Lights, Camera, Action

Part of my job, heck most of it, is public relations - getting our agency's name out in the public arena. Normally, our most direct method of communication is through mail correspondence with our donors. But we also dabble with other methods - our website, press releases, etc.

Well, I spoke with a production company last week who offered us free air time to shoot a public service announcement. It was this company's donation to the hurricane relief effort. Since our agency has helped find new housing for many of the victims, we felt it was a perfect match to help get our word out.

So, I drafted a quick 30 second PSA for our Executive Director to regurgitate in front of the camera. As she is the public face of the agency, that's standard. I've drafted several letters to newspaper editors, state legislators, and to various other groups that are sent out above her signature. It's all part of the job - I'm the behind-the-scenes kind of guy and I'm cool with it.

When I first started working for a state representative, part of the job description was speech writing. My first speech to write was for a group of insurance executives, which was my boss' industry. I worked on that thing like it was the State of the Union address. But, I got such a big thrill when my boss came back and, being the man of few words that he is, said, "You were a hit." That made me feel good - whether it was true or not.

So yeah, my ideal job allows me to write the words that others speak.

So, this guy from the production company, David, comes over to our offices today to shoot this PSA. I thought the only job I would have would be to hold the cue cards for my boss to read. Not so much. At the last second, he tells me to go stand by my boss and we were going to do an impromptu interview.

Suddenly, my mind went blank. I didn't know my name, who I worked for, or what I did.

But once the camera started, I did fine. My boss is a natural; she's done several on-camera interviews before; I haven't. After telling myself to slow down a bit, I was able to to form a few coherent sentences that somewhat resembled English.

The rest of the filming was low-key: shots of the building , our counselors talking to hurricane evacuees, etc.

So, we'll get a copy of it next week and I can see for myself what a mumbling, stuttering idiot I really am. Fortunately, chances are you won't see the PSA , even if you live in the DFW market. What doesn't end up on the editing floor will run on the cable stations that primarily run those ministry shows late at night. So that was my day.

As for Anonymous to left the post about independent political activism preventing the reassertion of conventional political wisdom , I read that article a few days ago, too. On how many other blogs have you plagiarized Norman Solomon's quote? Is that what you do? Cut-and-paste other's half-baked ideas and pass them off as your own? So take your Media Beat, Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting, Moveon.org butt and find a new target. But have a good day.