Yesterday I had two noteworthy/memorable experiences. One was seeing what I can only conclude was the product of utter frustration on the part of a few union supporters in Michigan. I've been a union supporter since 1970, and seeing fists flying on the mainstream media was depressing, not to mention counterproductive to the important goal of communicating what it means to be union.
The other experience was following Topsy for a few hours observing the Stop Rush meme. What we see on Twitter — consumers inquiring of companies whether sponsoring Rush Limbaugh is good for their brand — is duplicated around the clock, seven days a week on Facebook, in emails, and occasionally, even in phone calls. Social media is a powerful force, and to see it harnessed in this way is to be impressed by its transformative power.
Today I've also had two noteworthy experiences. The first was discovering that an anonymous person has donated to me a one year subscription to Daily Kos. My sincere thanks! It is a great gift, and entirely unexpected.
Something I will treasure!
The other experience: discovering that suddenly, my writing has become the story. Happy to talk about that, but first, I need to correct a wrong impression.
About me, kestrel9000 writes:
it's more like wondering what the next step is.
This movement he's created is too big to just....go away....when its goals are achieved.
Might he be wanting to reduce the influence of Big Radio?
That's a DAMNED commendable goal, if the case.
I haven't "created a movement". I'm just a blogger with a few public relations skills. The Stop Rush movement was created by all of you who were astonished that a mean-spirited multi-millionaire with a talk radio show could get away with one of the most brazen misogynist attacks of our lifetimes, and then have his boss
publicly pat him on the head for all the money he brings in. It was created by people like Justin, who risked his teaching job to spread the word that attacking a college student over six hundred radio stations for exercising her first amendment right was not OK. It was created by a fellow born into a 1960s hippie family, and whose first name rhymes with the name of a state that is right in the middle of the USA, who
created a database that kicks ass.
I'm not a leader of Stop Rush, I'm not a "decider", I'm not responsible for the inspiration. I'm just a lowly scribe. I think I have a little influence in one of the Flush Rush groups on Facebook, but no more than any of the other principles. There are wonderful, creative, dedicated people (gals and guys) involved with that group, and the amount of work that they produce day in and day out is astounding. They have created this movement.
On changing the political landscape
Please consider for a moment the forces that shape our society. Glenn Beck was railing on Fox News. Social media forced him off of Fox, and while he still has an audience and new ventures, his broad influence is appreciably diminished.
Rush Limbaugh seemed unassailable, with six hundred radio stations and a claimed eighteen thousand advertisers. All of that has changed because of people like you. While holding him accountable is a marathon rather than a sprint, I can guarantee that his enablers are hurting.
ALEC operated behind the scenes, and its impact has been devastating to society. Now that it is out in the open and social media is pressuring its donors, it is still powerful, but less so.
Then there are the Koch brothers. We buy their products in the supermarket, and they use their incredible wealth to crush our hopes and dreams. Are they unassailable? Hardly. We just haven't taken them on in any widespread, systematic, organized fashion.
more on ALEC, the Koch brothers,
and changing the political landscape
after the hop
More on ALEC, the Koch brothers, and changing the political landscape in a moment. But first, please forgive a little inside baseball (or Inside Daily Kos, as it were):
Kestrel9000's diary is not about the Stop Rush movement, it is about my rhetoric. I welcome the concerns that he has expressed.
Some have agreed with him; for example, referring to me, Nina Katarina has written:
yeah (3+ / 0-)
The titles are hyperbolic and misleading. I like the information that he provides, but he really ought to be more precise.
I don't necessarily agree that he has to have a hidden agenda, but I do agree that he needs to write more clearly.
by Nina Katarina
Others take kestrel9000 to task for his own rhetoric. For example, lunachickie wrote:
I beg to differ (4+ / 0-)
This is speculative, in terms of the language:
Does Richard Myers have another, over-arching goal we don't know about?
Just askin'
What other goal could he have? This asks the question. It is speculative. What do you think his over-arching goal might be?
I have read both yours and Richard's diaries and I admire both of you. But if you're going to tell your readers you aren't speculating, and nit-pick about his word usage, then you need to dial that ending back.
(please note: I possess a BS in English, this is all about language, specifically rhetoric)
It is time to #Occupy Media.
by lunachickie
Some of the specific questions raised in kestrel9000's diary have straightforward answers. For example, why did I use the hyperbole in the title, "Earth shattering" change in the radio industry in the aftermath of the Rush Limbaugh Effect ??
That title simply echoed an article title used by radio industry analyst Jerry Del Colliano, which was "Earthshattering Changes in Radio".
I added the quotation marks to indicate that I was quoting someone else. My first sentence in the diary reads, "On Monday, November 26, radio industry analyst Jerry Del Colliano predicted 'earth shattering' changes in the radio industry." Again, the expression he used is in quotes. I'm echoing his words, and apparently, his impression. While I am not in the radio industry, he is, and has been for decades.
I also chose the word "aftermath" to (hopefully) indicate that I wasn't directly attributing cause and effect. What I call the Rush Limbaugh Effect has had an impact on much of the radio industry. But much of the radio industry had already been adversely impacted by other issues -- demographics, technological change, private equity.
Other examples are my own contribution. For example, I did originate another diary title to which kestrel9000 refers: Radio industry convulsing: more Clear Channel layoffs; Cumulus sharpens axe; more Limbaugh damage
Is convulsing too hyperbolic? Just two days ago a major radio industry publication referred to an incident that they described as "tarnishing the image of radio". They used all caps, and made it a banner headline.
I think much of what I have written simply reflects views about "big radio" that have been expressed by others.
But then, kenlac offers some snark that (on Daily Kos, and elsewhere) also rings true:
No, no, no! (4+ / 0-)
This is the internet! The most important thing is getting on the rec list!!!
by kenlac
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Kestrel9000 has asked,
Does Richard Myers have another, over-arching goal we don't know about?
Might the best be yet to come?
Just askin'.
The answer is,
possibly.
Lunachickie has the tagline, "It is time to #Occupy Media." After observing Stop Rush in action, I'm convinced that we can bypass the media. Or more precisely, in the age of social media we are the media.
The Stop Rush database is designed to track companies, large and small, with the goal of making it possible — indeed, making it easy — to contact them. With Stop Rush, we contact them about their advertising. Why is that? Because money is the pressure point. Advertising dollars fund hate radio. It isn't intentional. Advertisers don't wish to have the flower bouquets that they sell advertised one minute after Rush Limbaugh has demanded sex videos from a college girl. The thing is, most of them don't know about it.
This is the system. It may be a "free market", but it is a market with inadequate information on which advertisers can make informed decisions. We use our free speech to add that missing information, and advertisers bail by the hundreds.
We focus on advertising in Stop Rush, because that's what got results with Glenn Beck, and that is what will also work — eventually — with Rush. But we could just as easily be contacting supermarkets about the brands that they choose to carry.
As a longtime unionist, I find it easy to remember brands that are flagrantly anti-union. I also recognize that the power of the Koch Brothers is derived from all of the many brands that their industries manufacture and sell to all of us. But when I'm standing on the paper towels aisle of the supermarket, I have a terrible time remembering all of the brand names that Koch Industries produces, simply because there are so many.
If I make a call to the manager of that supermarket and inquire whether he believes that carrying Koch Brothers products is good for his store's reputation, it will have no impact. But if my call is one of ten thousand such calls, that manager is going to notice.
The Stop Rush database has a modular design, I am told. It was developed with the idea that other groups might be interested in harnessing its power.
Just sayin'...
The diarist is active in Flush Rush on Facebook:
Flush Rush on Facebook: http://facebook.com/...
Stop Rush database: http://stoprush.net
My Stop Rush blog posts: http://dailykos.com/...
Twitter hashtag: #stoprush