Re: [school-core] [Fwd: Re: Regular media contact]

[Matt Jezorek <matt@bluelinux.org>]

Man excellent points and makes a lot of sense, and the only way to do a 
lot of what is mentioned is to form a NPO and have members and all. Now 
the problem with that is how many org's can afford to stay if that 
happened?


> > 
> I was looking through my college's graduate propaganda magazine the 
> other day and saw something quite disturbing. One of my classmates, a 
> twiggy quiet gal on the rugby team, is now the National President of 
> the Sierra Club. I'm sitting in a cul-de-sac duplex in a California 
> tract suburb, thanking my stars that I have a one-month writing 
> contract, while memory-lite entities from my past are rising up and 
> becoming titans of the nonprofit world. So, I see this as an 
> opportunity that may be knocking, and am loath to pass it up.
> 
> On the other hand...I have a lot of problems with the task at hand, 
> first and foremost due to my personal situation. Up until two weeks 
> ago, I hadn't worked a day in eight months. I'm trying to work hard 
> and not drop the ball professionally, because if I screw up this gig, 
> odds are I'll have to go back to pulling phone cable for a living.
> 
> Let's imagine, though, that I take on the job. There are quite a few 
> problems here, starting with the nature and character of Schoolforge. 
> I recognize the value and importance of the coalition approach, and 
> the necessity of the consensus style of governance that this imposes. 
> As has been evident from the past press release cycles, however, this 
> style makes our decisionmaking cumbersome and slow. A spokesman has to 
> have the authority to speak for the organization, and must be given 
> the freedom to be quick on his feet. Would the Schoolforge coalition 
> be at all comfortable with a single person becoming the voice of the 
> organization? What would happen if that spokesman said something
> that a third of the organization, or even *most* of the organization, 
> did not agree with?
> 
> Bear in mind also that what you're asking for is someone who A) "gets" 
> open source, B) is media-savvy, and C) has something credible to say 
> about the business of education. The last classroom I was in was one I 
> was pulling phone cable through, and as you pointed out recently, this 
> group is long on nerds and short on teachers. Would having a spokesman 
> with scant clue about the problems of teachers be a help or a 
> hindrance to the 'forge?
> 
> Let's also look at the time and money commitment. Doing good media 
> costs bucks.  Emailed press releases don't cut the mustard.  People 
> need a piece of paper on their desk or a caller on their phone. That 
> means that there's a lot of long-distance calling (during peak hours, 
> no less!), faxing, and postage involved in the job (which is one of 
> the reasons for the overdesign I asked Les for wrt the mediabase). 
> Right now, I can't even afford my health insurance. Would Schoolforge 
> member organizations pool their assets and pony up for the expenses? 
> If so, it would make more sense to quit calling ourselves a coalition
> and start calling ourselves a nonprofit organization, and structure 
> and bill our membership accordingly.
> 
> As for the last media release, it didn't make a mainstream splash for 
> a lot of reasons. First, by the time it went out, it was old news (see 
> above). Second, it wasn't news in the first place -- "Linux Geeks Hate 
> Microsoft," or for that matter "Microsoft Caught Lying," are not 
> compelling stories. If you really want media, you have to lay down 
> groundwork at the local level. Schoolforge member organizations need 
> to work their local media at the grass roots, and make stories happen 
> there. That's the only non-Slashdot/OSDN/Newsforge/preaching-to-the-
> choir media you'll get at first. The sorry fact is that national media
> seldom break news. Usually, local papers do the hard work, and once 
> the story is out there and "proven," (i.e., is shown to be a good 
> story) the nationals pile on and take all the credit. What we're doing 
> (and why we're doing it) is obscure enough that most media aren't 
> going to pick up on it as an issue in and of itself.
> 
> Given this, the only way I see us as really getting media is to 
> coordinate as best we can to support local efforts. If we do a good, 
> solid defenestration at a local school district level, we can get 
> media there. Then maybe a national will pick it up. Maybe not. It may 
> take three or four successful rollouts before they start to get it.
> 
> Finally, there is the question of why we want media at all. 
> Schoolforge is a coalition designed to help member organizations do 
> their jobs more effectively.  Given this presumed mandate, I have to 
> wonder why there should be centralized media in the first place. As I 
> see it, the best role for the organization would be to help member 
> organizations create their own media databases along a Schoolforge 
> standard, with the understanding that they will share this
> information and help out the larger membership when issues of state, 
> national, or international interest arise. Centralized media makes 
> sense for a centralized organization. If Schoolforge were an 
> incorporated nonprofit, and if Schoolforge were involved in 
> grant-collecting and revenue-generation sufficient to cover expenses 
> (and even salaries) it would make sense for the organization to have
> this sort of presence.
> 
> But unless and until such a mandate arises, I think Schoolforge's best 
> efforts would be spend on assisting its constituent members in their 
> service at the local school level, including what support we can 
> provide in the media department, rather than trying to draw attention 
> to ourselves in the national and international media arenas.
> 
> Anyway, that's what I think...
> 
> --William
> 
> 
> 
> Doug Loss wrote:
> 
>  > Now that our press release has gone out I'd like to bring up a
>  > point.  In talking with some folks on the #seul IRC channel, I
>  > mentioned that in all the things we've sent out thus far I haven't
>  > noticed much response from the mainstream or educational press.
>  > None, actually.  They asked two immediate questions.  First, did I
>  > individually recontact each of the people I sent the press release
>  > to and ask them for a response or comment?  No, I didn't.  Second,
>  > did I mail the release to them all in such a way that they could see
>  > a large list of recipient addresses?  Yes, I did.  In retrospect,
>  > both of these things should have been done oppositely.  I can only
>  > plead inexperience with the care and handling of press contacts.
>  >
>  > For that reason I'd like to ask for someone with more experience and
>  > finesse in talking to the press to take over the dissemination of
>  > our various press releases and other material for public
>  > consumption.  It can clearly be done better than I've been doing
>  > it.  The only reason I've been doing it at all is to keep things
>  > moving along and not to let them get mired in endless
>  > re-discussion.  But I think it's time for someone more capable to
>  > take over this role.  Of course, I'll still push to keep things
>  > moving!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 

-- 
Matt Jezorek
Executive Director / Founder
Linux for Education
Blue Linux
http://www.linuxforeducation.com/
http://www.bluelinux.org
matt@bluelinux.org