The Doors of Perception: Why Americans Will Believe Almost Anything
Disability - Access Activism
Disability & Legal IssuesBeyond Pesticides: Getting Your Message In The Media
Green Media Toolshed
Activism Training Materials & Resources
20/20 Vision Tools for Citizens
Camcorders in Activists' Hands
Writing a News Release
How to Write a Press Release
Tips on Taping
Tips on Sending Faxes & Certified Mail
CRAYON.net - News Links
Online Writing Courses by Sharon Wachsler
ACLU: Is the FBI Spying on You?
How to Contact Congress
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Get Published...Writing a Letter to the Editor is Easier Than You Think!
Letters to the editor are great advocacy tools. Find others to write letters when possible. This will show that other individuals in the community are concerned about the issue. If your letter doesn't get published, perhaps someone else's on the same topic will.
Breaking the Frame
When communications consultant Susan Nall Bales talks to environmental groups, she tells them that they can't fix government policies until they first fix themselves. For Bales, that means these groups must become acutely conscious of the stories that they're telling and the hidden chains of reasoning their narratives can set off in the public mind.
How to Stop Being Manipulated
Using the "divide and conquer" principle, they manipulate one opinion against another, making those who are out of step appear "ridiculous, unknowledgeable, inarticulate, or dogmatic." They attempt to anger certain participants, thereby accelerating tensions. The facilitators are well trained in psychological manipulation. They are able to predict the reactions of each member in a group. Individuals in opposition to the desired policy or program will be shut out....
Must Reads!
Public Participation Part 1 and Part 2
and
What the Chemical Industry Fears
Dealing With News Media
Media in the United States
Media omissions, distortion, inaccuracy and bias in the US is something acknowledged by many outside the USA, and is slowly realized more and more inside the US. However, due to those very same omissions, distortion, inaccuracy and the bias in the US mainstream media, it is difficult for the average American citizen to obtain an open, objective view of many of the issues that involve the United States...
Developing relationships with journalists How to Hold a Media Event Being Interviewed Media Tips What makes a good news storyHow The Media Deceives You About Health Issues
Think about how many times you've heard an evening news anchor spit out some variation on the phrase, "According to experts ...." It's such a common device that most of us hardly hear it anymore. But we do hear the "expert" - the professor or doctor or watchdog group - tell us whom to vote for, what to eat, when to buy stock. And, most of the time, we trust them.
Tools for Organizers, Activists, Educators, and Other Hell-Raisers
There are a lot of good progressive web sites out there, packed with solid, issue-oriented material, meant to raise consciousness and give people the facts and ideas they need to be effective activists and educators. But often there's an assumption that the reader is prepared to put these ideas right to use--that they'll just know how to translate them into organizing efforts and outreach projects and public presentations. It isn't always that easy. Especially if you're new at working with a group, or trying to start one up, before you're all ready to charge out and change the world, you need to do some groundwork. You need to build a strong, cohesive organization with a clear sense of its mission and an ability to focus its energies efficiently and creatively.
The people never give up their liberties
but under some delusion
by Edmund Burke (1784)
1301 Howze Beach Road, Slidell, LA 70458-8503, Phone/Fax 985 649-6574