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Freedom Action of the Week
Email List Archive
Free-Market.Net's F r e e d o m A c t i o n o f t h e W e e k
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Edited by Thomas L. Knapp. To subscribe or unsubscribe to this and
other lists, click to: http://www.free-market.net/features/lists/
----- Featured Action of the Week -----
First Week of August, 2001
All the News That's Fit to Print
In the past, we've talked here about writing your own letters to the editor
on issues of concern. This week, I'd like to take a different approach.
There are a number of libertarian organizations producing quality op-ed
pieces for publication in various newspapers. I'd like to see Action of the
Week subscribers make those organizations' presence felt more widely.
Of Free-Market.Net's 125 or so partner organizations (the number frequently
changes, and usually upward), a number operate active op-ed distribution
programs. While I leave it to you to decide which organizations to support
in this effort, I'd like to talk about two op-ed programs -- one partner
and one not -- that are deserving of your help.
The Future of Freedom Foundation has been honing its skills, both in
writing and purveying op-eds, for more than a decade. The Foundation
produces quality work, written to newspaper length, on current issues. And
it does so in Spanish as well as English, increasing the potential "market
penetration" of freedom-oriented ideas. The organization maintains an
online archive of the editorials for your perusal; at the archive site,
you'll find a list of newspapers which carry
FFF's work.
Another great source of libertarian opinion is Vin Suprynowicz's syndicated
column "The Libertarian." Suprynowicz, of the Las Vegas Review-Journal,
writes twice a week, covering the issues from an uncompromising pro-freedom
perspective.
These are two that are worth mentioning, but they aren't the only ones ...
and _you_ are the person who knows the strengths, weaknesses and
predilections of your local newspaper. You are the one who knows what
issues are important and how they could best be served by connecting that
newspaper with a libertarian source of opinion.
This week's action may take more than a few minutes, but it's not overly
difficult. Sit down and make a list of local newspapers. Then visit our
list of partner organizations -- or other sites you know of that produce
quality op-eds -- and put together the information you'll need.
On your newspaper's masthead (usually on page 2 of the first section), or
on the opinion page itself, you'll find the name of the "Opinion Page
Editor" or some other equivalent position. For smaller papers, this may not
be so, in which case the managing editor or even the publisher may be the
person to approach.
You'll also need to grab the contact information for the organization whose
op-eds you are "selling." That should be available at the organization's
site. Using this contact information, compose a message -- email or snail
mail, depending on your preference and the newspaper's requirements --
asking them to carry the op-eds from the organization in which you're
interested. If there's an online archive of articles, include that URL, and
make sure to include contact information.
Send that message, wait a few days, and follow up with a phone call. Often,
newspapers don't carry particular content for no better reason than because
they haven't been asked to. It helps, of course, if there are several
requests, so enlist your friends in the effort.
It's been said -- and I think it's true -- that libertarian ideas win when
they are placed side by side with non-libertarian ideas. All too often, the
op-ed page of a newspaper is dominated by two variants of the anti-freedom
agenda on every issue. But newspapers are responsive to the market; if they
believe that carrying pro-freedom material will enhance their profits by
pleasing their customers (or even eliciting outrage and participation --
don't sell that factor short), they'll jump at the opportunity.
Free-Market.Net Partner Organizations:
http://www.free-market.net/partners/
The Future of Freedom Foundation:
http://www.fff.org/
FFF's op-ed archive and list of newspapers:
http://www.fff.org/main.asp?page=editorials
The Libertarian, by Vin Suprynowicz:
http://www.thelibertarian.net/
Action of the Week column archive:
http://www.free-market.net/features/list-archives/activism/maillist.html
----- Alternate Actions -----
The Freedom Action of the Week Club: Commit yourself to doing one
action per week. If the action above doesn't appeal to you, consider
one of the alternate actions at:
http://www.free-market.net/features/action/
If you know about another action or organize one of your own, e-mail
Tom at tlknapp@free-market.net so we can tell the rest of the group
next week.
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