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Media Tactics

We must ensure that the story isn't "there was a protest", but rather, "This is WHY there was a protest".

In the weeks (days) leading up to the protests, and especially DURING the actions, call the GM or News Director of local TV/radio stations, newspapers, and ask to be interviewed. If they accept, great. Now, show up with something to say, and the FACTS to back up those words.

If denied, thank them anyway, then call all your friends, and hold a NOISY rally in front of the station. Call the station's competitors, and when their cameras arrive (and they will) talk to them.

At the protest itself, SEEK OUT THE CAMERAS. Talk to the reporters. They are looking for the easy story. You must make your views easily-accessible to them. Befriend them. They're just people like you and I. Ask their opinions. I guarantee a lot of them have never even considered the bigger question. Find a way to get through. It is not their job to find out what you think. You must make the effort.

Insist that they get a wide-shot of the crowd. The camera lens can be very narrow. It's one thing to say "a hundred thousand people", and quite another to show it.

Besides easily-understood banners, CARRY FLAGS, not for the country that is, but for the country that should be, the one you were PROMISED. If the cops rush you, cover up in the flag. What a different picture it would make, if the police had to beat and arrest people through the flag. You must learn to use the media. We are playing a game with rules the enemy has devised. We must find ways to bend these rules.

If the cops walk in formation, beating on their shields, know that this is a tactic of intimidation. Stand strong, together, and beat in unison with them. Demonstrate your resolve to all those cameras. Dance and sing to the beat of the shields.

Deflate the situation.

Steal their power.

In retreat, never run away. This makes us look weak. Bite your tongue against the searing pain of the teargas, ignore the trembling of your hands, and walk calmly away.

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We need A LINE OF DISCIPLINED ACTIVISTS, between the police and those who would resort to violence. A line that will not be moved. Tell the police that you will return the degree of respect given to you. Nothing more, nothing less.

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"If it bleeds, it leads" is a very real concept. Be Ghandi for a day. Be proactive in preventing violence. Explain to those who want to fight, that their energy would be better put to use in some other capacity. Lord knows, I understand the anger and frustration they feel, but violence hurts our cause. The message gets lost. Act as if your every action is watched, because it is.

Make your core beliefs the impetus for your every word and deed. We must not scare the People. This only hardens them against us. We need them to understand our motivations. Violence is what the fat men in suits desire. Don't let them win.

TALK to the People, the bystanders, the gawkers. Ask them if they enjoy the world created by an unchallenged Elite. Ask them if this is the world they wish to leave for their children. Make it personal, because it is.

And remember, that you are the Majority, and you are right. There are millions upon millions worldwide who support you.

The truth is our greatest ally.

The only way we can fail, is if we fail to act.

To a better world? P E A C E . . .

I believe things are beginning to turn around. Keep your heads up.

We are the Majority, and Truth is our greatest ally.

The only way we can fail, is if we fail to ACT.

Reclaiming the “Orange Revolution”
by Jordan Thornton
www.dissidentvoice.org
September 18, 2005

Cindy Sheehan's courageous actions in Texas have captured the imaginations of an American public desperate for an end to this madness. We must give them something they can get behind, while the Bush/PNAC Regime is vulnerable, and before the next big Distraction we all sense is imminent. Let's send an unmistakable message of unity and determination to the world, and end this now before things get any worse.

Since the demonstrations which reversed the electoral decision in the Ukraine, I've heard and seen many Ukrainians talking about large groups of foreigners who were pivotal to their planning. Many of these groups were the ones responsible for paying for the food, shelter, and orange banners used by the protestors. I didn't think much of this, or the accusations of funding from agencies such as the CIA, until I saw the same thing occurring in Lebanon.

Then, a reporter for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Carol Off, did a piece explaining that the "spontaneous, grassroots" protests in the Ukraine were the result of CIA funding and planning over a period of ten years.

Sadly, the report lauded these tactics of Regime Change, but nonetheless, proved my point.

One thing I've noticed is the tightly-controlled Western media's willingness to ignore the unsubstantiated allegations made in Syria and Lebanon that the Central Intelligence Agency, or Israel's Mossad, or both, were responsible for actions like the assassination of Rafiq Hariri, and behind the recent Opposition Movements, while at the same time, parroting over and over the same unsubstantiated claims about Syria, emanating from the White House den of LIARS and thieves. Even media outlets which I consider better than the rest, like the CBC, are guilty of such irresponsibility. When pro-Syrian demonstrators turned out in the hundreds of thousands, proving the anti-Syrians to be the minority voice, the media downplayed these numbers.

Just feels a bit too staged for my taste ... What I find the most irresponsible about all of this is the fact that whoever is behind this, they are attempting (and succeeding) to divide the Lebanese People, and cause conflict both within the country, and towards Syria. This, of course, aids the Israelis and PNAC Americans, who both have an interest, and want to invade and occupy Syria (and perhaps Lebanon as well), as called for repeatedly by the agenda which has seen Bush/PNAC illegally invade two Arab nations already.

The CBC chose Janice Stein, a Zionist "Middle East Expert" to comment on the situation, and she said when she saw the demonstrations she "saw the colour orange". This was after the first anti-Syrian demo, when the colour scheme wasn't so pronounced. Since then, orange flags, placards, etc. have started “spontaneously" appearing in great numbers.

When I was in university, my Design professor brought in some Colour Researchers from the University of Edmonton, who lectured on the psychological, but also the PHYSICAL effects, colours have on the human body and mind. This red-orange colour is one of the "comfort colours", and you will no doubt remember seeing it in countless commercials (ING Direct, and the creepy, stereotypical European banker, anyone ...?).

Since the CIA, or some similar agency, is ultimately behind these carefully stage-managed displays, you know they understand what they're doing. I believe that we should be taking a cue from them, and striking while the iron is hot. This orange color scheme has been carefully crafted in order to transmit "armchair understanding" of these two manufactured crises, and make them appear to be popular uprisings.

Even though it was our Enemy putting it out there, for their own purposes, we should seize the opportunity to claim it for ourselves, since this IS a popular uprising, for the betterment of the world. After all, we have been granted an unprecedented peek inside the CIA's Handbook for Non-Violent Revolutionary Change, and you know damn well that they have studied all of the relevant psychological factors. We should not squander the opportunity we've been provided, and act while the soft underbellies of these monsters is exposed.

If you are to protest, from now on, DRESS IN SIMILAR COLORS, and CARRY COLORED SIGNS, rally at the feet of power, and the media, DEMANDING that the democratic Will of the People not be ignored. I guarantee this will send an instant message, not only to the Bush/PNAC/Bliar Regime, but to all Americans and to the world that sees it.

Keep your signs easy to read and understand, things such as "FIRE THE LIARS", "INVESTIGATE, IMPEACH, IMPRISON" and at media centers, "LIARS", or "TRAITORS", or "COWARDS".

Groups should design some Talking Points, and designate members to speak with the reporters on-scene. In larger centers, you should inform the media of what's going to happen, and call the station’s News Director or Assignment Editor, and request to be interviewed. You could even take it further, and offer your services as an Activist Analyst for the day, just like they use ex-military personnel, and members of Right-Wing "Think-Tanks" to undermine our work. If they refuse, acknowledge their hypocrisy, stage a noisy rally at their front doors, contact their competitors, and when they arrive (and they will), talk to them.

Let's test these LIARS and War Criminals, and their media puppets, and see just how much they truly respect "Freedom & Democracy", the words upon which they attempt to justify the atrocities upon which they've built their fortunes.

Regardless of what happens, the message will be sent. We have nothing to lose. If something comes of this, then great. Follow up and celebrate. If the rallies are ignored, or treated by the police as those in the past, then you've just PROVEN these men to be the Hypocrites we all know them to be ... and this message will be transmitted in no uncertain terms around the world.

I'd like to see as many people as can not simply Rally for a few hours but for DAYS. Those who cannot make it there, plan and hold your own local rallies, and not only gather where your Government officials meet, but also where the media does its business.

Let's take this thing that was designed to dupe people into supporting what the Fascists in DC want, and turn it on its head. Let's use it as a tool for bringing that Fascism to its knees, and demonstrate the good intentions that were to be assumed about the "Orange Revolutionaries".

Remember, that we are the Majority, and Truth is our greatest Ally.

The only way we can fail, is if we fail to ACT.

P E A C E . . . ?

Jordan Thornton is an independent journalist, political activist, and screenwriter, who spent the past decade within the mainstream media, both in Canada and the United States. He can be contacted at pilgrim112 (at) hotmail.com

 http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Sept05/Thornton0918.htm