversely impact on corporations and advertisers.

5. There is heavy editorial support for public policies favoring local business interests, such as subsidized downtown development, sports arenas, etc. News about citizen criticism of such projects is often suppressed.

6. Media tend to defend their local industries more than their local communities. Headlines read BIGGO TRIMS 4,000 JOBS rather than BIGGO FIRES 4,000 or 4,000 FAMILIES DISRUPTED BY BIGGO LAYOFFS.

7. Big media are more reliant on big advertisers and more vulnerable to boycotts by these advertisers. Newt Gingrich has urged just such boycotts, calculating that the twenty biggest advertisers could effectively silence opposing views.

8. There is here Is an emphasis on indicators that are of interest to corporations (such as productivity, GDP, etc.) instead of those of interest to workers (such as real wages, housing prices, etc.)

*****

The Gross Domestic Product [GDP] is a measure of the amount of money changing hands in the United States. When you hear about "economic growth", people are talking about GDP. As long as money is moving, it's considered good for the country.

From the Atlantic Monthly magazine, by the curious standard of the GDP, the nation's economic hero is a terminal cancer patient who is going through a costly divorce. The happiest event is an earthquake or a hurricane. The most desirable habitat is a multi-billion-dollar Superfund site. All these add to the GDP, because they cause money to change hands. It's as if a business kept a balance sheet by merely adding up all "transactions" without distinguishing between income and expenses, or between assets and liabilities.

*****

People who complain about the welfare state remind me of the man from Virginia who went to college on the Gl Bill and bought his first house with a VA loan When a hurricane struck, he got federal disaster aid. When he got sick, he was treated at a veterans' hospital. When he was laid off, he received unemployment insurance and then got a SBA loan to start his own business. His bank funds were protected under federal deposit insurance laws Now he's retired and on Social Security and Medicare The other day he got into his car, drove the federal interstate to the railroad station, took Amtrak to Washington, and went to Capitol Hill to ask his representative to get the government off his back.

*****

Part of the argument for keeping a big military is the jobs it creates But the Center for Defense Information points out that between 1987 and 1995 defense related jobs declined by two million while employment not related to the military increased by almost 15 million.

Further, says the CDI, $l billion in military spending creates about 25,000 jobs. The same money spent on housing would create 36,000 jobs or, in health care, 47,000 jobs.

*****

Public television's most famous news show, The Newshour with Jim Lehrer, is two thirds owned by the conservative media conglomerate TCI Nearly half the program budget for 1995, reports the media watchdog FAIR, came from two politically active firms: the agribusiness giant Archer Daniels Midland and the New York Life Insurance Company.

Home Page