Public and Mass Persuasion Issue Campaigns Pgs. 237-248

1. Grassroots Lobbying Corporate Advocacy/Issue management Dawn Givens Joselyn Davis Rosemary Reyes Public and Mass PersuasionIssue Campaigns Pgs. 237-248

2. PowerPoint Presentation • Activity • Quiz AGENDA

3. Attempt to get audiences to support a certain course of action or belief independent of official political structures, systems, or procedures Issue Campaigns

4. “Organized dissemination of government information” • Government relies on communication professionals to get the information to the general public • Press releases, press conferences, media events, posters, reports, bulletins, and advertising • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QplWbNg57h4 Issue Campaigns are Persuasive Campaigns

5. “The process by which an interest group identifies, recruits, and activates citizens to contact public officials, usually legislators, on behalf of their shared public policy views.” GOAL • Create massive pressure to move a legislator toward the desired position of an organization • To convince him or her to cast a vote. Grassroots Lobbying

6. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMS6rMU6GHM • http://www.metacafe.com/w/1070034/ • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJoeGsvzXNk Grassroots lobbying cont.

7. Grassroots lobbying phases:A typical mobilization campaign Legislative voting records are reviewed, basic strategy is devised, campaign plan is prepared. Which public officials need to hear from constituents, which constituents should be mobilized. Create the right political climate for the message Direct mail, phone banks, and other methods used to recruit volunteer activists. Getting volunteers to write, fax, call, or visit elected officials. Organizations express appreciation to volunteers and regularly communicate with them. If an issue goes to ballot, a political campaign must be organized and orchestrated. REASEARCH TARGETING SENSITIZING RECRUITMENT ACTIVATION Follow-up & Maintenance PUBLIC REFERENDUM

8. grassroots organizations and strategies COMMON ORGANIZATIONS ______________________________________________________________________________ STRATEGIES _________________________________________________________________________________ • Member mobilization • Telephone Patch-Throughs • Bounce-backs • Satellite Conferencing • Interactive Kiosks • NFIB – National Federation of Independent Business • AARP– American Association of Retired Persons • NRA – National Rifle Association

9. CORPORATE ADVOCACY ISSUE MANGAEMENT Prakash Sethi “The propagation of ideas and elucidation of contro- versial social issues of public importance in a manner that supports the position and interest of the sponsor while expressly denying the accuracy of facts and downgrading the sponsor’s opponents” Robert Heath Kenneth Cousino “The involvement of public policy experts in strategic business planning and management, issue monitoring and analysis, communicating about issues and efforts to meet changing standards of corporate social responsibility”

10. Planning an event for news coverage • Schedule events early in the day, at times convenient for the media from whom you want coverage. If you want to make a noon newscast, plan a 9:30 to 10:00 A.M. starting time. • Organize the event around one basic theme. Determine the lead you want the press to write, then organize the event to achieve it. • Make sure your primary spokesperson is well briefed with accurate information and knowledge of the questions he or she may be asked.

11. Planning an event for news coverage (cont.) • Call assignment editors and ask for coverage. In the unsubtle publicity arts, shyness is not a virtue. • Make your event as visual as possible. The announcement of a lawsuit against a local polluter will be more interesting to television if it is made at the site of the pollution rather than in an organization’s office. • Prepare packets of information to back up your basic message. Make it as easy as possible for reporters to get the necessary facts.

12. Planning an event for news coverage (cont.) • Consider the convenience of the reporters from whom you want coverage. Will they need telephones, suitable background and lighting for video, a common audio feed for the public address system, a place to sit, etc.? • If the goal is television and radio coverage, break up your statement into short, quotable segments. In a perfect world the average television news story would run longer than 40 seconds. Because short stories are the rule, your advocate will probably receive a 15-second sound bite. Make it count.

13. Planning an event for news coverage (cont.) • If members of the press fail to attend, send them coverage of the event anyway: press releases with relevant quotes to the print media or your own videotape to the television media.

14. Issues management Communicate Identify Assign Research Resolve Close • Identify – Identify and document project issues in the issues database • Assign – Assign the issue to a specific person for further work • Research – Analyze the issue for business impact and possible • resolutions • Resolve – Take appropriate steps to resolve the issue • Close – Obtain sign off and close the issue