Since the animal rights movement’s birth in 1975, animal advocates have desperately sought mass media coverage of the horrific abuses committed against animals. But almost always, we failed. And the reason for that is… YOU. The media goes viral when it harnesses its audience. That is very evident in the Ridglan case. The national media coverage came in the wake of social media explosions. Over the last few months, it feels like every random photo posted about Ridglan immediately reaches 100,000+ people. This gave openings for mainstream media to cover the story, too. And this is precisely why we must continue developing the grassroots. We’ll count on YOU.
WAYNE HSIUNG: How things have changed. On Friday, one million people tuning into ABC’s Nightline were told the harrowing story of the beagles at Ridglan Farms… Then today the New York Times published a remarkable op-ed by Pulitzer Prize winning columnist Nicholas Kristof about the pork industry’s corrupt efforts to keep mother pigs trapped in cages. In the piece, Kristof describes the fight for animal rights as “one of the great but incomplete moral revolutions of our lifetime”…
What changed? The shift in coverage might be driven by audience preferences for pro-animal content. Public opinion on vivisection, in particular, has transformed in the last 20 years… There has also been an increase in the availability of independent voices in media. Independent platforms, such as podcasts and YouTube shows, are increasingly dominating the typical American’s media diet. Smart phones and cheap cameras have made it easy for anyone to create content…
In short, media goes viral when it harnesses its audience. And that is precisely what’s happened with animal rights. It’s not me or ABC or The New York Times that are changing the media climate. The audience is driving this change. You are driving it. That is very evident in the Ridglan case. The national media coverage came in the wake of social media explosions. Over the last few months, it feels like every random photo posted about Ridglan immediately reaches 100,000+ people. This gave openings for mainstream media to cover the story, too… And this is precisely why we must continue developing the grassroots… We’ll count on you. SOURCE
RELATED VIDEO: