gmcjetpilot said:
In general why talk to the media at all?
I think that's sound strategy, George, for the situation you describe. But what I'm talking about is thinking in different terms when we talk about pilots and the media. We automatically think "story abour airport security" or "landing on the freeway" or "plane crash." In other words, all the stupid things that pilots do.
What I'm suggesting is begin to associate all the good things pilots do with subsequent media coverage.
What the AOPA wants you to believe is that "the media" isn't interested in anything but bad news. That is 100% horsesh*t... born of ignorance and selective processing of anecdotal information.
I'm looking at the Sunday paper this morning and I'm seeing a front page story on a group that is finding homes for teenage orphans in our area. No other on the page has as much real estate. Shoot, it's even got me and my wife thinking about adding a teenager to the house.
Earlier this week, that same paper devoted more real estate than any other story to the story of a woman who was reunited with the woman who wanted to adopt her 30 years ago but was denied by the court because she was white and the adoptee was black.
No other story got the reader response than that one did and that is not lost on the editors at all.
Look at the story that the media was heavily criticized for this week. "Miners found alive." Great story. (too bad it was wrong).
News is a snaposhot of our worlds and part of that is good, part of it is bad but all of it needs to be interesting. If we don't think -- just as an example --that building airplanes with our own two hands is a heck of an interesting story enough to tell it to someone, how is it we would ever expect that "side of the story" to be told by the media?
Why talk to the media at all? Because it's the only way to claim that real estate.
Again, the world is littered with anecdotes about bad media coverage. But very little attention is paid -- and I contend intentionally so -- to evidence fo good media stories; evidence which could help people form an accurate conclusion about things. But for some reason, the AOPA is focused on creating an unfavorable impression of what reporters are interested in, and so you never get that evidence.
I've provided examples above. but even in times of tragedy, I've seen outstanding work. I remember when Don Hines was killed down in Red Wing when his P-51 red-tail went down. I don't recall seeing a single story about how dangerous warbirds or or how careless pilots are. Quite the contrary. I saw stories about how Don Hines was absolutely committed to honoring the Tuskeegee Airmen with the
Red Tail Project.
And why? Because Don Hines had told his story before. Certainly without knowing it, Don was able to control the message surrounding his own demise. Without knowing it, I'm sure, the fact he had developed relationships was the difference in the story being a positive message of good even in the context of tragedy, intead of a negative.
It's not a reasonable expectation to expect the good side of GA to be told, with silence. It'll never happen. It can never happen. And AOPA -- which is in the business of staying in business -- will never admit that news is LOCAL. It doesn't come from some flak in an office who hasn't got a clue about your town sitting in Washington, spewing out prewritten nonsense. It can only happen with developing relationships. You want good stories? Develop good relationships. Converseley, the VERY best way to get a crummy story, is to develop AOPA's "bunker mentality."
I'm excited by GA. I'm excited about homebuilding. I'm passionate about journalism. There's simply no reason those thrree facts should be mutually exclusive.
Sooner or later,some developer is going to offer your town(s) cash for that acreage where your plane fits. And no amount of AOPA-written gobbledygook about the money GA injects into the economy is going to change the reality that a neighborhood of homes injects more (I've never seen shopping centers and jobs spring up near a GA airport just because it's an airport. I do see that being created where there's a neighborhood), and that cash-strapped communities have fewer reasons to keep their airports open.
The only way we win that debate is create such an affinity between pilots and the communities that airport closings are an afront to a valued way of life. That it's just, well, neat to have the local airport there.
That's a HELL of a story. You know it. I know it. Why do we work so hard to keep it a secret?
Don't talk to the media? Be my guest. But when they come to shut down your airport. Or they throw up some more flight restrictions. You're going to need more friends than what you've got on hangar row.
More and more airports are being threatened every day. As AOPA blares out in regular fundraising letters, more and more efforts are being put forth to restrict GA every week. Too bad AOPA hasn't fully understood why.
