I just sent this to the NRA.
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>The most crucial battle for our Second Amendment rights lies not in the halls of Congress, or state legislatures, but in the hearts and minds of the American people.
With rare exceptions, our elected officials shift their supposed "values" in whatever direction will get them the most votes. What the voters clamor for, the politicos will gladly give, right or wrong, constitutional or not. Sway the people, and the politics will follow.
Clearly, nothing sways the people more than television. It is their primary source of information, and in many cases, their only source of information. If they see it on TV, they will believe it, especially if it is repeated ad nauseum.
Law abiding American gun owners, such as myself, and our most prominent public voice, the NRA, are vilified in every way on television. It is relentless. And the people believe it because there is such an appalling lack of counterpoint to the litany of emotionalized rhetoric.
Where are the facts? The honest statistics? The history lessons? The logic?
I believe the NRA's most urgent endeavor should be the re-education of the American people, through the use of nation-wide television.
A thirty minute "infomercial" is all well and good, if it is watched. But the average TV viewer will simply change the channel. The message is lost. Television viewers have been conditioned by "soundbite" news reports and thirty second advertisements, and their attention span is dreadfully short.
This fact could be used to our advantage in spreading the truth about firearm ownership. The following are what I consider to be some of the essential elements of such an ad campaign:
1) Ads should be brief. Address one issue per ad, not the whole argument, and use catch-phrase "soundbites" to simplify the message, and make it memorable.
2) Use well known and well liked celebrity personalities, particularly people who are not associated with firearms in the minds of the viewing public.
3) A friendly approach. The lies of HCI, et al, must be exposed, but without the appearance of lecturing, or antagonism.
4) High-gloss, professional production values. We are, after all, trying to sell something!
I imagine the ads, or some of them, could even be produced in such a way as to be considered public service announcements. In any event, they should all be tailored to avoid summary dismissal by the television companies for this or that reason of "policy". Any ad that is rejected for such reasons should be reworked to comply with the policy.
And if the ads are rejected time and time again, and nothing we do is good enough to permit them on the air, then make public the tall stack of rejection notices, and let the hypocrisy be known to everyone who will listen, myself included.
While I have focused here on television ads, the same principles can and should be applied to print media. While not as far-reaching as television, the potential outlets for our message are more numerous, and less expensive.
Sway the people, and the politics will follow.
As I have only recently become an NRA member, I would appreciate hearing of any efforts the organisation has made in this regard, and what the results have been, if any.
Respectfully,
Kenneth Keating[/quote]
I certainly don't expect them to smack their collective foreheads and say "Of Course! Why didn't we think of that!". I just want them to address the issue for me. I'll post their reply, if any.
Comments welcome...
-boing
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>The most crucial battle for our Second Amendment rights lies not in the halls of Congress, or state legislatures, but in the hearts and minds of the American people.
With rare exceptions, our elected officials shift their supposed "values" in whatever direction will get them the most votes. What the voters clamor for, the politicos will gladly give, right or wrong, constitutional or not. Sway the people, and the politics will follow.
Clearly, nothing sways the people more than television. It is their primary source of information, and in many cases, their only source of information. If they see it on TV, they will believe it, especially if it is repeated ad nauseum.
Law abiding American gun owners, such as myself, and our most prominent public voice, the NRA, are vilified in every way on television. It is relentless. And the people believe it because there is such an appalling lack of counterpoint to the litany of emotionalized rhetoric.
Where are the facts? The honest statistics? The history lessons? The logic?
I believe the NRA's most urgent endeavor should be the re-education of the American people, through the use of nation-wide television.
A thirty minute "infomercial" is all well and good, if it is watched. But the average TV viewer will simply change the channel. The message is lost. Television viewers have been conditioned by "soundbite" news reports and thirty second advertisements, and their attention span is dreadfully short.
This fact could be used to our advantage in spreading the truth about firearm ownership. The following are what I consider to be some of the essential elements of such an ad campaign:
1) Ads should be brief. Address one issue per ad, not the whole argument, and use catch-phrase "soundbites" to simplify the message, and make it memorable.
2) Use well known and well liked celebrity personalities, particularly people who are not associated with firearms in the minds of the viewing public.
3) A friendly approach. The lies of HCI, et al, must be exposed, but without the appearance of lecturing, or antagonism.
4) High-gloss, professional production values. We are, after all, trying to sell something!
I imagine the ads, or some of them, could even be produced in such a way as to be considered public service announcements. In any event, they should all be tailored to avoid summary dismissal by the television companies for this or that reason of "policy". Any ad that is rejected for such reasons should be reworked to comply with the policy.
And if the ads are rejected time and time again, and nothing we do is good enough to permit them on the air, then make public the tall stack of rejection notices, and let the hypocrisy be known to everyone who will listen, myself included.
While I have focused here on television ads, the same principles can and should be applied to print media. While not as far-reaching as television, the potential outlets for our message are more numerous, and less expensive.
Sway the people, and the politics will follow.
As I have only recently become an NRA member, I would appreciate hearing of any efforts the organisation has made in this regard, and what the results have been, if any.
Respectfully,
Kenneth Keating[/quote]
I certainly don't expect them to smack their collective foreheads and say "Of Course! Why didn't we think of that!". I just want them to address the issue for me. I'll post their reply, if any.
Comments welcome...
-boing