Apian's recent recommended diary,
Mad As Hell And Not Going To FAKE It Anymore urges Kossacks to flood media sources with demands that the Downing Street minutes story receive adequate coverage.
Congressman Conyers has posted a diary urging Kossacks to sign a letter to President Bush which demands an explanation of the Downing Street Minutes and the very likely illegal nature of the Iraq War.
Arthur is advocating a media strike, hitting the media outlets where it hurts for their complete failure to serve as our fourth estate at this most crucial moment.
THESE EFFORTS NEED TO BE COMBINED AND AMPLIFIED.
If all of these events take place on the same day, the message will be strong, unequivocal, and powerful.
Here's my suggestion:
- As soon as Congressman Conyers can estimate a date on which the letter will have the necessary signatures to present to President Bush, he should relay this information to Arthur and Apian.
- Arthur and Apian can co-author a diary (or have separate diaries with the same message) sharing the date of the letter presentation and asking Kossacks to both (a) email and/or phone news outlets to express our disgust with their coverage of the minutes to date, and insist that the media outlets cover Conyers' letter; and (b)"strike" for that day: no watching the cable news; tell the subscription services to not bother delivering the paper for that day; don't purchase those newspapers who have failed to fulfill their responsibilities as our fourth estate; and no patronizing major sponsors of media sources who are presenting us with distorted political news.
Having all of this go down on one day has several advantages.
- We'll have Conyers' back as he delivers his letter and will be sending a message to our Congresspeople that the grassroots will act on behalf of elected representatives who are doing the right thing.
- The benefits of large-scale protests can be captured: there is a significant momentum and excitement factor in using the voice of the many to amplify one's own voice.
- Many may not want to boycott or strike news outlets entirely, but might be more willing to boycott for a single day.
- A single, relatively short, powerful burst of activity can send a stronger message than having emails and letters trickle in.
Let's coordinate our efforts here, folks, and leverage the most effect out of these individually worthwhile and powerful activities. Conyers', Apian's, and Arthur's suggestions can easily be combined into a whole which is much greater than the sum of its parts.
[Update]: DowningStreetMemo.com has links to Conyers' letter and an action plan.
But again, we NEED TO COORDINATE OUR EFFORTS on this for the most effect.