Not Getting It

Most notably they have been consistently 24 hours behind on breaking news, because of exercising excessive caution about verifying updates from, for instance, Twitter.

Talk up users, and they're DOA

The mainstream media have also carelessly posted user names, even when the code of conduct was in full effect.

I refer to a protocol of not re-publishing user names so people did not unwittingly compile lists for cyber agents in Iran to use against bloggers in their IP tracking and location detecting efforts.

Today the Revolutionary Guard announced they have set down a special cyber-unit to persecute online crimes.

That means bloggers are now officially targets.

This, along with the widespread PersianKiwi hysteria on Twitter, in the blogosphere and in the mainstream media making one single Twitter user Iran's Most Wanted, is a serious threat to the movement.

If Iranian reporters on the ground are picked off, we lose the last remaining source of eye witness reporting from Iran, as Iranian journalists are being arrested and Western journalists have been barred.

Until PersianKiwi arrives back on the scene there'll be doubts about his condition, and I also suspect that the immensely increased risk is one reason for his abstinence from reporting.

Even if PersianKiwi arrives back on the scene, he or she may be tainted by the controversy and forced to provide proof of identity, which is both impossible and an inadvisable exercise.

So, the Iranian government efforts do take a toll on the movement, or at least it is likely to in the future.

Misunderstand reporters, and cooperation is DOA

There is another case of not getting it in circulation among the protesters on Twitter and elsewhere, the common delusion of activists that media exist to support their purposes.

One of the most valuable contributors, an Iranian journalist in Europe recently asked other users to remember he is "not Green", but supposed to cover independently and objectively.

This user has been involved in important fact checking, for instancing dismissing the rumor last night that Mousavi had been arrested.

He called contacts in Iran to verify or falsify the information.

In many an online community now I have been subjected to suspicion and antagonization for being a journalist.

There is a tendency to oust journalists from dedicated campaigns, an extention of a deep gap between the blogger community and the established press.

What reporters do not get with regards to #iranelection is that deep involvement can safeguard you against most of the errors in reporting they fear.

What bloggers do not understand is that journalists subscribe to a strict code of verification of facts and objective reporting and jeopardize job, income, career, by failing to adhere to these principles.

Alienate reporters, and the movement is DOA

In PR and professional communications management there is one ground rule about a crisis:

"Don't kill the messenger."

Journalists are in the line of fire every day of their lives. It is a tough assignment, and virtually every word printed is put under scrutiny.

A multititude of interests are at stake, and powerful individuals and organizations are ready to crush a person for simply not reporting along their preferred lines.

Every day you must struggle to maintain integrity and to keep your own perspective on things.

This is not an excuse for underreporting, misreporting, or any kind of bias or neglect of duty. It is simply stating some facts about a profession universally loathed, yet crucial to the perseverance of democracy.

You can criticize journalists, but if you condemn them, you also undermine your own purpose.

Usually, when politicians or individuals stoop to blaming the press, it is in a state of crisis and due to their own failure to dominate the media spectrum.

It is a sign of defeat and of defeatism, sowing the seeds of further defeat.

If the Green Revolution alienates the established press, no matter what their grievances may be - for instance, extensive coverage of Michael Jackson's death - they undermine their own position on a platform essential to amplify messages from inside Iran.

The goal is to get MSM as an allied

The way to go about it is not to blame the media and shout louder, every time someone tries to explain the easiest route to the desired goal.

In this context it is equivalent to blaming politicians who are sympathetic to the cause, for instance Mousavi for his long absence as he is threatened and kept under strict observation by a murderous regime.

Or, to blame Rafsanjani for his absence and silence, his tactical maneuvres, his cautious statement when finally appearing...

...or both for being politicians, essentially a part of the system and beholden to the rules and regulations thereof, both with a history as defendants of the Islamic Republic of Iran in times with no less, if less apparent, oppression of dissent.

It's counterproductive. It does not display the proper understanding of what is at stake. It is a sign of emotionalizing a situation that requires political cunning and absolute determination - in this game the most determined will win.

And it is a sign people are underinformed about the inner workings of the media machine.

1) You cannot control the free press or force it to write up things your way. Any group wanting to control the free press is flirting with authoritarianism and potentially if not essentially as bad as the powers Sea of Green is now opposing.

2) If you become angry and resentful at the press, you lose. It is a losing strategy, and it is proved every day in the press by individuals or groups who lose. You can criticize corruption, embedded journalism, inherent bias and lack of professionalism.
It is a right and a duty of an engaged citizen, but it is marginal to your purpose: To be heard, to have your message amplified and embraced by the masses.

3) The media can be utilized for whatever purpose, if you know the rules. The main rule is to incorporate media in your strategy and investigate the main avenues of news dissemination. Like political science there are rules, and people study for years to be able to give advise on running a succesful media campaign. The challenge is to get the media to see things your way, and to be able to do that with any group, you must strive to gain knowledge of their perspective and communicate in their language.

For more information on how to accomplish this and succeed, please read my article on media strategy.

June 30 2009

I should probably add that Sea of Green has a lot of extra capital, not just from what is often referred to as the "momentum", but also because almost all journalists are automatically sympathetic to the cause.

On top of it, Iran has antagonized Western press, and this is always a costly maneuvre. Even if journalists should be objective the profession tends to respond collectively to abuse.

Particularly in cases where journalists are being violated - as in the case of Iranian journalists - the collegial bond kicks in.

Think of it in mythological terms: Hermes, the winged messenger, is the patron god of journalists (and merchants, thieves and information workers), and while he is not violent he avenges himself with passive-aggressiveness, simply withdrawing his services and not giving the offending party the time of day.