2004 - Media carta - Adbusters

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Media Carta

There is no democracy on the airwaves.

You may think there is, but ask yourself this: do you have access to the most potent communication tool of our age -- television? When we're forbidden public discourse via our own airwaves, it's time to rethink the contracts that comprise our society.

Upon signing the Magna Carta in 1215, King John rolled on the ground in a rage and chewed bits of wood. What will Ted Turner do when it's his turn?

Jam Your TV airwaves

Reclaim the Airwaves! Americans have all kinds of rights and freedoms, but they apparently don't have the right to communicate freely; the right to walk into their local TV stations and purchase 30 seconds of airtime for a message they believe.

Why? TV broadcasters are in the business of selling attention spans to the highest bidder. They want multi-million dollar Nissan and GM campaigns, not a bicycle campaign from Greenpeace; they want a slice of McDonald's $500-million-a-year ad budget, not some nutritional public service announcement that may actually offend the Big Mc; and they want to pepper the public mindscape with sexy, action-packed program teasers to keep us from turning the channel or turning off the tube, not cryptic warnings of a TV-addicted nation.

But now a new breed of '90s activists -- the culture jammers -- are taking legal action to open up the airwaves. They want the right to practice social marketing; to use the public airwaves -- not only to sell products and corporate images -- but to sell ideas, stir public debate and empower people to set their own agendas.

Arguing for fundamental social change on commercial TV may be our last great hope of social engineering ourselves out of the economic, ecological and psychological mess we're in.

Take a look at animations of the spots we've produced. Autosaurus, Buy Nothing Day, Bull in a China Shop, Obsession Fetish, and The Product Is You. Pick the one you like best, get in touch with us to get broadcast quality versions of them, and walk into the local television station of your choice and Test the First Amendment!

The legal strategy for Media Carta is to show in court that a whole genre of advocacy messages (ie. nutritional, transportational, ecological) are being censored from the airwaves. To this end, we're compiling a list of people and organizations who are involved with bringing their message to the mainstream -- if you are involved in, or know of, any organizations like this, please click the bolt and get in touch.

Join the Two Minute Revolution! Clicking on the bolt will generate an e-mail to the FCC's chairperson Reed Hundt, and a e-mail-to-fax to David Colville of the Canadian Radio, Television and Telecommunications Commission. Below is something we've been using -- you can copy and paste it into the form, or write up your own. ---

Dear Chairpersons Colville and Hundt: We want access. It is our unwavering conviction that the public interest will be served if the radio and television licenses you grant contain the two-minute media provision. We want broadcasters to set aside two minutes of airtime every hour for citizen-produced messages in exchange for a renewed lease on the public airwaves. We, the undersigned, put it to you, regulator of the marketplace of ideas, to set up a system of direct public access, or to let us know why you are unable to do so in a free and democratic society. Sincerely, Your Name Here

Debate Lewis Laphan

Open Letters to Lewis H. Lapham The need for a Media Carta is also evident in the print arena, where the ad-editorial tango becomes less of a partnership and more of a sordid, embarrassing affair.

Over a year ago we asked Lewis Lapham, the editor of Harper's: "What are the ethical and moral ramifications of tobacco advertising?" Mr. Lapham responded with some pretty witty prose and a few deft bits of damage control but steadfastly refused to answer the question.

Now he's told Adbusters (via Sean McLaughlin, his publicist) that he is not interested in any further discussion.

But the question remains, the debate continues and in a dramatic test of Mr. Lapham's editorial integrity, Adbusters wants to buy space in Harper's for one of the spoof ads pictured here… Ronni Siegel, Harper's classified director, quoted us the nonprofit society ad rate of $5565 for a one-page, color spread.

But, after sending in our parodies, Ms Siegel wrote a letter informing us that, in fact, Harper's does not offer a non-profit rate. She wrote that: "...it would be an unfair situation to run material at significantly lesser rates, criticizing full rate customers like Marlboro and others who choose to advertise their products in Harper's. A level playing field is what we must maintain throughout our pages."

In other words, it will now cost $15,000 to run our spoof ad. A fundraising campaign is underway.

Can tobacco ads in magazines survive in a free market of ideas? Or will they die out like they did on TV? Stay tuned. The AdWar is just beginning!

We've received so many letters that we couldn't possibly have them all on one page, so we've put only the most recent here. If you have only just arrived, you can catch up on the whole debate from the start by clicking here.

Here are the latest letters to fill our mailbox, as appear in the AdWars section of the Winter 1996 issue of Adbusters:

Dear Mr. Lapham, I recognize the right for people to kill themselves, however slowly, but it's a little difficult for me to think about cigarettes rationally. You see, my father died of a heart attack when he was 38, after smoking for half of his life, and my younger sister has been smoking since she was at least 16. She smokes the same brand my dad did: Marlboro.

So back up freedom of speech if you want, but realize you're providing space for those who are essentially advocating a form of suicide. Mary Pat Campbell campbell@quinn.physics.ncsu.edu

Dear Mr. Lapham,

For a man who has garnered such respect for his thoughtfulness and integrity in a world which all too often is sorely lacking, it must shame you to fall voiceless on the matter of tobacco advertising. I urge you to take a stand for what you believe to be right. John Hienstein GNJXH@StThomasU.ca

Dear Adbusters,

Pick up the June copy of Equinox "Canada's Magazine of Discovery" and turn to page eight Ð you will see that all those letters and consumer activism actually do make a difference. Because of the letters voicing outrage and threats to cancel subscriptions sent in by readers, Equinox is pulling all cigarette advertising from future issues. It's one small victory. Consumers have to realize that we are in the loop. We are apart of the problem and we can do something to change things. Lucas Sorbara Halifax, Nova Scotia

Dear Adbusters,

While I applaud Adbusters general project, namely deconstructing consumer capitalism and mass marketing, I wonder why they have chosen Harper's as a target in this crusade. The number of Harper's readers who are too young to legally smoke can probably be counted on the thumb of one hand. I hope that this is not just one more example of the left turning on itself. Luke Jaeger luke jaeger@bmugbos.org

Dear Adbusters,

While Harper's pushes cigarettes, the fact that the magazine also teaches readers how to see though the smoke and mirrors that are the currency of capitalism is its saving grace. Adbusters seems to yearn for a world without contradictions, a world where everything can be taken at face value. Said Utopia would be safe and easy, but it would also be mighty tedious. Mark Johnson Del Mar, California

Dear Mr. Lapham,

When Ms. magazine (under the watchful eye of Gloria Steinem) began oh-so-many years ago, it decided not to accept ads for cigarettes because they are damaging to women's health. By doing so, it took a big loss Ñ $250,000 in the first year, to be exact. However, with its readers' firm support, smart budgeting and even price increases, it has managed to survive to this day. Sophia Chan Toronto, Ontario

Dear Mr. Lapham,

A while back, Harper's stunned its readers with an essay which defended the practice of smoking. Granted, you have every right to include such an unpopular topic in your magazine, and it is certainly laudable that you tackle ideas that are bound to shock the intellectual complacency of your readers. The only problem is that the essay looked sad and ominous next to those full-page tobacco ads nearby. I have to confess that I threw down that particular issue and didn't pick it up again to finish it. Also, exercising my options as a non-subscriber, I was disgusted long enough to not bother to purchase the next month's issue. What annoyed me into such a display of passive disgust? Mostly it was the consistent lack of any criticism of tobacco companies in the pages of Harper's. This month's tidbits in Harper's Index do not compensate for years of neglect by a magazine that should be leading, not following. Daniel W.Van Riper dwvr@wizvax.net

Dear Adbusters, I am a subscriber to Harper's and find it interesting that in this month's issue there are at least three (seemingly) anti-tobacco-industry pieces. In the Harper's Index there was "Rank of cigarette butts among the most common debris..." and "Ratio of Americans who die from smoking-related illnesses...", and in the Readings section there was an article titled The Anti-Smoking Campaign that Tobacco Loves. I love Harper's, but after reading Debate Lewis Lapham on your web site (especially the letter from Sean McLaughlin), I'm noticing a bad taste in my mouth. Ruth Patton patton@cems.umn.edu

Click on the bolt and write your own message to Lewis Lapham -- all will be forwarded to him, and the best will be added to this section.

But don't just pick on Lewis. The Dirty Dozen is a gang of 12 noxious magazines (Cosmopolitan, People, Better Homes, Playboy, Time, TV Guide, Newsweek, Family Circle, McCall's, Woman's Day, U.S. News, Sports Illustrated) that relentlessly pushes a clean, exciting image of one of the dirtiest products around: tobacco. Any other group responsible for 300,000 deaths a year would be ruthlessly prosecuted, as would their presidents and marketing agencies. Unfortunately, both the magazines and the tobacco industry are immune. But not from public pressure -- click on the bolt and you can simultaneously tell half the Dirty Dozen that you won't be subscribing until they get rid of the cigarette ads.

Become Media Literate

Know Thy Enemy Key to the whole concept of Media Literacy is understanding that behind each image seethes a legion of memes -- ideas that replicate and infect much like biological viruses. These insidious infoviruses infiltrate the ad world in epidemic proportions. These ads send weird spins into victims' brains, causing them to believe that cars are actually helping the environment (see Chrysler). A more common, highly resistant strain convinces men that the right jeans will cause women to undress and throw themselves at their feet (Gasoline Jeans), or that children are similar to dogs and cats (Joop).

It's time to diagnose these infotoxins and operate on the contaminators before we are too at ease with their disease.

Joop Jeans

CBC Newsworld Once you've seen the image CBC's using to promote themselves, click on the bolt to drop by CBC's nifty "interactive" message board to tell them what you think. Good luck, jammer!

Chrysler Corporation

Gasoline Jeans

Here's a media literacy site that shows how larnin' can be fun -- their links will keep you occupied for many a school day. Happy conspiring, jammer!

Related selections from Adbusters magazine The Age of Infotoxin Jeff Phillips explores the age-old question -- are we at the edge of history or the brink of disaster?

Turn Off Your TV

Rising Above the Dreck TV Turnoff Week '96 is October 14-20

Night after night, we sit for long hours in dark rooms. Identical images flow into our brains, homogenizing our perspectives, knowledge, tastes, desires. We spend more hours watching nature shows than experiencing the real thing; more time laughing at TV jokes than making jokes ourselves; more often experiencing simulated sexuality than having sex ourselves.

Twenty years ago the environmental movement shocked the world into realizing that our natural environment was dying. Now, our mental environment is facing a different kind of apocalypse…

Micro jolts of mind pollution flood into our brains at the rate of 3,000 marketing messages per day -- twelve billion display ads, three million radio ads and over 300,000 TV commercials are dumped into our collective unconscious like toxic sludge. As a result, our attention spans are diminishing, our imaginations giving out and we are increasingly unable to remember the past.

TV Turnoff Week is a collective attempt to save our most precious resource: the clarity of our own minds.

Click on the bolt to download a 64K TV Turnoff poster suitable for workplaces, homes, streetlamp poles... or TV screens. It is saved on your computer as tvposter.tif.

This 30-second uncommercial will show you that you can criticise the medium through the medium itself. Click here to view it and find out how to air it in your community.

Related selections from Adbusters magazine Zen TV Experiment Bernard McGrane discusses how to watch the world's most ubquitous appliance with beginner's mind.

Enlaces

URL: https://web.archive.org/web/19961025085657/http://www.adbusters.org/adbusters/Media/welcome.html

Wayback Machine: https://web.archive.org/web/19961025085657/http://www.adbusters.org/adbusters/Media/welcome.html