8,000 postcards- 20 senators – 30 days - Page 8

Hello All,

I posted this in another tread but I hope you bear with me and share your thoughts. This seems to be an active group. Tell me where you agree or disagree.

I have been reading about all the efforts to send mails and call congressmen and senators and it is commendable but insufficient attention has been paid to the media. Bear with me it is long but well thought out and I am curious to hear your thoughts and suggestions.

One thing one has learned in the U.S is that the politicians always follow the frame of the media and whoever wins the P.R war wins the debate and hence will get the votes they need to pass the legislation or stall it. Case in point, the failure of the dream act in 2007. All the legislators know about the issue or choose not to care about the details- they are primarily concerned about what the "voting" constituents feel about an issue which is often framed by media coverage.

If we want to win this dream act this year- a media plan must be put together and won. Here is a potential blue print.

1. I agree with Angeleno, there should be costs to FOX, CNN and others for being blatantly anti immigrant and sometimes racists. People should not only advocate directly for watching MSNBC which is definitely on the side of fairness to immigrants but must chastise FOX or especially CNN. What do media companies care about? ratings, advertising and image. Fox probably will only be affected if hispanics or immigrant supporters not only boycott their advertisers but also champion its competitors. ie if fox has a pepsi sponsor, CIR supporters should proclaim that coca cola seems to value the hispanic community better and also taste better(free word of mouth advertising)

As for CNN- the racist on the 7pm night spot likes the attention that he recieves from his supporters and also his detractors. During a protest against him in NYC, he came out to mock the crowd. Hence, for CNN there is no need to try to convince him- instead either repeat above advertisers strategy or focus on someone at CNN who is image conscious and cares about appearing fair- ex. the "keeping them honest" guy at 10pm. Let his staff know that people especially in the hispanic community would love to watch his show but CNN is no longer "the most trusted name in news because it has the most biased and racist hour on T.V at 7pm" and hence his show lacks credibility because they are not keeping the 7pm guy honest by challenging his racist rhetoric. In essence, focus on the brand CNN is spending millions of dollars and time advertising- "the most trusted name in news" -- we should constantly even if it means wearing T shirts or calling radio shows broadcast how CNN USED TO BE a trusted source for news but now is just borderline racists and biased and begin to say that we are noticing a shift in the immigrant and hispanic english speaking community away from CNN to MSNBC. It is all about trajectory and if we do this we will see a change in coverage.

2. In addition, we need a spokesperson preferrably a trustworthy and noteable white celebrity to champion the cause of immigrant children. The media likes uncomplicated messages and often a celebrity just by his/her appearance will communicate better the crust of an issue and mean better ratings for them. The media does not really care about the sad stories, they care about ratings and will constantly book a celebrity to talk about an issue not because of the importance of the issue but because they want to advertise that Michael J Fox will be on CNN or George Clooney will be on CBS talking about this or that issue. Hence we need to convince someone to take up our issue that is sexy or media friendly. examples could be Sean Penn, oscar de la hoya , Julia Roberts or Brad Pitt.

3. We need better metaphors that precisely communicate our cause. Lets get a list going and here are some on mine.

ex. If a parent drives over the speed limit or even gets arrested for DUI, should our society take away the chance for their child to ever drive a car?

ex- Opponents of the dream act want to continue legislative abortion of dreams of children, supporters want to adopt these children and make them contributing member of the society

4. In the media and P.R theater message is what wins not sympathy. Hence we need to pressure the current administration by reminding him about his rhetoric of the fierce urgency of now and the need to do what is right despite what is politically expedient. If during the youtube townhall meeting, one person could have asked him this question- I think it would have been helpful.
" Sir, as a longtime supporter I was thrilled when you encouraged the country to look forward instead of backwards and to remember Dr. King's fierce urgency of now- As a school teacher, I want to know if the 65,000 high school immigrant children who are set to graduate in May and June with no real further prospects can count on your administration to pass the dream act in time for them to attend their first college classes when they begin in August 2009 or should I tell them to wait yet another year, for another time, for someone else when it is politically expedient? We know si sue puede, but how do we say the fierce urgency of now in spanish."

5. I think it is also important to sharpen our questioning of why Oprah does not want to engage this issue. She claims and I believe she is passionate about education and the challenges of those who have lost hope so there is simply no reason why she is not engaging this issue. Yes it is politically charged but it is a simple question of fairness also. I am ultimately a fan of Oprah especially what she is doing with the school in South Africa regardless of the knuckleheads who keep causing trouble but if she resists airing at least a segment on this issue we might want to question her motives to see if there is some hispanic bias on her part which I doubt but she has to offer an explanation why she does not want to discuss a crisis for kids in her own backyard. Some times hardball as Chris Matthews notes can be effective.

ALL THE MEDIA COMPANIES SIMILAR TO POLITICIANS UNDERSTAND THE GROWING HISPANIC POPULATION AND WOULD NOT WANT BLATANTLY OPPOSE THEM BECAUSE THAT WILL AFFECT THE BOTTOM LINE.

I am not even hispanic but I see the current and I see know how unfair this is. A good question to ask black americans who surprising are less than vocal in their support for the dream act is -- What side of this issue do you think Dr Martin Luther King would be on? Period

Hello all,

I attach a 3"x5" postcard typed on Microsoft Word, ready to be printed and sent out. You only need to change your name on the post card and the senator's address.

Once you open the file, just load your printer with the 3"x5" index card and adjust the alignment on the printer, and print. The postcard would be ready within minutes.

I'm in. I got everything ready.

Erase / Rewind

I'll send one to Graham.

Hey Does Oprah Care, You've made some interesting points. Positive media coverage of the dream act is definitely important. A lot of people have been expressing similar concerns in other threads and I know efforts are being made to get some popular media stations to publicize the Dream Act movement.

It is true that certain stations like FOX and CNN don't view the immigrant rights movement favorably, but instead of focusing on them, let's collectively focus our energy on whatever needs to be done to make sure that senators and house representatives vote in our favor and that the American public can feel confident that the Dream Act is a positive piece of legislation.

Everyone on this site is ready to act, just keep your ideas coming! Ultimately, organization is the key to making a big impression and getting attention.

Nice! I'll add it to the original post. I have 4x6 post cards....Can you make another sheet for that size? Thanks!

I havent seen this brought up but it has to be clear...

THE 3" x 5" CARDS WILL NOT WORK. THEY MUST MEET CERTAIN MAILING REQUIREMENTS AS NOTED HERE:

http://postcalc.usps.gov/PopUps/pop_up12.htm
"Any item smaller than the minimum dimensions is not mailable"

I hate to make it so big, but we shouldnt waste our money on stuff that isnt even gonna be mailed out!!

Please note this OP.

I am DEFINITELY getting on this! No doubt!

It's great to see everyone rallying up for a great cause. This is our future guys LETS MAKE IT HAPPEN!

I'll be sending each of the senators that were listed here at least 3 Postcards each. 20 senators x 3 postcards each = 60 Postcards to make for the following 3 weeks. And I agree that we should continue doing this every week until it passes.

I'll get to work ASAP!

Great Idea!

don't they sell like packs of actual BLANK postcards at like walmart or something? that's what i'm getting and so should everyone. I'm sure it's not too expensive. 60 blank postcards, 1 marker, 1 pen.