Media and Social Media Action Team

The Media-Social Media Team

Originally, we had conceptualized the Media and Social Media teams as separate, but we have consolidated these teams into one unit that meets together, as the purpose and many of the strategies and content are the same. See below for Traditional and Social Media Team descriptions.

Traditional Media Action Team

mainstream-mediaPurpose of the Media Team. We must develop a quick-response capacity to utilize mainstream media to promote our goals. We need to provide a counterpoint to what is typically featured in mainstream media and use the media to promote our goals, advertise our strategies, and expand awareness of our activities.

Media Coordinator. The media coordinator will:

  • Oversee the work of Team Members and their activities;
  • Support development of a coordinated media campaign; and
  • Participate in Coordinator Team meetings alternate weeks to ensure alignment of media activities across all Action Team work.

Media Team Members. Members will assume responsibility for discrete aspects of mainstream media utilization, including:

  • Expanding and updating the current statewide media list;
  • Timely distribution of events and actions in community calendars and by radio public service announcements;
  • Arranging radio interviews to promote our work;
  • Coordinating strategic use of letters to the editor, op-ed, and feature articles or series that promote Retake Our Democracy goals and partner initiatives;
  • Providing timely advance notification of actions, protests, meetings, civil disobedience and other news-worthy events to print, radio, and television media.

Social Media

social-mediaThe purpose of the Social Media Team is to maximize the promotion and expansion of Retake Our Democracy through the effective use of a variety of social media. This is an area where a good deal of work needs to be done. Currently we have a reasonably active blog, but limited Facebook presence and no other capacities in other social media. We need to learn and share strategies throughout our network.

Social Media Coordinators. Initially we would like to recruit two coordinators to oversee the work of the team and to participate in Coordinator Meetings on alternate weeks to collaborate with Coordinators of other teams.

Social Media Experts. We will try to secure ‘experts’ in each form of social media:   Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. These experts will provide periodic training and produce written materials illustrating how to use the media in which they are expert.

Social Media Team Members. Team members will be trained by the experts to increase their skills in the use of social media and will:

  • Identify and inventory scores of Facebook and Twitter sites where we can promote Retake Our Democracy, focusing initially on sites based in New Mexico but eventually inventorying major sites operating nationally. Use a spreadsheet to capture the number of likes and/or followers so we know the reach of each site, frequency of posts and comments, and areas of focus.
  • Develop strategies for dividing up the inventory, perhaps by issue area, and strategies for posting Facebook comments 3-4 times a week in comment sections (better than a visitor post, which goes to the sidebar.). Team Members would look for a comment thread that has many comments and that is relevant to information we have in one of our recent blogs or a past one that addresses the issue being discussed in the threat. After making a comment about the issue the Team member would close with something like: “For more information on this issue, follow Retake Our Democracy,” including the link.
  • Develop a group who use Twitter and use the handle for Retake Our Democracy.
  • Identify other strategies specific to other forms of social media.