Why do Media Work
"Why of course the people don't want war ... But after all it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship ...Voice or no
voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger." Hermann Goering, Nazi leader, at the Nuremberg Trials after World WarII
"In this country, intellectual cowardice is the worst enemy a writer or journalist has to face... Unpopular ideas can be silenced, and inconvenient facts kept dark, without the need for any official ban. ... At any given moment there is an orthodoxy, a body of ideas which it is assumed that all right-thinking people will accept without question." George Orwell on England
"All truth goes through three steps: First, it is ridiculed, Second, it is violently opposed; Third, it is accepted as self-evident." Arthur Schopenhauer
Most people shape their views through their hearing or seeing things reported in mainstream media. This is especially true of people and events for which they no direct contact or experience. According to recent surveys, the average American citizen for example gets exposure to 3-5 hours of TV a day and occasionally reads newspapers. The Internet is making inroads and reaching people directly (we will address this in chapter 6) but for the time being even the Internet is dominated by the same sources of information (CNBC, CBS, ABC, NBC, CNN etc).
Unfortunately, editors and journalists especially in the west have come to believe (not completely unfounded) that the average span of concentration in the audience is limited. Hence, short snippets of news are usually provided without context and in sound-bites. This creates tremendous challenge to human rights advocates trying to influence coverage of events to be factual and unbiased. It is of course simply naive to think that the media is unbiased. The media is run based on certain economic interests and pleasing those who pay the bills is part of the strategy.
Samir Nasser made these astute observations recently in an email:
"Only nothing begets nothing. This is nowhere more accurate than in the Palestinian relationship with the media. The Zionist lobby has systematically entered every media organ and form, while Palestinians have contented themselves with letter to the editor and wondered why it is not doing any good. It is said that ‘you get what you pay for’; managing long media and lobbying campaigns costs money and needs to be tailored to those you are directing the message to. As a whole, Palestinian society has contributed nothing to a media campaign and has yet to learn how to address their target audiences. In fact most Palestinians have yet to see the need to a concentrated media campaign. Palestinians are stuck in Middle Eastern terminology and rhetoric that comes from the sixties and seventies, while trying to make audiences see it our way. While the Zionist lobby has hired public relation firms and has its own media channels, we are lucky if we can fund a spot on late night cable."
The pro-Israeli groups have been successful in their propaganda campaigns to the extent that Americans are complacent about funding a country that continues to oppress and enslave another society (see Chapter 3). They did this by being well funded and organized. Until very recently this Israeli hegemony of the media was total and absolute. There are literally dozens of well-funded groups advocating Zionist ideologies in the media (see examples in Exhibit 3 and Exhibit 6). Only recently have those been joined by a very small minority of non-Zionist, post-Zionist, or anti-Zionist perspectives. Occasionally, we who advocate human rights and justice have succeeded to publish some highly contoversial opinion pieces ( Exhibit 14 for examples). However, the bulk of editorials have been biased and this is demonstrated by a simple review of some influential journal coverage (see Chapter 3).
This chapter is intended to review media activism and will by necessity be brief (many books are written on the subject). I will start by defining our objectives, strengths and weaknesses, followed by defining our audience and "who's who" in the media, and then discussing specific areas (writing letters, interviewing etc.). I am grateful to members of the media committee of the Palestine Right to Return Coalition (http://Al-Awda.org) and some members of Palestine Media Watch (especially Rania Awad and Ahmed Bouzid) for their tireless efforts and support.
The best online resource for activism is a kit found at http://www.fair.org/activism/activismkit.html from the group called Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting. As they describe it: “Inside this kit you will find ‘how-to’ guides for identifying, documenting and challenging inaccurate or unfair news coverage, along with information about how to promote independent media. Challenging mainstream media and building independent media are equally important components of media activism. Long-term community pressure and grassroots action are key to media reform. We encourage you to photocopy individual pages for use in organizational meetings, educational forums, mailings to your members that urge media action, or any other useful situation. We hope that this packet will help you fight unfair coverage of your issues and communities, and win greater access in media for independent voices.” In the kit are email and web addresses for all major US media outlets (ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, CNN etc)."
Our mission is to use grassroots activism to ensure good, fair, and objective media coverage on the conflict in Israel/Palestine. The ultimate goal is thus to be a force in the media that cannot be ignored, a force for human rights and justice as the only ways to lasting peace in the Middle East. Our short term and intermediate goals are numerous:
a) Building grassroots interest and appreciation for the value of media work
b) Building networks of organizations and communities that are able to reach out internationally
c) Meeting with editors and journalists and carefully working with them to ensure fair and objective coverage (i.e. they hear and report both sides)
d) Making news and making sure it is reported fairly
e) Placing opinion pieces and letters to the editor in newspapers and in alternate media
We are guided by the belief that together with other actions (discussed in other chapters in this section), activists can make and have made a difference in the media.
In short, we want to make noise and be noticed positively. In terms of balanced coverage, this means bringing about equity in the space given to various Israeli and Palestinian perspectives, ensuring that the editorials adopt a human rights agenda and relay facts, and ensure coverage that allows the public to see the need for justice. Our first achievable goal is to get noticed: for each of us to become someone they recognize and respect.
Do human rights advocates have any advantages in dealing with the media? I think the biggest is integrity, the fact that we are not paid that we volunteer our efforts and thus do not have financial or material benefit from our advocacy. People respect that. People are increasingly prepared to listen to what we have to say: many know in their hearts that things are not good and could get worse. Activists are able to touch people's hearts by articulate sentiments and facts concisely and honestly. I have found many in mainstream media who are secretly sympathetic to the causes we espouse but are afraid to air them themselves and thus appreciate our efforts. Finally, the media loves controversy (that is news) and we are certainly controversial by going against certain government and power media positions on issues.
Media work for activists is sometimes an afterthought. That is unfortunate. The most effective advocacy groups plan for media work just as diligently and as early as planning for all other aspects of our activism (building relationships, putting on demonstrations etc).
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