Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: cohousing and the press

[John Ullman (jsu]

Diane Simpson wrote:           (On 10:35 PM 3/8/2002 -0500)
>The way they did it was pretty, well...it wasn't exactly underhanded, but
>let's just say it didn't really do justice to the cohousing movement.
>They created this segment called "real life commune" and then filmed
>bits and pieces of scenes from various co-op houses.  Then, halfway
through the
>segment (but without changing the title) they segued into cohousing.  

It is always important to learn about the context and the other people or
groups who are being included. It is the subject's responsibility to
educate the producer about how they are different from other people or
groups. Good journalists are pleased to get background, but they can't be
expected to figure out subtle details on their own.

>They
>filmed Cambridge Cohousing and they filmed members of our group
>supposedly having a "meeting."  Only the meeting was totally fake, because
>they didn't give us any time to plan a real meeting!

Faking a meeting is a gray area at best, as far as media ethics goes. A
network crew who was doing a story on one of my clients walked out of a
performance once because the promoter put up a sign saying national TV
would be there. The guys who interviewed you should have asked to go to a
real meeting. You could have changed the date to accommodate them, but it
was bad form for them to have you phoney one up.

>
>Since we had no opportunity to show our telephone number on television,
>there was no way anyone could call us if they wanted to get in touch with us.

This sort of thing is negotiable. You can ask for a phone number to be
shown, and you should make sure that the station has the correct contact
number for the public, because they will give that out if they get called.
(Check on this yourself by calling them after the show.) They may or may
not show your number, but they might be more likely to if the audience can
call about a specific event or to obtain a piece of literature.

John U


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