[van-announce] WANTED: COMMITTED WORD WARRIORS

[Murray Dobbin]

Hi folks... I have started up a new project (see below) looking for people
willing to write a couple of letters a month to local newspapers. Could you
send this out for me? Thanks.

cheers, Murray


WANTED: COMMITTED WORD WARRIORS

[I am starting a national list of people who are willing to commit to
writing at least one letter-to-the editor every two weeks. I will commit to
sending out at least one suggested topic plus analysis and writing points
every week to make it as easy as possible. If you are at least interested,
read on. If not, sorry to bother you.  - Murray Dobbin]


The election campaign, though not officially called, is already underway.
And Paul Martin is counting on two things: that people will forget who he is
and what he did as finance minister, and that they will be fooled by a few
“progressive” policy morsels tossed out in a thrown speech and ultimately in
the campaign itself.

The ghost of Mr. Martin’s 1993 election Red Book is whispering: Fool me
once, shame on you; fool me twice shame on me.

The battle for the hearts and minds of Canadians is now engaged. The
question is: how can we engage when we don’t own our own media?

One way is to use the few egalitarian parts of the media that we have:
letters to the editor, call in shows, op eds, and the right to complain to
reporters and news assignment editors about biassed stories or those that
aren’t even covered.

It is an enormous opportunity for activists to be effective in countering
the Liberal government’s spin. It is an opportunity that has always been
there but rarely used.

But there is a problem. All of us have pledged to write a letter on some
important issue at least once - and probably dozens of times. But the
follow-through on our pledges (I am just as guilty) runs about 10%. Writing
a letter seems like a big deal. Where do you start? What if you get a fact
wrong and look stupid? And most importantly - what difference is one letter
going to make anyway?

And if it was just one letter, we would be right. But what if it was
hundreds of letters? Or thousands, all across the country, to every daily
and weekly newspaper that sees the light of day?

WHY LETTER WRITING AND TALK SHOWS?


First, let me say why I think letter writing and talk show calling is so
important. First, the talk shows. Every right wing lobby group and political
party use this form of communicating with citizens to incredible advantage.
The republican Party in the US is putting huge resources into every talk
show in America - even those with small audiences. Because people listen to
them and gradually adopt the ideas they hear expressed.

We have simply ceded this communications tool to the right, often out of our
own intellectual snobbery and our wish to avoid the unpleasantness of being
confronted by a right-wing radio host. We need to get over it and take back
the radio waves for our values and issues.

And letters to the editor?  They are a primary tool for challenging one of
the right’s biggest advantages - people’s isolation from each other. Values
polling and testing in Canada show that citizens in this country are more
progressive minded than they have been in fifteen years. Sixty percent of
people - minimally - are at odds with virtually every policy value expressed
by the Liberal government. But most of us believe we are alone; that we are
completely out of synch with the majority. And what else would they believe
if they just listen to the TV news and read the daily newspapers?

The letters-to-the editor are amongst the most read parts of any newspaper.
If people see their values expressed in those letters they are suddenly not
alone. Their values are reinforced; their gut sense that things are terribly
wrong is given a voice, the built in barriers to criticizing the status-quo
are weakened. In short, people’s values start to become part of a collective
consciousness.

Most reporters, contrary to the overall impression we get of the newspapers
we read and the news we watch, are in the centre or left of the political
spectrum. Much of the time they are simply not permitted to write what they
want to or cover the issues they want to cover. The news gatekeepers,
assignment editors, news editors, editors in chief, etc. intervene. Often
the story ideas of reporters are rejected with the claim that “No one cares
about [poverty] [P3s] [pollution]...” What evidence is the reporter going to
use to contradict their boss? One source is a constant stream of letters to
the editor  - and equally important, calls to the assignment editor
him/herself - demonstrating that people do care, and care passionately.

So, with all that in mind I am proposing to start a new “movement.”  I want
200 people  - as a short term objective - to commit to writing at least two
letters a month to their local newspaper(s) and to making at least one call
to a news gatekeeper to lodge a complaint about the coverage of important
community issues. The amount of time this will take can be measured in
minutes -  a half an hour at the most. Letters can be two paragraphs (and
have a better chance of being printed if they are). A phone call need take
only a couple of minutes. Keep the key objectives in mind: you are writing
to those people out there who share your values - you want to connect with
them at that level and at the same time provide them with some information
that they can use. Withe the reporter or news editor you want to simply let
them know that there are people out there who care about social issues. Keep
in mind that the reporter’s story may have been changed or politically
edited by his superior. If you complain about the bias - he can complain to
the person who made it biassed.

THE PLAN...

If you are prepared to write one letter to the editor every two weeks I am
asking that you email me back - include your location so over time I can let
you know who else is in your area -  and I will put your name on the list of
word warriors. I will then send out occasional (but at least weekly, when I
am in town) suggestions for letters based on the political moment, what Paul
Martin and the government are doing/saying, and what national issues are
currently being debated. The idea for this project has been inspired by my
work exposing Paul Martin and his agenda but the material I send out won’t
be limited to Martin stuff.

What I will try to do is send out issue-related emails that will include a
brief analysis of the issue and a few bullet points containing either facts,
stats, or analytical points that I think we need to make to counter what
Martin and the corporate elite are saying.

Of course, you may not agree with my choice of issues or even the analysis I
provide but despite this obvious flaw in the plan, I hope that most of the
time the issue will be an obvious one for progressives to speak out on. As
for analysis, you are of course free to make your own adjustments and add
your own arguments. My objective is to get, eventually, a couple of thousand
people into the habit of writing letters, calling talk shows and lobbying
news editors on a weekly basis.

 Hints...

1) Talk shows.... This one is a bit tricky and is really best organized
locally by a few people willing to monitor talk shows so they know what
topics will be discussed when and then letting local ‘word warriors’ know
about them. Some shows, of course, have open topic periods when you can talk
about anything you choose. The best way to ensure you get on these shows (so
you don’t have to listen to the whole thing!) Is to phone a few minutes
before the show starts or before they start taking calls - they will usually
put you on hold.

2) News editors. This requires simply that you find out who the individuals
are and getting their direct lines so you can call them. Often you will just
get a voice mail box but that’s fine - leaving a message is just as good.
Calling reporters to complain about bias is easy enough as most of the time
their names will appear. Sometimes they have their email addresses at the
end of their stories.

3) Letters to the editor.  These do not need to be essays! Many people make
the mistake of writing 400-500 word letters and then are disappointed when
they aren’t published. BE DISCIPLINED! This is a political project. Two or
three short paragraphs are not only much more likely to get published, they
are more likely to be read by those you want to reach. Also, remember the
objectives: getting useful information into people’s hands (and heads) and
reinforcing their progressive values. A few paragraphs is all you need.   Of
course, there is a lot of variation - some papers are more tolerant of long
letters than others and your own judgment on this question is obviously
best.

Also, it is a good habit to call up the person in charge of the letters to
the editor to ask if they got your letter - and use the opportunity to pitch
why you think your letter deserves to be published. They get dozens a day so
you are competing with a lot of others - by phoning, you make yours stand
out from the rest and gradually develop a relationship with the person with
the power to choose your letter.

Lastly, it is also a good idea to find a partner in this project who will
commit to reminding you of your commitment - and vice versa.

I look forward to hearing back from you - and please forward this to any
lists you think are appropriate.