Frank Bertoldi <bertoldi@astro.Princeton.EDU> (06/15/91)
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* *
* PRIME-TIME ACTIVISM *
* Media Strategies for Organizing *
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* by Charlotte Ryan *
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* South End Press, Fall 1990 *
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<from S.E.P. catalog:>
Ask veteran organizers how their work has changed since the
1930s, and they are sure to mention the expanded role of mass
media. Since World War II our society has become increasingly
media driven; vast audiences of people are being influenced
principally by chains and network TV.
Advocates of alternative media argue that corporate ownership of
TV and newspapers marginalizes dissent, leaving little hope that
the mass media might be used to convey a progressive agenda. Yet
more and more progressive organizers are attempting to mobilize
their audiences via mass media channels.
Prime-Time Activism helps organizers apply their politics to
their mass media campaigns, filling the void between the narrow
advice of "how-to" manuals and the sweeping critiques radical
theorists provide. Ryan addresses these commonly faced questions:
* How do the daily routines and responsibilities
of news workers and organizations hinder progressive
groups who seek mainstream media coverage?
* What can organizers seeking mainstream coverage
do to gain greater visibility for their message?
* Do we have to compromise our politics to do so?
Ryan explores strategies for promoting a truly progressive
message despite the media's tendency to ignore alternative points
of view or to coopt them into the mainstream. To illustrate
potential solutions, Ryan reports on the successful grassroots
mass media campaigns of a labor union and of an anti-intervention
group in a small city.
Charlotte Ryan has organized around labor, community, and foreign
policy issues and now works with the Boston College Media
Research and Action Project.
270 pages, 0-9608401-9 $12.00 paper 0-9608402-7 $25.00 cloth.
For a free catalog, or phone orders, call S.E.P. at 1-800-533-8478.
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