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Next week the networks will coordinate their shows’ story-lines to promote volunteerism. At the September 10 press conference in New York announcing this unprecedented message coordination, Ashton Kutcher got his famous Twitter feed displayed on the Times Square jumbo screen. It said: “2Day, I activate my citizenship by participating. I Participate! Do u? www.iparticipate.org.” (Damn he’s good at this whole “Under 14o characters” thing.)
In the press release announcing the initiative, all four network execs were positively boastful about their ability to inspire their viewers to ask “How high” when told to jump:
“The ability to both entertain and inform is one of the hallmarks of a broadcast network,” says Nina Tassler, president of CBS Entertainment. ”Integrating messages of volunteerism and service into America’s favorite television shows can have a powerful and lasting impact that benefits both the audience and the country at large.”
NBC president Angela Bromstad agrees. ”The week of volunteer-themed programming in October provides an opportunity for the networks to tap the power of television,” she says.
The ultimate goal, says Stephen McPherson, president of ABC Entertainment is “to get people thinking about what they can do in terms of volunteering, and then to act on that.”
“The most satisfying result for us is when our programs entertain viewers as well as inform them—and maybe even call them to action,” FOX Entertainment president Kevin Reilly points out.
You know how folks always say: “If you don’t like what you see, just change the channel.” Well, clearly next week that won’t be an option. It’s going to be a full-court press… nowhere to hide.
The plan is to weave volunteerism and service into the plots of their shows and then, ultimately, encourage viewers to get up off their sofas and go to a handful of web pages that are meant to provide opportunities for service. As we saw in the previous stories at Big Hollywood and Big Government, these seemingly benign volunteer search engines often seem to be Trojan Horses for controversial, left-wing causes.
The October 19-25 “I Participate” campaign broadcast on all four major television networks for a full week of programming will point viewers to www.iparticipate.org (as mentioned in Ashton’s tweet) and the AARP’s www.createthegood.com web sites.
This nifty bit of propaganda encourages you to troll on blogs and leave comments, call in to talk radio shows and generally be annoying when people discuss ObamaCare by injecting Administration talking points found on AARP’s web page under the Orwellian header ”Myths vs. Facts.” A sample of the health care “facts”:
“Health reform isn’t about rationing; it’s about giving people the peace of mind of knowing that they will be able to keep their doctors and that they will always have a choice of affordable health plans.”
Uh, huh, that doesn’t sound like a partisan talking point or anything.
Back over at www.iparticpate.org (that’s the one our pal Ashton tweeted about), if you are in, say, Virginia and want to volunteer on an environmental project, the very first opportunity you get is to volunteer as a Global Warming Ambassador.
“As an Ambassador, you will introduce NWF and global warming concepts, how it affects wildlife habitat our country as well as your state, and what persons can do on an individual level …”
And who or what is “NWF”? NWF is National Wildlife Federation and they have a lot to say about the President’s Cap and Trade proposals.
If you are in, say, Massachusetts and are interested in Iraq, The top response you get is an opportunity to volunteer for “The Crane Project.” What is “The Crane Project?” It seems to be a pacifist-Christo-wannabe trying to get people to fold origami cranes to represent the casualties of the Iraq War. They are claiming deaths of over 100,000 so far.
Here is the top result I got using a Kansas zip code as my location and “Iraq” as my search word:
“Explain to the President, Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, National Security Advisor, Special Envoy, CENTCOM Commander and Ambassador the foundations of Arab society, the values of Arab people, how and why the current approach is injuring US national security, and what should be done instead. Most of the effort of this project will be aimed at getting face time with the identified individuals. Only about 45 minutes per briefing will be required to conduct actual explanations. Assume 15 hours of prep for each briefing.”
Here’s another one:
“This is an opportunity for all to learn the truth about what happened on that unfortunate day and the truth behind who is responsible. I Charlie Sheen have taken it upon myself to interview the president and this is what I have asked. I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with our 44th President of the United States of America, Barack Hussein Obama, while he was out promoting his health care reform initiative. I requested 30 minutes given the scope and detail of my inquiry; they said I could have 20. Twenty minutes, 1200 seconds, not a lot of time to question the President about one of the most important events in our nation’s history. The following is a transcript of our remarkable discussion.”
That’s right… It’s a TRUTHER campaign message starring Charlie Sheen! Found via a government website!
Let me be clear: I am not claiming that this is the ONLY kind of content you will find on these sites. This is obvious, but I feel compelled to blunt the inevitable attacks from the left who will insist on mis-characterizing this post as claiming something to the contrary. Here is the plain truth: I sat for all of fifteen minutes entering search phrases having to do with health care, the environment, and the war and I chose zip codes from the West, East and Midwest. The results above were ALL either the first result, or found on the first page of results. No cherry-picking and no hunting expedition.
Originally posted by IlmInsa
Is that what's considered sources now? Any other sources, anything with 'unbias'?
Thought out threads are so rare these days, somehow the 'muddying the waters' theory was placed into effect years ago and someone didn't send the memo.
8) The means to develop awareness of national service and volunteer opportunities at a young age by creating, expanding, and promoting service options for primary and secondary school students and by raising awareness of existing incentives.
‘PART I--PROGRAMS FOR ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS ‘SEC. 111. PURPOSE. ‘The purpose of this part is to promote service-learning as a strategy to-- ‘(1) support high-quality service-learning projects that engage students in meeting community needs with demonstrable results, while enhancing students’ academic and civic learning; and ‘(2) support efforts to build institutional capacity, including the training of educators, and to strengthen the service infrastructure to expand service opportunities.
(F) establishing effective outreach and dissemination of information to ensure the broadest possible participation of schools throughout the State, throughout the territory, or serving the Indian tribe involved with particular attention to schools not making adequate yearly progress for two or more consecutive years under section 1111 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.);
(36) DISADVANTAGED YOUTH- The term `disadvantaged youth' includes those youth who are economically disadvantaged and 1 or more of the following:
`(A) Who are out-of-school youth, including out-of-school youth who are unemployed.
`(B) Who are in or aging out of foster care.
`(C) Who have limited English proficiency.
`(D) Who are homeless or who have run away from home.
`(E) Who are at-risk to leave secondary school without a diploma.
`(F) Who are former juvenile offenders or at risk of delinquency.
`(G) Who are individuals with disabilities.
(B) developing service-learning curricula, consistent with State or local academic content standards, to be integrated into academic programs, including curricula for an age-appropriate learning component that provides participants an opportunity to analyze and apply their service experiences;
‘(C) forming local partnerships described in paragraph (2) or (4)(D) to develop school-based service-learning programs in accordance with this part;
‘(D) devising appropriate methods for research on and evaluation of the educational value of service-learning and the effect of service-learning activities on communities;