Bloggers as Partners: How to collaborate for win-win communications to advance campaigns.
As it turns out, bloggers have it tough. I haven’t heard a statistic yet about what percentage of bloggers who aren’t on the payroll of an LGBT org sustain themselves on their writing, but my guess is “circa not very freaking many.” They (we) are combating inbox inundation, the need to be watchdogs of LGBT orgs as well as supporters of campaigns, keeping a voice and content stream that holds readers’ attention, and probably at least one regular-type job occupying brain space.
Lots of great stuff coming out of this Netroots panel. The world’s changed since the days when a press release from a reputable organization guaranteed significant coverage from the news and opinion sources people actually read. The democratization of journalism means there are just so many people — some group blogs, but mostly individuals — with whom we as organizations need to learn to build ongoing relationships, even when we’re not actively running campaigns relevant to their readerships. Every blog needs special attention, from finding the right angle and hook for a story pitch to staff availability for interviews and follow-ups.
As we work on building out our communications strategy, outside bloggers are going to be be a vital part of our strategy. We need them as cheerleaders and we need them to call us out and make us answer the hard questions. We need to establish trust when working on campaigns where we can’t be totally transparent about strategy, and to know we’ll get a heads up before somebody posts a critical piece about a program or campaign.
Bottom line is there are a slew of conflicts of interest and sticking points between journalists and advocacy organizations, but at the end of the day we’re on the same team. If we can build these relationships and find the right vocabulary for constructive criticism as well as calls to action, the sky’s the limit for the new ways we can accelerate the pace of change towards full legal equality.
