Ending the Media Prejudice Against Ron Paul - A Project

[KurtA]

The 2008 Ron Paul Campaign was effectively sabotaged by media bias.

The 2012 campaign is starting out the same way, with most discussions of GOP candidates simply ignoring Ron Paul.

We must change this. But we can't do it by simply complaining. I think we need to fight back in a way that the media conglomerates will understand. Dollars.

Boycotts4Paul.com will Ron Paul supporters to report newscasts and shows that fail to fairly cover Ron Paul. Once the shows are identified, their sponsors can be contacted with the promise of a lifetime boycott of their goods and services. We've already begun! Join the boycott fun! Make the media turds squirm!

Imagine that you are a sponsor of the CBS Evening News. A story about the GOP field runs ignoring Ron Paul and the next day you receive 1,000 e-mails from Ron Paul supporters who promise to boycott your business for life unless 1) CBS News makes immediate corrections or 2) The advertiser pulls its sponsorship of CBS News. This might be followed up by picketing of businesses that don't see the light.

Most businesses assume that for every complaint they get, there are 10 or even 100 people who haven't written. 1000 emails in a day would set their hair on fire. One reason this tactic can be particularly effective is because most businesses are operating on the razor's edge of ruin as a result of the economic collapse. Even a small change in their gross income can make the difference in success or failure. In other words, we have leverage.

I invite discussion here, but would also like people who are interested in pursuing this to sign up for ACTION at http://Boycotts4Paul.com

Thanks!

 

[hillertexas]

Welcome to the forum, Kurt!

 

[KEEF]

The 2008 Ron Paul Campaign was effectively sabotaged by media bias.

The 2012 campaign is starting out the same way, with most discussions of GOP candidates simply ignoring Ron Paul.

We must change this. But we can't do it by simply complaining. I think we need to fight back in a way that the media conglomerates will understand. Dollars.

I am considering putting up a web site that would allow Ron Paul supporters to report newscasts and shows that fail to fairly cover Ron Paul. Once the shows are identified, their sponsors can be contacted with the promise of a lifetime boycott of their goods and services.

Imagine that you are a sponsor of the CBS Evening News. A story about the GOP field runs ignoring Ron Paul and the next day you receive 1,000 e-mails from Ron Paul supporters who promise to boycott your business for life unless 1) CBS News makes immediate corrections or 2) The advertiser pulls its sponsorship of CBS News. This might be followed up by picketing of businesses that don't see the light.

Most businesses assume that for every complaint they get, there are 10 or even 100 people who haven't written. 1000 emails in a day would set their hair on fire. One reason this tactic can be particularly effective is because most businesses are operating on the razor's edge of ruin as a result of the economic collapse. Even a small change in their gross income can make the difference in success or failure. In other words, we have leverage.

At this point, the web site is only an idea, and I'm trying to gauge support.

So what do you think? Would you commit to boycotting sponsors who support biased shows/newscasts? Do you think this is an effective approach? How many emails/letters are you willing to write each week to make this happen? I can imagine other tactics - such as dropping off receipts from competing businesses with a note saying, "I would have spent my money with you, but you support unfairness in campaign reporting". I'm sure the Ron Paul community can come up with even better ideas.

I invite discussion here, but would also like people who are interested in pursuing this to indicate their level of interest at http://otown.com/boycotts4paul.html The information gathered will determine how/whether the web site goes forward.

Thanks!

As what hillertexas said, welcome to the forum Kurt!

I love the idea. Is there a sort of generic letter that could be put together so that we just fill in the channel, show, and brief explanation as to how and why RP was slammed? I think the easier this letter bombing is the more people will join in.

 

[KurtA]

To write? Or copy?

As what hillertexas said, welcome to the forum Kurt!

I love the idea. Is there a sort of generic letter that could be put together so that we just fill in the channel, show, and brief explanation as to how and why RP was slammed? I think the easier this letter bombing is the more people will join in.

Imagine you're a sponsor of a show and you get 1000 identical emails. More or less effective than 1000 different emails?

I think the point is that it telegraphs the level of commitment. If the sponsor knows that each email just represents someone pushing a button, they're not nearly as likely to take it seriously as if they think each person sat down and wrote their own individual message. The latter approach shows greater commitment - and it makes it harder for the target to craft a one-size-fits-all answer that can automatically detect the same incoming message and just send out a canned reply.

Of course, there's nothing preventing a person from creating their OWN template and just filling in the details. After all, if you send the same message to 100 sponsors, there's no way they can know you didn't pen each one individually.

 

[realtonygoodwin]

check out unfaircoverage.com

 

[Athan]

I like the idea!

 

[KurtA]

Thanks. I've written the domain owner asking if he plans to implement something like this. At the moment, I don't see anything on the site that allows users to do anything more than complain (to each other) about media unfairness.

I want to hit them where it hurts. I want to hit them in the WALLET!

 

[Paul Or Nothing II]

+1

Nice idea, something like this would allow us to organize, concentrate & channelize the power of the grassroots.

But the question is how should we go about it? Should each person send a separate email or should we send a single email with the list of names of people willing to boycott the service?

I think sending a list would be futile if there are only a few thousand members, separate emails would do better in that case as that lets the businesses use their imagination & as you've said, even if they receive 100s or 1000s of emails, they'll likely think that there are many many more people out there who might also boycott their product if they don't mend their ways. On the other hand, sending a list of members in a single email would be more powerful if we've hundreds of thousands or millions of members & thus, have the "strength in numbers" to really hurt their business, financially.

 

[KurtA]

I reviewed the site and contacted the site owner. At present, he doesn't plan any changes to the site, but I think there's room for collaboration between the two efforts. It's a good start on identifying targets. Thanks for the heads up. Meanwhile, if you're willing to dedicate 20 minutes a week to forcing media fairness for the Ron Paul campaign, be sure to sign up at http://Boycotts4Paul.com

 

[KurtA]

What I had in mind was having members post examples of media unfairness to the Ron Paul campaign. Then hold a vote. The top three offenders would each have a sponsor targeted, and everyone would write an INDIVIDUAL email to each of the three complaining about the unfair coverage, and stating their intent to boycott the sponsor FOR LIFE unless 1) The offending show corrects its behavior, or 2) The sponsor ends its sponsorship of the show.

Of course, each person can create their own "template" and just adjust it for the particular show and sponsor.

I agree that a single list would be ineffective. Dealing with one email with a thousand signatures is far easier than dealing with a thousand emails. If we have a million participants, a MILLION emails would probably crush their servers and paralyze their email communications.

Have you signed up at http:Boycotts4Paul.coml yet? Have you told your friends? Please help us make this effort a reality. If we don't level the media playing field in the next six months, next year will just be a repeat of 2008 - with Ron Paul marginalized by the media.

 

[LisaNY]

I'm definitely in. If the haters keep ignoring us we'll go straight to their sponsors!

 

[evilfunnystuff]

bump

 

[KurtA]

At the moment, the number of people signing up is smaller than what we need to make this happen. Ron Paul got over 1 million votes in 2008. You'd think that getting one person in a thousand to sign up to send 3 emails a week would be a piece-o-cake, but I guess the message isn't getting out.

The rate DOES appear to be picking up - but please everyone, tell your friends, talk it up on Facebook or MySpace or twitter. Tell everyone you know. We need the numbers to make this happen.

 

[BucksforPaul]

At the moment, the number of people signing up is smaller than what we need to make this happen. Ron Paul got over 1 million votes in 2008. You'd think that getting one person in a thousand to sign up to send 3 emails a week would be a piece-o-cake, but I guess the message isn't getting out.

The rate DOES appear to be picking up - but please everyone, tell your friends, talk it up on Facebook or MySpace or twitter. Tell everyone you know. We need the numbers to make this happen.

I signed up on your website and thank you for taking the initiative to expose the corporate media's bias against all truths.

Could you please include ronpaulforums link with the dailypaul link on your site.

Thank you.

 

[evilfunnystuff]

You should just get a site up you'd get much more traffic.

Its hard to promote/market something that doesn't exist, once its up I got at least 3 people who would jump on it.

 

[KurtA]

The first phase is up:
http://boycotts4paul.com:

More discussion at:
http://dailypaul.com/165850/ending-the-media-prejudice-against-ron-paul

 

[extremegmer_usa]

Guys this is working so far.

Here is what i sent and the response i got from Boycott #1 Castrol Edge (Motor oil).

Message Sent:
The Product sponsored on ABC’s “This Week with Christiane Amanpour” is contributing to unfair/inaccurate coverage of the 2012 Elections, ignoring candidate Ron Paul.
You(Castrol Edge)are a sponsor of the show.
I along with thousands of others will boycott the product you advertised for LIFE
I will use Mobil 1 instead
UNLESS
1. You Castrol Edge(Motor oil) immediately end your sponsorship of the show, or
2. The show publicly apologizes and immediately begins fair coverage of Ron Paul.

Message Received:

""
Dear Josh,

Thank you for contacting Castrol North America.

We apologize for your disappointment with Castrol’s choice of advertising sponsorship. It is not our intention to offend valuable consumers like you. We make every effort to align our company with the organizations and programs that best fit our consumers’ needs, and your feedback is important to us.

We appreciate your feedback and sincerely regret if our advertisement offended you. We have passed your comments on to our advertising and marketing department.

Once again, we appreciate that you took the time to advise us of your concern.

Castrol Consumer Relations

-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Wednesday, June 22, 2011 10:51 PM
To: Online customer service
Subject: Castrol USA - Contact Us Form Data
Importance: High ""

 

[KurtA]

We're still small in numbers - but I think we're getting the idea. Spread the word. If they get a dozen such emails, they might shrug us off. If they get 10,000, they'll pee their pants!