How to fail the media

Free Press has had another good idea. This one is called "MediaFail." The project is just now launching. What is Media Fail?

MediaFAIL is a user-powered project of Free Press that exposes the worst in American media. Just find a link, post it, fail it, and share it with friends. The top-rated submissions will migrate to the site’s front page for all the world to see. We don’t just want to give the media a failing grade — we want it to pass. That’s why we’re featuring links to actions on important Free Press campaigns, so that you can help build a better media system.
Here's a sample post to the new site, regarding an article irresponsibly published by ComputerWorld:
Article on the Broadband Plan written entirely from the opinions of two professional telecom analysts-for-hire, declaring the broadband plan “impossibly broad" although no portions of the plan are yet publicly available for "analysts" to inspect.
This is a great opportunity for all of us to be media watchdogs, and to strike back at the the constant flow of trite garbage, the drummed up conflict and the dishonest and lazy announcements that all purport to be "news."

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Using Media-Friendly Images to Get Your Message Out

At the recent True Spin Conference in Denver, I attended a session titled "How to Create Media-Friendly Imagery," presented by Jason Salzman, who is the co-founder of Effect Communications, and the author of Making The News: a Guide for Activists and Nonprofits (1998). Salzman was also instrumental in putting together the True Spin Conference. Salzman began his session with the idea that television is still the dominant news source for national and international news, according to a 2008 Pew survey. It is an undeniable fact that you need visual imagery to get your story onto the TV news. Visual imagery is also important for getting your story into local newspapers, another news source for many people. Maybe you're thinking that newspapers and television stations should simply be reporting on important stories, whether or not there is an accompanying clever visual image. That's a nice idea that doesn't happen in the real world. You absolutely need to decorate your stories with creative visuals, or else your stories will be invisible to local media. As Salzman says, "This is often ridiculous stuff, but it works." He presented the conference gathering with a long list of types of visual imagery. He added, "When you see some of these things, you might think they are juvenile or stupid, but they really work. As long as your imagery is on message, it's good." Now I know that some of you probably are still thinking that you're not going to sell out-- you would rather be dignified than be accused of being silly or desperate to get coverage for your important issue. Salzman encouraged the audience members to get over their inhibitions, however. "Stunts can be worthwhile. People forget the source, but they remember the message." What kinds of visual imagery seem to catch the attention of the local news media so that you can get your story some real attention? I will walk through Jason's list of seventeen media-imagery techniques, one-by-one. He has graciously allowed me to reprint some of his slides to illustrate these ideas (using these images makes sense, of course, given the topic). 1. Costumes. Salzman stated that costumes are the "oldest and best" use of imagery available. By dressing up as a giant pea pod, he was successful in gaining considerable media attention while making the point that George W. Bush and John McCain were "two peas in a pod." As you can see, he wore his pea pod costume at his session. As another of many examples, Salzman described how mobs of cameras once gathered around real pigs that were part of a protest of pork barrel projects. A member of the audience asked whether it would be better to surprise the media by suddenly pulling out the costume, but Salzman strenuously disagreed. "Don't surprise the media. Tell the media you'll be there [dressed up in your costume]." Members of the media love stories with images. "Tell them you'll be there and tell them how you'll be dressed. This will dramatically increase your odds of showing up on the news." 2. Dramatize a Phrase. Salzman pointed to an example of a huge "budget pie," to illustrate a story that one-half of discretionary spending went to the military. banners 3. Banners. If the timing is right, banners can work beautifully. Let the cameras pan those big banners! He gave the example of the New York garbage barge (at left). [More . . . ]

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The type of damage caused by media violence

Media Education Foundation has released a new video: The Mean World. This documentary studies the work of communications scholar George Gerbner, who carefully studied media violence for four decades. What is the effect of media violence? It doesn't seem to make most of those who watch it engage in violent acts. Rather, viewing repeated acts of violence is "likely to make us more scared of violence being done to us." Gerbner's team repeatedly determined that "commercial media have eclipsed religion, art, oral traditions, and the family as the great story-telling engine of our time." As Gerbner noted, a small handful of commercial conglomerates have global marketing formula that are imposed on the people in Hollywood [who are told] put in more action. Cut out complicated solutions. Apply this formula because it travels well in the global market. These are formulas that need no translation, that are image-driven, that speak action in any language . . . and the leading element of this formula is violence." This tidal wave of highly choreographed violence is unprecedented, and it is being pumped into every home. Most children now see 8,000 murders by the end of elementary school. Gerber holds that this violence is so dangerous because it has become routine.

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Tricking news providers to report on serious issues.

It’s certainly not breaking news that the commercial news media tends to abhor careful detailed rational discussion. This reluctance of local media outlets to report meaningful news has been going on for many years. But what is “news”? In my opinion, the most important news is information that sheds light on the way our community functions. High quality “news” informs us of the way our government is working. It warns us of collective dangers, including those dangers that we will face in the distant future. It gives us the information we need to take steps to protect ourselves, both as individuals and as a community. It is skeptical of outrageous claims, and honors the scientific method. It repeatedly reports on information that many viewers/readers might find inconvenient or disturbing, although it also balances this with information that makes us celebrate the state of our community and nation. Reporting the “news” accurately means holding up a big mirror to viewers/readers, and those who report accurately will work hard not to be community cheerleaders who filter out “bad news,” no matter how much they want to please, distract or entertain the audience. Couple this definition with the fact that the most serious issues of the day are unwieldy. They are either legally or factually complicated, or they have been so corrupted with political spin, that reporting on the issues meaningfully will require long hours of one or more aggressive veteran reporters who are constantly being supported by his/her editor and employer. I recently attended a conference sponsored by True Spin. My take-away is that that the majority of what passes for local “news” is starkly at odds with the above definition of “news.” Mason Tyvert summarized the types of things that are now required to pass as “news”:

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Against all odds: How marijuana was legalized in Denver

If your quest were to convince the people of your city to legalize a highly demonized drug which was entirely safe, how would you run your campaign? At the recently concluded True Spin Conference in Denver, I had the opportunity to listen to an animated yet highly focused Mason Tvert describing for the audience how he and his small and not-well-funded organization (“SAFER”) convinced the people of Denver to legalize marijuana in 2005, with 51% of the people voting in favor. He also spearheaded a 2006 campaign to legalize marijuana throughout Colorado. Although that latter measure failed, an astounding 41% of the people of Colorado voted in favor. In case you’re thinking that I’m promoting the use of marijuana, I am not, but neither would I attempt to prohibit any other adult from using it. I’ve never used marijuana (even though I once worked as a musician and the opportunities were ubiquitous. Millions of gainfully employed and otherwise law abiding people do like to use marijuana, but they are paying dearly for their attempts to feel good and seek stress relief. I am for the legalization of marijuana because that our country arrests more than 750,000 people each year for possessing or using an extremely safe drug that successfully makes people feel good. This destructive and expensive waste of government law enforcement is absolutely shameful. The number of people arrested each year is more than the entire population of South Dakota. and these users include many people you know and respect. There is rank hypocrisy in the air, given that marijuana inexpensively offers the harmless escape that most of us seek much of the time (in one way or another), without any serious side effects and without the expense of many other methods of escape. If there were no such thing as marijuana, when it was finally invented by a pharmaceutical company, we would hail it as a miracle drug (Big Pharma wouldn’t need to lie about its efficacy or safety, as it does for many other drugs). Governments would allow it to be sold at drugs stores and they would happily tax it.

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