Day: December 16, 2011

Welcoming Communities Initiative uses Shelbyville propaganda film

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

….and gives tips on how to use the media to “change the conversation” in “communities” overloaded with immigrants.

Here a Canadian group reports on a conference held in October in Seattle.

The Fourth Annual U.S. National Immigrant Integration Conference took place in Seattle,Washington from October 24 to 26, 2011. The conference brought together policy-makers, practitioners, researchers, elected officials, government employees, business representatives, and faith communities for three days of dialogue. Keen to benefit from the discussion, the Welcoming Communities Initiative participated in a number of conference sessions. In the weeks that follow, we will share some of the key findings and best practices from the conference. This article is the first in the series and puts the spotlight on a session entitled, “A Buzz for Welcoming: Using New and Traditional Media to Change the Conversation.”

Here we go again with that deceptive Shelbyville film.

The second, Welcome to Shelbyville, looks at a small American town as it adjusts to a growing Latino population and the influx of refugees from Somalia. The project is based on a film and a set of companion activities, including a series of YouTube videos, discussion guides, and training modules. You can learn more here.

Longtime readers know that we chronicled the creation of that film from the earliest days in Shelbyville and have reported that the film is a prime example of how editing with a certain goal in mind becomes propaganda.  One post from a year ago is here.  But, check out our whole archive on the film here.

The article does give us ten tips for manipulating the media that are useful:

Top 10 Tips for Engaging the Media

*Change cannot be a “one off.” Activities must be linked, integrated, and ongoing. For example, Welcome to Shelbyville advanced the notion of an “ecosystem of change” that included funding, research, leadership, grassroots organizing, policy, and philanthropy. These pieces fit together, as did their strategies and products; nothing was stand-alone.

*The focus must remain on the community. Communication strategies must be place-based in order to resonate emotionally with their audience. The emphasis must be on why activities matter to the community. If videos or projects with a more national or regional focus are produced, local screenings and discussion groups should be organized to involve the community.

*Multiple channels are needed to reach multiple audiences. These include having an active website and a Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube presence. Short, punchy video clips and small news articles can be forwarded, shared, and “liked.” People are more likely to pay attention to items that come from their friends.

*Traditional media can be engaged by simplifying their work. In place of simply sending out media advisories about activities and events, the media should be provided with professional copy and ready-made clips and images that can be printed or aired. This meets the need for interesting stories about people in the community.

*Communities have a voice. Supporters and contacts can be encouraged to submit op-ed pieces or write letters to the editor about community activities and the contribution that newcomers are making to the community. This helps spread the message and builds connections with the mainstream media.

*Stories matter. Though facts and data are essential, stories will be remembered more easily and powerfully. Stories engage receiving communities and show them the diversity of the immigrant experience.

*Media engagement is possible even with limited resources. Communities should use the skills and resources of their network and supporters. Supporters can help make films, serve as actors in public service announcements, and call on their contacts in traditional media.

*Communities should find ways to identify their supporters. At a minimum, communities should develop electronic distribution lists, but they can also employ more creative techniques. For example, Uniting North Carolina had supporters sign an online pledge to support immigrant integration; they were then added to the organization’s email list and now receive all communications.  

*Communities should take advantage of the power of leveraging. Communities should create engaging, fun content that supporters can disseminate to others.

*Communities should not forget the “and then what?” question. Engaging local communities in immigrant integration is a long-term project. Videos, news clippings, and radio ads all have a shelf life. To go from story-telling to action, it is necessary to bring together groups, not just to listen and learn but to work together to welcome newcomers.

As Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood becomes more powerful, look for more Coptic Christian refugees

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Now who could have seen this coming?  JUST ABOUT ANYONE FOLLOWING THE RISE OF ISLAM IN AFRICA AND THE MIDDLE EAST, THAT’S WHO!

Even the Leftist Los Angeles Times gets it now:

Muslims and Christians in Egypt made common cause in agitating for the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak, but the alliance is fraying. A report by The Times’ Jeffrey Fleishman about the country’s Coptic Christians — 10% of the population — suggests that they are developing painful second thoughts about the “Arab Spring” now that Islamist parties are in the ascendance.

[….]

Clearly Egypt will have to resolve the tension that is already evident between electoral democracy and pluralism. Its international credibility will depend to some extent on the degree to which it abides by international norms of religious freedom. But it is also in Egypt’s domestic interest to protect Christians. Although many Egyptian Christians are impoverished, others — former United Nations Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali is an example — are highly educated and affluent and have played leading roles in Egypt’s political and commercial life. Egypt would be poorer without them.

Laws that further institutionalized Islam also would speed the departure from Egypt of those Copts who have the means to relocate. The exodus of Christians from the Middle East, the cradle of their religion, is a sadly familiar story. From the West Bank to Lebanon to Iraq, they have left because of political instability, violence or discrimination. Sometimes they are refugees within their own countries. In 2008 more than 1,300 Iraqi Christians fled the city of Mosul after 14 were killed. Even when Christians stay — as the vast majority of Copts most likely would — their influence and well-being can suffer under an intolerant regime. That shouldn’t happen in post-revolutionary Egypt.  [And, why would Egypt be any different then other countries in the region as Islamic supremacism takes root?—ed]

Readers you may not hear the drumbeat about saving the Copts as loudly as you might another group, because the Left (the drum-beaters on resettlement) are invested in the myth that the Arab Spring was a good thing.  They won’t be so eager to trumpet the totalitarianism of strict Islamic rule being demonstrated already against the Coptic Christians.

ACLU lawsuit may determine whether those getting federal dollars can limit services for religious reasons

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Here we go again, more about how the US Conference of Catholic Bishops wants its cake and eat it too!  Bottom line Bishops—do your good works without taking taxpayer money!

From National Catholic Reporter:

WASHINGTON — A lawsuit pending in a Massachusetts federal court may determine if the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services can allow religiously based restrictions on reproductive health services in agreements with private agencies to provide social services.

The suit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union in Boston in January 2009, stems from a now ended five-year contract that HHS signed with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to provide case management services to foreign-born victims of human trafficking through its Migration and Refugee Services.

ACLU claims that the bishops’ conference dictated terms of the contract it received from the government to serve trafficking victims in violation of the separation of church and state provisions of the U.S. Constitution. ACLU attorneys maintain that the government, because it is spending taxpayer dollars, must set the terms of the contract.

Michael O. Leavitt, then Secretary of Health and Human Services, was named as the chief defendant. Since then Kathleen Sebelius, current health and human services secretary, has replaced Leavitt as the government’s defendant.

The USCCB joined the case as an intervenor and, through its attorney, argued that its intention under the contract not to fund abortion or contraceptive services was permitted because of religious freedom and conscience provisions in federal law.

The parties submitted final arguments to Judge Richard G. Stearns Oct. 18. He is expected to issue his decision early in 2012.

The contract in question, which expired Oct. 10, permitted MRS to adhere to church teaching and restrict agencies subcontracted to work with trafficking victims from providing services that were contrary to church teaching.

ACLU attorney Brigitte Amiri told CNS the case was filed because it is not the government’s prerogative to restrict access to health services that are legal.

“We believe it’s a violation of the separation of church and state to allow a religious entity to dictate the terms of a federal contract on how money should be spent,” Amiri said. “Not all trafficking victims need such services, but they need a host of reproductive services including contraception and, if pregnant, abortion.”

She added that the civil liberties organization found it “disturbing that the Catholic bishops forced this on the case managers even if they themselves have no objection to referring for such services.”

There is more, read on.

I used to think it was terribly cynical when people said it’s “all about the money,” but as time goes on, I’m sad to say it’s true more often then not.