Date: 13 Feb 2002 05:47:56 -0800
Subject: Re: AUT: Re: If the "anti-globalization" movement radicalizes...


As someone who was involved in the last 2 years Mayday events in central London, where the press coverage was mostly hostile (helped by the 'socialist' Mayor taking paid for adverts attacking the movement) I think that cultavating the press is largely a waste of time.  
The media will use sensationalist images (places being trashed, minor scuffles etc) but will not address the issues.  Why should they - it threatens their very exsistance.  
In 2000 we held press conferences and issued press releases and did interviews.  Very little was ever used and the questions were, as Chris said, stupid.  When commentry was required the safe bet of the reformist columist was used.
In 2001 we realised we faced a choice.  Did we spend our time writing press releases, holding press conferences and giving interviews or did we spend our time publishing leaflets, a pamphlet, setting up websites and e-groups, in short trying to get our message accross directly.  We chose the latter (of course we 'used' indymedia as well).  We got as much, if not more, press and TV coverage as before and, as we would not talk to them they even had to resort on occassion to reprinting quotes from the Mayday Monopoly Game Guide pamphlet.  In short the coverage was no worse than if we co-operated with the media and possibly better.
The only possible downside was that this did not stop the Leninist left, in the guise of their front Globalise Resistance, from holding press conferences and making stupid statements.  However the journos knew that they did not represent the real movement and did not actually know what was going on.  They, like the reformists, were largely used to try and make us look pathetic!
The other tatic which has been used to varing degrees of success in London (and Brighton) has been the spoof 
newspaper handed out for free.  
   
On Mon, 11 February 2002, asc wrote:

> 
> Hello Chris,
> yeah, i think this is pretty accurate... i think the
> tactic of being nicer to journalists and possibly even
> trying to befriend some of them can be used... but i'm
> not sure it will be that useful... as materialists i'm
> not sure we should buy into ideas like you reap what
> you sow, or what goes around comes around, but there's
> no reason to get the face of some punk journalist
> who's just being the corporate lacky he's supposed to
> be.
> in struggle,
> -Sean
> 
> --- cwright <cwright-AT-21stcentury.net> wrote:
> > It depends on a lo of things.  The type of action
> > has a big impact.  The
> > anti-poll tax movement garnered a lot of coverage
> > because they had a massive
> > base and did things very creatively.  The anti-WEF
> > protests did not have
> > that kind of base and had been under attack since
> > the moment of the protests
> > were announced.  Also, the refusal to answer stupid
> > questions was not
> > unreasonable under such hostile circumstances.  Any
> > reporter could have read
> > the fucking banners (not swearing at you, but
> > disgusted at them) and figured
> > it our quickly enough.  Plus, the demo did not have
> > a single, unified
> > message besides fuck the WEF, fuck capitalism. 
> > Well, the first was obvious
> > and the second they did not want to publicize in any
> > serious way.
> > 
> > I don't really think that 'media friends' would have
> > helped much here.  This
> > was a concerted effort and a police/surveillance
> > testing action for the
> > media and the state (see the NY Times article on how
> > all of the police
> > cameras were giving live feeds of the demo to a
> > single warroom, allowing the
> > central policing agencies to pick out and isolate
> > specific people and
> > groups.)
> > 
> > In other circumstances, it might help and there is
> > nothing wrong with
> > cultivating honest relationships with reporters for
> > mainstream sources.
> > But certain things will never get
> > televised/mediatized in our favor no
> > matter what.  We cannot ever depend on that or even
> > put much faith in it.
> > Plus I am sick of Leftists doing everything as a
> > media event.  'March
> > downtown because we will get press coverage'. 
> > Course, it will suck if we
> > get any at all and it will not replace reaching
> > people in communities where
> > they live and work, so I am kinda media-hostile
> > right now.
> > 
> > For what its worth.
> > 
> > Cheers,
> > Chris
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "asc" <satellitecrash-AT-yahoo.com>
> > To: <aut-op-sy-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu>
> > Sent: Sunday, February 10, 2002 9:58 AM
> > Subject: Re: AUT: Re: If the "anti-globalization"
> > movement radicalizes...
> > 
> > 
> > > Hello Chris, Michael,
> > > seriously though, do you either of you think (or
> > > anyone else) that befriending some mainstream
> > > journalists could be a useful tactic? i think
> > > alternative media is growing, but probably not
> > that
> > > fast...
> > >
> > > i was just thinking about this b/c at the WEF
> > rally
> > > demonstrators were acting really antagonistically
> > to
> > > mainstream journalists, whereas i didn't see this
> > in
> > > either seattle, or the philly rnc protest... not
> > that
> > > journalists have ever reported things accurately,
> > but
> > > could anything be achieved by building bridges
> > with
> > > mainstream journalists? or is this a useless
> > endeavor?
> > > in struggle,
> > > -Sean
> > >
> > > --- cwright <cwright-AT-21stcentury.net> wrote:
> > > > As Gil Scott-Heron said, The Revolution Will NOT
> > Be
> > > > Televised.
> > > >
> > > > Chris
> > > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > > From: "Michael Handelman"
> > <mhandelman1-AT-yahoo.com>
> > > > To: <aut-op-sy-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu>
> > > > Sent: Saturday, February 09, 2002 8:01 AM
> > > > Subject: AUT: If the "anti-globalization"
> > movement
> > > > radicalizes...
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > > ...will this mean that the mainstream media
> > will
> > > > > ignore it completely?
> > > > >
> > > > > I hear ocassionally the media talking about
> > the
> > > > > aims/goals of the protester, but they are
> > always
> > > > > referring to the reformists in the movement...
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > __________________________________________________
> > > > > Do You Yahoo!?
> > > > > Send FREE Valentine eCards with Yahoo!
> > Greetings!
> > > > > http://greetings.yahoo.com
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >      --- from list
> > > > aut-op-sy-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---
> > > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >      --- from list
> > > > aut-op-sy-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---
> > >
> > >
> > > __________________________________________________
> > > Do You Yahoo!?
> > > Send FREE Valentine eCards with Yahoo! Greetings!
> > > http://greetings.yahoo.com
> > >
> > >
> > >      --- from list
> > aut-op-sy-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---
> > >
> > 
> > 
> > 
> >      --- from list
> > aut-op-sy-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---
> 
> 
> __________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> Send FREE Valentine eCards with Yahoo! Greetings!
> http://greetings.yahoo.com
> 
> 
>      --- from list aut-op-sy-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---


Find the best deals on the web at AltaVista Shopping!
http://www.shopping.altavista.com


     --- from list aut-op-sy-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---