2009/8/7 Guru गुरु <[email protected]>: > There have been good responses to the article on this list > > is there any way of getting these to ET (Venky can you suggest) as > rejoinders? > > FOSSCOMM will have to develop some kind of a 'media plan' so that at the > right times, pro FOSS views are carried by the media (NASSCOM for eg has > this very well developed). > > Venky, since you have worked with media before, can you share some thoughts. > > regards > Guru.
For a media plan, I'd say these are the following steps: 1) WHAT we want to say (in the case of open standards, FOSSCOMM has spelt this out clearly in the letter to the IT Secretary.) 2) WHO will say it? The media needs spokespersons who can speak on behalf of FOSSCOMM. Some of the spokesperson will have to be proactive to go and talk to the media. The selected spokespersons have to have the ability to (a) simplify the issue into language the common man/woman can understand (b) patiently walk the journalist through the issues involved (in this case why royalty-free single standards are good for the country). In some cases, FOSSCOMM can also issue press releases and send them across to a database of journalists who cover IT in India. Many of these issues are complex, so we need to be constantly in touch with the media to explain the issues involved. During the OOXML issue, many journalists were afraid to write about the subject because they found it too complex. We simplified the issues involved and finally when one journalist wrote a major story, the herd mentality kicked in and all the other publications started carrying stories on the subject. Also, we need to do this on a CONSISTENT basis to build visibility and credibility for FOSSCOMM. Hope this helps? Venky _______________________________________________ network mailing list [email protected] http://lists.fosscom.in/listinfo.cgi/network-fosscom.in
