The People's Press Collective
The People’s Press Collective is a local citizens political activism group in Denver, Colorado. As described in their manifesto, they are “radicals for freedom united by a passion for honest and open journalism.”
I’d like to call attention to three things that I believe the folks at PPC are doing right, in the hopes that we can all learn from them.
Thinking Globally; Acting Locally
Conservatives have long been out of touch with local politics. We’ve been focused on national defense, promoting peace through democracy, and fighting the growth of the federal government. These are all important issues, but our focus on them has meant that we have invested less in local politics. This really cost us in the last election, when a left-left-left-wing Democrat won the presidency largely due to strong local organizations.
The folks at PPC are getting involved with their local races, from governor on down. These are races where individuals can actually have their voices heard. 1.5 million Americans protested in Washington D.C. on 9/12/2009 and the entire beltway culture simply pretended they weren’t there. This does not happen as easily at the local level.
Engaging The Audience
The PPC represents a youthful and vigorous approach to politics, in stark contrast to the stilted and an artificial front used by both politicians and mainstream media.
Quoting again from the PPC Manifesto:
The press has failed us. We’re going to show the American voters and the world what the mainstream media won’t. Dissent, spirited debate, and passionately defending your opinions are all-American. But sneering, angry intolerance for anyone who disagrees with you isn’t.
We just happen to think that when we speak up, we can be loud enough to hold our own.
Mainstream media has become lazy, corrupt, beholden to dangerous far-left ideologies, willfully blind to and manipulated by modern-day totalitarians, who steal the language of political liberty to disguise their naked power-seeking and brutal collectivism.
We are new media, media without blinders, without received opinions. We know who we’re fighting. Not only arrogant anti-humanists, professional hate-spewers, eco-preeners, anarcho-pinheads, and the blame America first crowd, but their mainstream media cheerleaders.
Can’t you just feel the energy in that message? It’s energy like that which changes the world.
Training For Activism
Culturally, conservatives assume that the average person is competent and can take care of themselves, and this often leads us to be less than optimally supportive of our team members. Our opponents on the left assume that all of their volunteers are incompetent fools who needs to be taught how to walk, talk, eat, and breathe like true socialists. Because of this, they invest heavily in training and indoctrination.
To achieve maximum effectiveness, we are going to have to borrow a few techniques from our opponents. One great example of how this should be done is the PPC’s “Re-Education Camp.” The Re-Education Camp was an all-day training session teaching indivuals topics like:
- Basic Citizen Journalism Skills
- Blogging Basics
- Search Engine Optimization Basics
- Facebook for Organizations and Campaigns
- Messaging Basics, with Christine Burt
- Blogging Techniques: Trending and Keywords
- Advanced Facebook Techniques and Applications
- Search Engine Optimization and Online Identity Management
- Visual Media: Photo and Video
- Your 1st Amendment Rights As An Activist/Citizen Journalist
- Defamation, Slander, Libel, And Other No-Nos
- Colorado Open Records Act Requests And Related Rights And Procedures
- How To Deal With Confrontations And Police
These topics are core to the grassroots activism which is required to regain the individual freedoms we have lost due to two-hundred years of inaction.
If you live in Colorado, I encourage you to become involved with the PPC or other organizations in their Grassroots Hub. If you don’t live in Colorado, I encourage you to find a group like PPC in your area — or to start one if necessary. Use your First Amendment rights now, while it is still legal.
