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bad press

I wish to make a statement about the concepts of Bad Press, Small Town Community and the Fagmedia review processes.

It would appear that some members of the GLBTIQ Community find the Fagmedia review process to be a bit of a challenge! As President, I believe that much of this challenge comes from the nature of life in small town communities and the fact that many of our organisations are unused to dealing with the media and it's review processes. As a result many Gays act with the rationality of the cartoon below.  

In the mainstream or heterosexual world organisations and groups are more accustomed to the review process that comes from interaction with the media. As a direct result of this many organisations have learnt to modifiy their behaviours to deal with public scrutiny in order to keep bad press from happening. As a journalist my experience also is that sophisticated organisations are very skilled at developing relationships with media based in order to mitigate against the harm of the potentiality of future damage.   

What I also know is that in the real "heterosexual" world getting caught in the glare of the media spotlight is often "seen" through pragmatic eyes. There is often a balance achieved between on the one hand the need to promote a perspective or a cause and on the other a more parasitic usage of journalists and the media in general.

In contrast the "gay world" is afflicted with what I describe as small town syndrome. Gays like to think that by living in the inner suburbs of large cities that this in some way translates into "our" culture being also large and cosmopolitan. That is not true. The Gay Alphabet Soup Worlds make up one small but fractured into letter elements community.  

In relation to bad press, as I have said in public many times before, I am not responsible for your bad reviews. If your organisation gets a bad review then you have given cause and we have found evidence to back our claims.

If No cause for bad press is given then there is no bad press. I rest my case. It's easy to play the victim card but not when you are the ones responsible for review to funding agencies. I am not responsible for Sister Mary Jane going "off message" at major media events! If you are stupid enough to go to "War with the Sisters" then you have only yourself to blame for the "management consequences" of that "error of judgment" too. 

James Rendell

President

Fagmedia

3 November 2011.