One of the many effective elements of the Kerry Edwards campaign, and one that was well supported by bloggers in general and Kossacks in particular was pushing on the media to keep Republican spin from directing the narrative. While we're out of electoral power, I think we need to go full bore on this.
Obviously without a bully pulpit like a campaign we'll have a harder time getting a lot of column inches, but read on for some ideas for keep the pressure on the media to report our side of the story well.
- well timed commentaries, letter-writing campaigns and generally coordinated debunking of spin. In particular, by taking our cues from blogs like this, we can help get the statements of our leaders in Congress printed in more papers.
- Subscription campaigns to support newspapers who do a good job or like the Crawford Lone Star Iconoclast are outspoken (see this diary for some troubles they're facing.
- Augment #2 by developing relationships with editors and reporters at small town and college papers. A BlogPAC type approach will be particularly effective here because the amounts on money we can provide (on the order of $10K) can make a substantive difference in small town newspapers.
- Harness the talents of the video editors among us to send helpful clips and photos to media of all sizes and stripes. We can help get our stories to echo by providing as many supporting materials as possible to editorials staffs.
We are the party of grassroots action. Let's build on this strength to help get our message resonating loud and clear!