Become The Media

Become The Media
By Mike Hersh, May 24, 2005

I can't think of a more important priority than establishing a clear and resonant message and getting it out to the public. We can and should work for better media by pressuring elected officials to restore the fairness doctrine and to break up media empires, and by exerting economic pressure on the media through boycotts of their broadcasts and publications - and especially their advertisers. We should also lead call-in and rapid response / letters to editors efforts. These approaches are important, but we can do more.

We've been developing an approach to get our message out to the public. In a nutshell, we will take a three-phase approach to force our way into the media by becoming advertisers ourselves. Not immediately but soon. This will involve a start-up cost in the $hundreds, which will enable further fund-raising to expand in a step-by-step process beyond the initial phase. Please contribute to get the process started.

Here's the concept: We will start small, and build our influence step-by-step. We will raise funds around public education campaigns to introduce under-reported facts and analysis to the voters. Also, to maximize our bang for the buck, we'll gain attention and free media when local and eventually national TV cover our efforts. Each success will build on previous efforts. Help us get started by contributing now:

$5.00: http://tinyurl.com/bezdx | $10.00: http://tinyurl.com/89k4f
$20.00: http://tinyurl.com/77ykl | $50.00: http://tinyurl.com/a7eeb
$100.00: http://tinyurl.com/aeo53 | $250.00: http://tinyurl.com/9abfb
Or any amount you choose.

Each step has two purposes: #1 to get the word out and #2 to raise funds to sustain the efforts and to take the message to the next level. This is a proven bootstrapping technique. The DNC, John Kerry, Barbara Boxer, MoveOn and others have been doing this with success, but because of their political and / or philosophical constraints, they've been too respectful toward Republicans and avoided critically important issues. We can provide a more assertive and controversial message, while sticking to the truth and focusing on issues.

In the first phase, we will develop messages around persuasive themes and important issues. We will choose concepts and produce short form messages with voice and simple graphics. Then, we'll present these to our members and supporters, asking them to pick which they consider the best. We will raise additional funds to focus-group and refine the messages and produce spots which will run on 100s or 1000s of blogs for free.

At this point, we'll be reaching 10,000s if not 100,000s of progressives and liberals to support the next stage in the process. This accomplishes two things - it engages the issue and raises money for phase two - paid placement in print and on radio.

In phase two, we further refine the message and then pay to place it in print and on the radio, while raising funds for the next spot. And so on. We will support progressive print and on air media to keep costs low and maximize our impact. We're looking into alternative periodicals like Mother Jones, The Nation, local City Papers, etc. Again, we're both informing and mobilizing our side to support outreach to uninformed / undecided voters. As we get donations, we get into wider placement. Success at this stage will allow us to move to phase three.

At the third stage, we will reach the public and engage right wingers on issues in ways no one else has, provoking reaction from the Republicans and coverage from the media - the free media like that kicked up by the "Swift Boat" group against Kerry, but based on 100% truthful statements.

Specific messages aren't the point yet. We'll develop themes and messages carefully to avoid backlash, maximize impact, and deliver the most bang for the buck with the best communications strategies and production methods. For example national security is a critical issue, and the Republicans win by a huge majority on that issue. The Republicans keep failing to keep us safe but somehow scare people into thinking that a vote for a Democrat is a vote for weakness. For whatever reason, Democrats fail to even engage this issue. This is just one example of a concept for a campaign:

"Republicans claim they can keep us safe, but look at the record?" (Graphics and voice-overs illustrate the failure to secure nuclear materials from the former Soviet Union, the failure to 'get tough' with Pakistan for proliferating nuclear technology, coddling the oil producers who support fundamentalist extremists, other examples of Republicans failing to 'get tough.')

"There's a saying in Texas - 'all hat and no cattle.' that's someone who talks tough but can't back it up...."
"When Bush swore to bring back Osama bin Laden dead or alive, he didn't."
"When Bush said 'mission accomplished' it wasn't"
"When Bush said 'bring it on' our enemies did."
"Bush talks tough but can't back it up. Democrats do better."
"Democrats have always made the tough decisions needed to keep us safe." (Graphics and voice-overs illustrate FDR and Truman leading during WWII and founding NATO etc., JFK's "bear any burden" speech, Bill Clinton breaking up the millennium terror plots and more examples of Democratic toughness.)

Then a tag-line to get support for expanding the campaign:
"The Republicans cannot keep us safe, but who will explain this to the voters? We can, but only if you help. Please contribute $100, $50, whatever you can afford to help us tell the public the truth...."

Again, the specifics aren't the point, but they show the kinds of things we can get people thinking and talking about which would drastically change the political landscape. We'll use professional techniques to focus-group and test the message to make sure it's credible, persuasive and effective and then deliver the message to have a real impact on the politics of our nation. You can help by contributing ideas and funds to this effort. You can join this effort to become the media:

Also please see join the personal progressive media and other articles on this site.

© Copyright 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 by MikeHersh.com and identified authors. MikeHersh.com invites you to broadcast any material at this site, provided you identify the source as MikeHersh.com. All print, Internet, email and other summaries, excerpts or other written reproductions must include this blurb and a link to http://www.MikeHersh.com.