new america foundation presentation: making media work

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Reshaping PoliticsThrough NetworkedProgressive Media

Jessica Clark and Tracy Van SlykeNew America Foundation, 2/9/10


Setting the Stage: 2000-2008

Journalism undergoes sea change

Legacy outlets forced to rethink strategies and business models

Media ecology is radically democratized


MessageMakers

Religious groups & social conservatives

Corporate lobbyists

1

MainstreamMedia

Network television, 24-hour cable stations, major newspapers and news

magazines, Sunday morning talk shows, commercial publishers

Conservative Media

(see below)

Produced by Jessica Clark and Tracy Van Slyke. Lead Researcher: Pallav Vora. Additional research support: Laura Chomyn, Stephen Kovach, Anna Schneider, Jennifer Wedekind. Design by Mikhaela Reid.

BIG MONEY FOR MEDIAMoney from foundations underwrites framers and partisan media. Individual and corporate investments in the public and mainstream media may include ownership, stock, advertising or sponsorship.

2 THE MESSAGE MACHINE Framers and message makers hammer out talking points and deliver them verbatim to the conservative media.

CableFox News, Christian Broadcasting Network, The Inspiration Network

RadioClear Channel, Radio America, Christian radio, local commercial radio

Newspapers Washington Times, The Wall Street Journal editorial page, New York Post

MagazinesNational Review, The Weekly Standard, The American Spectator, Commentary

BlogsDrudge Report, Instapundit, PowerLine

Public Intellectuals David Brooks, Dinesh D'Souza, David Horowitz, Ben Stein, David Frum

PunditsBill O'Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Ann Coulter, Pat Buchanan, Cal Thomas, George Will

Online PortalsFree Republic, NewsMax, Townhall

PublishersRegnery Publishing, Sentinel, Spence Publishing, Crown Forum

Framers

Republican policymakers

Think tanksAmerican Enterprise Institute,

CATO Institute, Heritage Foundation

Issue-based nonprofits

527s & PACSSwift Boat Veterans for Truth, Club for

Growth, corporate 527s

REAPING REWARDSThese grants, donations and investments generate profits, help create a corporate-friendly ideological climate, and promote conservative social and economic policies in a self-sustaining cycle.

4

Media WatchdogsAccuracy in Media,

Family Research Council

MESSAGE DELIVERYTalking points are also funneled into the mainstream media through press releases, and conservative outlets, including talk radio, bloggers and pundits.

3

The Conservative Media MachineOver the past three decades, conservatives have built and funded an e!cient, self-sustaining, top-down system that funnels right-wing messages into the media. By doing so, conservatives have come to dominate the political discourse and have advanced their policy goals. The organizations and individuals named are examples of the most visible participants in the process.

ConservativeFoundations

Adolph Coors Foundation, John M. Olin Foundation, The Scaife

Foundations, Bradley Foundation, Shelby Cullom Davis Foundation,

Richard and Helen DeVos Foundation

ConservativeIndividual &

Corporate Donors

(Large and small )

Public Media

NPR, PBS

Conservative Media

Talking points Talking

points

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Progressive Media

Produced by Tracy Van Slyke and Jessica Clark. Lead Researcher: Pallav Vora. Additional research support: Laura Chomyn, Stephen Kovach, Anna Schneider, Jennifer Wedekind. Design by Mikhaela Reid.

FoundationsOpen Society Institute, Schumann

Center for Media and Democracy, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Ford Foundation, The Arca Foundation, Glaser Progress

Foundation, The David and Lucile T. Packard Foundation

Individual & Corporate

Donors(Large and small )

Issue-based nonprofits

Interfaith groups

Environmentalgroups

Laborgroups

GLBT & feminist groups

Civil rightsgroups

Social justice groups

Civil liberties groups

Peace groups

The majority of progressive foundation support for media goes to public radio and television.

Democratic policymakers

527s & Online Groups

America Coming Together, MoveOn.org, union-based 527s

Framing & public relations projects

The SPIN project, Fenton Communications

Think TanksCenter for American Progress, Rockridge Institute, Center for Economic Policy and Research,

Institute for Policy Studies

Foundations and individual donors have started supporting media watchdog and policy reform organizations.

MISSING: A consistent established pathway between the progressive messaging system and progressive media outlets.

MainstreamMedia

Network television, 24-hour cable stations, newspapers and news

magazines, Sunday morning talk shows, commercial publishers

ProgressiveMedia

(see below right)

Online magazines AlterNet, TomPaine, Grist,Women's eNews, Pop and Politics

Online portalsCommon Dreams, BuzzFlash, OneWorld.net, Institute for Global Communications

Independent community media Alternative newsweeklies, public access cable TV, Low Power FM, Indy Media Centers

PublishersSeven Stories Press, The New Press, Nation Books, Soft Skull Press

MagazinesThe Nation, The American Prospect, Mother Jones, In These Times, The Progressive, plus many issue-based periodicals, like ColorLines & Bitch

Public intellectualsHoward Zinn, Naomi Klein, Cornel West, Barbara Ehrenreich, Tom Frank, Laura Flanders, Norman

The Emerging Progressive Media Network

1 NOT!SO!BIG MONEY FOR MEDIAWhile liberal foundations have more money than conservative foundations overall, funding for the progressive media network has not been a priority.

2 3 THE EMERGING MESSAGE NETWORKOver the past few years, both think tanks and framing organizations have arisen to shape progressive messages. However, many of these inside-the-Beltway groups don't communicate well with grassroots groups or the progressive media.

MISSING LINKSAlthough some ”bridge groups” work to connect progressive experts, academ-ics and activists to the mainstream media, progres-sive ideas are still struggling for airtime and legitimacy.

Historically, foundations have not focused on building a progressive media infrastructure. Messages flow from a variety of organizations and individuals but fail to coalesce into unified narratives that penetrate the mainstream. Recently, progressives have begun coordinating their messages and talking points, but gaps remain between Beltway politics and grassroots e!orts. The groups and individuals highlighted below are among the most visible hubs in the progressive media network.

Deliberately organized

Top-down

Corporate agenda

Successful for-profits and fully funded nonprofit media projects

Coordinated messages

Large-scale mainstream media impact

Ad hoc

Diverse and democractic

Social justice agenda

Underfunded, di!cult-to-sustain media projects

Multiple messages

Struggling for coverage and legitimacy

PROGRESSIVE MEDIA CONSERVATIVE MEDIA

This table points out the structural and political di"erences between the conservative and progressive media sectors.

Key Di!erences

Solomon, Noam Chomsky, among many others

Radio networksAir America Radio, Democracy Radio, Pacifica, Free Speech Radio, nonprofit community radio stations

Satellite/cable/digital TVFree Speech TV, Independent World Television (pending), many independent producers

Documentary producersRobert Greenwald, Michael Moore, Shola Lynch

Journalists/punditsBill Moyers, Al Franken, Arianna Hu!ngton, Michael Eric Dyson, Amy Goodman, Molly Ivins, Eric Alterman, Gloria Steinem, Jim Hightower

BlogsDaily Kos, Eschaton, Talking Points Memo

Public Media

NPR, PBS

Bridge groupsInstitute for Public Accuracy,

Progressive Media Project, Minuteman Media

Infrastructure Development

Independent Press Association, MediaWorks, National Alliance for Media Arts and Culture, Center for International

Media Action, Media Tank

Media WatchdogsFAIR, Media Matters, Rocky Mountain

Media Watch, Women in Media & News

Media ReformFree Press, Electronic Frontier

Foundation, Media Access Project, Media Alliance

MISSING: A communications structure and strategy for getting these messages into the mainstream media.

MISSING: Communication between the D.C. message machine and grassroots groups aimed at creating coordinated messages.

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The Big Switch:

From top-down to networked


BY JESSICA CLARK AND TRACY VAN SLYKE, DESIGN: MIKHAELA REID

Visit www.inthesetimes.com/mediamap for more information.


Ramping up: 2006-2008

Surge in online video

Rising activism across social networks

Increase in mobile communication

The power of YOU


Emerging Tools: 2006-2008


Emerging Ecosystem: 2006-2008


Harnessing theNetwork Layers

Networked users

Self-organized networks

Institutional networks

Networks of institutions


Conecting with your networks is now critical to developing high-impact journalism.Check the boxes to see how well you’re engaging networks of users at each phase of production:

Produced by Tracy Van Slyke and Jessica Clark .www.beyondtheecho.net. Illustrations by Lindsay Jane .www.lindsayjane.net.

. solicit citizen reports

. crowdsource data analysis

. check facts

. conduct interviews

. organize online or. offline action: petitions,. rallies, screenings, etc.

. pressure policymakers to . take a stand

. spread links and stories to. personal and institutional. networks

. urge further coverage of. issues in related outlets

. pass on stories to change-. makers and policymakers

. raise dollars for a story,. an outlet, a reporter, or an. investigation

. share your story of impact . to raise support and. enthusiasm for new. projects

. cull tips and leads

. brainstorm story ideas

. provide expertise

. reveal pressing issues

. organize relevant. source links

. help build data sets,. timelines and visualizations

. assemble related stories

. provide feedback on impact:. anecdotes, survey replies. (NOTE: See Beyond the. Echo Chamber for tips on. assessing impact)


RethinkingImpact

Need to move beyond “eyeballs” and dollars

Progressive assessment: matched to mission

New dimensions of impact: buzz, cred, in!uence, engagement

Impact considered in context of strategy


Build network-powered media


Embrace 21st-cent. muckraking


Move beyond pale, male & stale


What next?Current challenges

Foster relationships diverse media-makers

Invest in creating tools for assessing impact

Move into “the cloud,” mobile, apps, gaming

Gain new competencies: innovation, collaboration, engagement


Learn more:beyondtheecho.net


new america foundation presentation: making media work

News & Politics

theprogressive media

partisan media

progressive media sectors

conservative media machine

s progressive media

progressive messages

business models media

progressive experts