Petition The Media Via Twitter
By K. Daniel Glover | June 25, 2009
Critics of the liberal media have a new technological ally to help them direct their outrage about the journalistic lapses of specific reporters, editors or publications. The service is called act.ly, and it gives Twitter users a way to register their grievances by petition.
Earlier this year, I organized a tweet campaign against CBS News' Katie Couric for accepting a journalism award while a fellow journalist was harassed and manhandled for attempting to ask her questions. Twitter also played a role in forcing Playboy and Politico to retract stories that fantasized about raping conservative women. Act.ly, whose slogan is "Tweet Change," has the ability to make such efforts even more effective.
Take last night's Tweet-4-Truth campaign about ABC's "Obamercial" for the president's healthcare plan as an example. The conservative Twitter community could have used act.ly before the show to petition @ABC, @david_weston, @jaketapper and any other relevant ABC-types on Twitter to: make a tough questioner like John Stossel part of the program; invite critics of President Obama's healthcare policies to participate; and accept advertising from critics of government-run health care.
Conservatives complained loud and long about the special before it aired, but until the Tweet-4-Truth campaign and its #obamercial hashtag for Twitter were announced two days before the show, the online outcry was random and disorganized. With the launch of act.ly this week, conservatives can start building momentum earlier for future campaigns.
K. Daniel Glover is a project manager for Accuracy In Media. He has worked as an editor, writer and new media specialist in the Washington area since 1991, spending most of that time at National Journal and Congressional Quarterly.
6 Comments | Post a Comment
I will never for the life of me understand how Katie Couric ever got the promotions that she has during her so called journalism career , let alone that award that she did not deserve ! None of it has ever made any sense to me ! But reading this article today made me smile to learn about “Tweeting 4 Truth.” And so, Tweeters 4 Truth, ROCK ON !!
Re Diane’s point: I believe Katie Couric has pictures of someone with farm animals.
Justin : I thought your comment was funny! One can only wonder !
Twittering:
act.ly - What a great idea!
It isn’t just ABC that is having the love affair with Obama. CBS, NBC, ABC, NPR are all having a love affir with Obama. They all have shamed news shows and journalism. Katie C, Charlie G, etc are contributing factors.
ALl of those media people are living in a deep state of sick denial ! Liberalism is such a terrible mental disorder. I certainly wish there was a cure for that ! It is as if those people have all been programed to sleep walk through life. And if anyone with any logical common sense tries to wake them up to reality , they get hostile !
June 25 at 1:28 pm | #1 | Link
Katie Couric is a shame to her profession. She absolutely did not deserve that award. And she knows it. She even lies to herself.