Dogged Blog

Publishing eats its young: Why I won't write for Viacom anymore

For nearly 7 years, I've been writing for a group of websites that now belong to Viacom. I've loved writing for AfterElton.com and AfterEllen.com. But I won't be writing for them anymore, and you should know and care about the reason why.

I am a freelance writer and editor, by choice. I've been working in this field since 1991, and I'm very blessed to have been able to not only support myself as a writer, but to make a very good living doing something I truly love.

I've also been able to focus on subjects that really matter to me, mostly dogs, animal welfare, and veterinary medicine, but also LGBT equality and the relationship of political and social change with popular culture.

That last category is comprised of work I've done almost entirely for the AE/AE sites. I got my start there when AfterElton.com editor Michael Jensen and his partner, Brent Hartinger, came across a humorous post I wrote for this blog, "Ten Reasons Xena and Gabrielle Are Better Than Brian and Justin."

They'd been on the hunt, it seems, for funny lesbians who could write about television for a blog called The Big Gay Picture, at the time a partner site of AfterElton.com and AfterEllen.com. They invited me to guest blog for, I think, a month, and after that asked me to keep writing for them. That turned into gigs for AfterElton and AfterEllen, back in the day when I was, in fact, the only woman writing for the gay men's site.

I've loved working there -- although much less since so many of the people I worked with and for over the years left, particularly Michael who has become a close friend, but also Brent, Malinda Lo, and site founder Sarah Warn. But I still like and care about many of the writers there, and also many of the readers and community members.

However, under no circumstances would I agree to sign the obscene rights grab they call a "freelance contract," the language of which I've pasted below the cut.

In short, it claims ownership of all my notes, thoughts, ideas, suggestions, and works inspired by them, whether I write them down or not, whether they use them or not, literally "in perpetuity throughout the universe in all media and all forms and all formats, and/or any methods of delivery, in any and all media now existing or hereafter devised," as well as "irrevocably, exclusively and perpetually."

Now, you may not care that I won't be recapping Glee or writing anything else for the site anymore (although I do).

But if you care about reading things people have written, and want artists, writers, and other creators to be able to make even a small living producing creative works, then you should care, and care a lot, about large corporations leveraging their publishing power to force their contributors to sign contracts like this.

As a freelance writer, rather than a staff writer who gets a salary and benefits, you simply cannot survive if every idea or note or thought you have about something you’re writing for a publisher belongs to them in every usage for all eternity. I routinely turn interviews into multiple articles, and go to conferences and write about what I saw or learned there, for multiple publications, sometimes for years afterward.

I blog — including here — about “outtakes” from my articles on AE/AE all the time. I also frequently come up with ideas while I’m writing articles, which I then turn into other articles. This is how I make my living. Without that freedom, without the ownership of my own thoughts, without the flexibility of the kind of freelance contracts I’ve been writing under now for my entire career -- including for other big corporate media platforms owned by Hearst -- I could never have made a life as a writer.

And young writers, who are forced to go along with these disgusting agreements because they need to be published and need the money, are going to be increasingly disempowered, robbed, violated, and marginalized.

Furthermore, established, proven writers and journalists, photographers and artists, will no longer write for sites like AE/AE, because we don’t have to sell our souls to pay the bills — and who would sell their soul if they didn’t have to?

All of which will have a profound chilling effect on the quality of the work you are going to be seeing out of any publication that forces its writers into these kinds of contracts.

You can read the contract under the cut. In the meantime, I'm really sad to be saying goodbye to a form of expression that meant a lot to me. Thanks for nothing, Viacom.

How to make Freedom of Information laws work for animals

If you're frustrated at a lack of transparency on the part of your local municipally funded shelter or animal control agency, there's something you can do to uncover the numbers they want to hide: File a Freedom of Information request.

Whether you think your local agency is cooking its books, or you simply want to force them to cough up statistics they're unwilling to publish, the law may be on your side. All municipal agencies and a large number of municipally-funded agencies (ie, private agencies operating under a municipal contract) are subject to public records laws, passed to ensure citizens and journalists have access to documents paid for with taxpayer dollars.

While this is a much larger subject than a blog post can cover, here are a few tips animal activists should keep in mind:

Freedom of Information laws cover documents, not data. You cannot request information, you can only request specific documents -- intake forms, veterinary exam notes, kennel cards, purchase orders for euthanasia solution, etc. I've seen way too many request letters that were not asking for documents; public records laws do not require agencies to create documents for you. You need to request existing documents.

You're not alone. There are many organizations out there that will help you with public records requests. Two great places to start are the Reporters' Committee for Freedom of the Press and the Student Press Law Center; both these sites have do-it-yourself FOIA request letter generators that can be customized for any state's laws.

Ask for everything. It's perfectly fine to ask for as many records as you can even begin to imagine wanting, whether they exist or not. It's not your job to decide they don't have those records; it's their job to tell you they don't. The absence of records in and of itself can be extremely useful if you're trying to convince legislators that an agency is abusing the public trust.

The war on drugs is your friend. Animal shelters have to comply with federal laws about the drugs they use, including euthanasia drugs. You can request their drug logs, and documents they file with the Drug Enforcement Agency are public records. This can provide valuable clues as to just how many animals are dying in a shelter that's not operating in a transparent manner.

Know the rules. For example, agencies subject to freedom of information laws can't just refuse to comply with your request; they have to give you a reason that qualifies  under your state or local public records laws. So read the laws, know what is and isn't exempt, and if they just say no without explanation, slam back immediately requesting the section of the law under which they are denying your request. And cc the municipality's attorney.

Be prepared to fight. In my experience, most of my FOIA requests to animal agencies are ignored, even though they are legally required to respond within a short period spelled out in the law (information included in the letters generated by the above sites). It's helpful when sending these requests to send a copy to the municipality's attorney our counsel's office, but if they ignore you, bringing in the county, town, or city's legal counsel is your first recourse. Just telling the agency that turned you down or ignored you that they have to comply probably won't work, so don't waste time arguing with them; escalate.

Find a lawyer. If you think you're getting the runaround or being lied to, find an attorney who will write a follow-up letter. If the municipality thinks you're ready to go to court over it, they'll usually become extremely cooperative.

For a complete list of public records laws by state, visit the National Freedom of Information Coalition website.

Have you used public records laws to help animals? I'd love to hear your experiences!

PR tricks to get the media interested in your animal cause

What can a PR intern's viral campaign to get a band's attention teach animal advocates about working with the media? Plenty.

You're trying to get publicity for your shelter reform, animal welfare, or pet adoption cause, so you send out a press release. Maybe you email or even call a reporter you think might be interested. And you don't hear from anyone so you throw your hands up in the air and decide no one cares.

It's a story I hear a lot, when animal advocates contact me, ranting about their apathetic local media. But read this story, in which a PR intern named Adam Bowers uses the basic tools of media outreach to convince his girlfriend's favorite band, Relient K, to make a video to help him propose to her.

First, Adam went after the band on Twitter. He started Tweeting once daily to get their attention, using lyrics from the band's songs and references to the new album they were recording at the time. When he had no results from that, he increased it to 3-4 times daily. When none of that worked, he dug a little deeper. From PR Daily:

I started looking more carefully at my target audience (the band) and picked up on a few things. For example, I realized their account was merely a talking head that never interacted with anyone, so I shifted my focus to tweeting to the individual band members. I even took it one step further by studying their tweets to learn what times of day they were active on Twitter. I then scheduled my tweets for these times in hopes of catching one of them while they were checking their Twitter feeds.

Shortly after I combined strategic timing with creativity and consistency in my tweets, the band’s guitarist sent me a direct message with his email address so I could pass along a more detailed message.

And finally, 22 days and 39 tweets later, the band granted my wish for a personalized video to my girlfriend that segued into my proposal. Needless to say, she was blown away, and most important, she said “yes.”

Happy ending? Absolutely. Lesson in animal advocacy? You bet.

Because this is exactly what you do when you're trying to get media attention for your cause. It takes just this much effort and creativity, it takes a lot of research and personalization of the pitch, it takes patience and the willingness to keep trying, and it especially takes the ability to analyze the results of your pitch and systematically modify it until it works -- just like Adam did.

Learn these lessons, and the animals you're trying to help can have a happy ending, too!

Bil-Jac's Friday night dump 'n' run dog food recall

In a textbook example of the "Friday night dump 'n' run pet food recall," Bil-Jac has announced a recall of some of its dog food for possible mold contamination.

From the company's website:

We have requested that a select number of retailers withdraw one small batch (256 cases) of 6 LB Adult Select Formula Dog Food from their warehouses and stores. We have had a few reports of mold in bags from this batch that was caused by higher moisture content in the food. We know the entire batch has not been affected, but have requested the entire small batch to be removed from warehouses and stores. Only batch number 1792-02 (Expiration 27 DEC 13) is affected, all in only 6 LB bags.

Of course, they call it a "limited product withdrawal," which seems to be the new verbiage of choice now that "voluntary recall" has lost its luster. As to finding their recall notice, well... I'll link to it here, and quote from it, but good luck finding it on their website -- I couldn't. And when I went to their Facebook page to ask about it, it wasn't there either, although their page manager kindly shared it with me.

So I guess that means it's time for Pet Food Recall Management 101:

• Get there first with the recall announcement, instead of letting people find it places like this, where it will be given to them as a criticism of your business practices instead of a vital communication from a trusted brand.
• Announce at the earliest possible moment, not the moment when you believe it will get the least public notice, like late on a Friday afternoon.
• Be honest and open. Don't use weasel words; call it what it is, a recall.
• Accept full responsibility for the problem and assure everyone that you'll find out what happened and take measures to make sure it never happens again once you do. And mean it.
• Post your recall everywhere your customers are, including the front page of your website, points of sale, and social media. Put it out early and often on your own social platforms.
• Don't refuse to answer questions publicly, referring people to an 800 number where the conversation will be hidden.
• Make sure your reps actually have the answers when people call, Tweet, or post.
• Follow through on your investigation and when you've identified the problem, announce that, along with the changes you're making so it doesn't happen again.

That's how you look like a good guy and protect your brand.

You're welcome.

When bad shelters have good PR

Why are so many high kill shelters so damn good at PR? Because they have to be, to bring in donations in the face of their operational failure.

I find it so frustrating when shelters I know have horrible adoption policies and high kill rates also do a great job on their PR and promotions. I believe in "click-treat" for a  job well done, but I don't want to give bad shelters good press. And I don't want to help them use PR to whitewash their killing machine.

And I most particularly don't want to help them fool their donors into thinking they're doing a good job when they're not.

So if you're wondering if better PR can help your local high-kill shelter, my suggestion is this: Use your communications skills and resources to bring about fundamental change in how your shelter operates first. Work with a shelter reform group to get local media and your community on board with a no kill mission.

In the meantime, you can help save the lives of pets in the shelter by networking with (or creating, if necessary) a rescue group to find foster homes to move the pets into. Then you can market them for adoption in the name of the rescue organization, not the failed shelter.

Because while I want my tips and suggestions to be used to find animals homes, I don't want it to be at the expense of all the animals who find only a needle and a body bag from the people who claim to be "sheltering" them.

Liveblogging the 2012 No-Kill Conference: John Sibley on advocacy blogging

 

Want to change the world? Blogging may be a great place to start. I'm at the 2012 No Kill Conference in Washington, D.C., listening to a presentation on Advocacy Blogging by John Sibley of In Dog We Trust.

I am blogging this live; hit "refresh" periodically to see new material. Since this is live, there will be typos. And only things in quotation marks are direct quotes. Everything else is a paraphrase.

My presentation on getting media for your cause or organization was right before this,so I missed the very beginning as I was in the hall answering questions. So jumping in mid-stream...

John reviewed a few blogging platforms like Blogger and Wordpress, and recommended against Examiner. (I agree!)

He said advocacy bloggers need to be always gathering information. Google alerts, follow other advocates on Facebook, RSS readers (blog readers), Be active in your chosen community -- attend board meetings, lectures, protests. Personal contact means a log.

Get tips from readers through email, Twitter, Facebook.

FOIA (Freedom of Information) requests. Gave huge props to Shirley Thistlewaite at Yes Biscuit for doing a great job of advocacy blogging in general and with FOIA requests specifically.

If you see something important on the web, take a screen shot in case it's scrubbed!

John Says, "Blogging is not journalism!" (I don't agree, but I think he means, it's not "neutral" in viewpoint. I agree with that.

John says, "Think about your style." Read other bloggers... cited me (thank you!), Brent Toellner of KC Dog Blog, Shirley again, Kathy Pobloskie at Wisconsin Watchdog, Valerie Hayes at Cruel, Crazy, Beautiful World... will fill in later with links etc, falling behind.

Avoid these common pitballs:

• "Spewing" constant negativity. Frothing at the mouth? Stop blogging. Get it out, but don't publish it.
• Reliance on shock/graphic photos and techniques.
• Spelling/grammar mistakes -- draft in Word if you need to
• Too much unnecessary detail; Boil down to essence.
• Anonymity

Know your target audience. Each post should stand on its own.

Stalkers, psychos, and Pat Dunaway: Managing the Comments Section (Inside joke)

He says this is how it works for him, other people may handle differently. But think about it before you start blogging.

"I prefer and advocate an open but moderated forum. Exchange of ideas is always allowed, but personal attacks are deleted and disruption, bullying, or thread-jacking will get you banned."

Blogging software has ability to block specific IP addresses. use it. "You are under no obligation to provide a forum for crazy."

Expect pressure -- it's a sign of succness.

HSUS objected to something he wrote in 2009, and his boss told him to take it down or he was fired. He linked to a video of a news story about the organization. They were only able to reach me because his former employer was connected to HSUS, now he's in a different field and if HSUS called his boss, they wouldn't care.

So know you will get threats, pressure, cease and desist letters, if you continue this and annoy enough people.

At the time it was very traumatic for him, but now he says if HSUS filed a lawsuit against him,he'd be overjoyed. "Wow, I've got material to write about for months!"

I'm not saying you'll be sued, but there will be some degree of pressure, people trying to get you to shut up. Don't.

I told my boss my ability to speak was very important to me and I wouldn't take it down, and I wasn't fired.

Spreading the word: Now that you've written it, how do you get people to read it?

These rules are changing all the time.

Facebook is King, Twitter a close second.

FB drives more traffic to his site than anyone.

Still worth having RSS feed, but not as important as it used to be.

Use FB to reach people directly and Twitter to reach power users who will spread the word.

Participate in FB/Twitter communities, not just when you have something to promote.

Many people find email annoying. He does. Contact him through FB.

Don't bother with G+. We got into interesting discussion on this, and agreed you should have an account and use it enough to keep it active, but don't consider it as a traffic source. I agree.

Make sure your posts are Facebook-friendly. Make sure when you share a link on FB a good image and good copy accompany the link. Manually edit within the blog software's meta data! if what it defaults to isn't right!!!!!

It doesn't matter when you post your blog posts, but you DO need to time when you announce it. Don't share it on FB and Twitter in the middle of the night... share it the next day during peak hours.

Use utilities that allow your readers to share posts on FB and Twitter on EVERY SINGLE POST. (Which I don't do because I suck.) He uses and recommends Sociable.

Post title: "Be the New York Post, not the Wall St. Journal."

Recent Weiner People puff piece trying to rehab his image:

WSJ: Weiner Won't Rule Out a Run

NYPost: "Weiner shows off his little one" (with photo of his baby)

Other networking

Maintain relationships with other writers, bloggers, power users, others who can help "seed" your story and help you out -- tech expertise, sources, tips.

Link the posts of other bloggers, comment, participate.

Always make time to talk to reporters. Be a source.

First case study:

Gloria. Cat left at ASPCA Mobile Clinic, and brought to ACC. Found out when someone emailed him photo of her cage card.

Key factors:

Rock solid info starting with reader tip and first hand observations and medical ifnormation

Great photos

The involvement of the ASPCA

Second case study: ACC's new computer system that doesn't work

Was sent records, internal records, by ACC staff member that showed agency knew the computer system was messed up, even though publicly denied it.

Turned into big story on New York Post. Next day, he got email from Daily Mail in the UK. Told John they needed photos of cats involved -- in 45 minutes. He did it.

NBC 4 in NYC picks it up.

 Key factors:

Rock solid info , inside info, great photos.

Case study 3: Killing the Quick Kill Bill

Blog became a clearninghouse for information that turned into an online AND offline campaign.

Went to the heart of donor base for the Paulin, legislator behind bill. Drove so much attention to sponsors and legislators.

Because John branded it so quickly and well, it caught on -- EVERYONE, even legislative staffers, called it "Quick Kill Bill."

Key factors:

Branding, repitition, good visuals

A community of activists playingg off of each other and contributing theri skills

Legwork: scouring NYS Assembly site for updates

Crossover into mass mmedia

Persistence

Superior speed -- NO MEETINGS!

Note: You can see earlier liveblogging here.

Live from the 2012 No-Kill Conference: Thoughts over lunch

What's new at this year's No Kill Conference in Washington, D.C.? Most of the people.

For the last three years, this conference was limited to 300 attendees. This year, it was expanded to accomodate 800, and as a consequence, around 70 percent of the people here are at their first conference.

Some of that has been bad, because people are reacting to some of the most basic concepts of the No Kill Movement with shock and disbelief, making a lot of "grumpy old-timers" mutter things under our breath about "Why are you reinventing the wheel?" and "Have you even read Redemption"?

But it's also exciting to see so many newcomers, and get fresh perspectives. It's even good, I think, to be challenged on our basics, as it helps us understand how we're doing with our movement communications.

It also led me to make some last minute revisions to my presentation, which I'll be giving right after lunch today -- in an hour, in fact. I'm talking about how we can get the media to take our cause seriously, with a focus on activism but also on how rescue groups and shelters can get media attention for the fundraising and other traditional events and initiatives.

So I missed the first session this morning, and instead holed up at the Starbucks next door, working on my presentation. Nothing like a  little last minute revision to keep you sharp, if by "sharp" you mean "on edge."

So I won't be live-blogging until 3 PM Eastern, when I'll be covering John Sibley's " session on "Advocacy Blogging." See you then!

Note: You can see yesterday's liveblogging here.

Liveblogging the 2012 No-Kill Conference: Dr. Ellen Jefferson and Ryan Clinton on No-Kill in Austin, Texas

How did Austin, Tex., get to saving more than 90 percent of its homeless dogs and cats? Not by accident, say Ryan Clinton of FixAustin.org and Dr. Ellen Jefferson of Austin Pets Alive at the 5 PM session of the first day of the 2012 No Kill Conference.

Before I start, a note: I am blogging this live; hit "refresh" periodically to see new material. Since this is live, there will be typos. And only things in quotation marks are direct quotes. Everything else is a paraphrase.

1. Political fight

2. Figure out which animals are dying, then figure out how to save them.

3. What City Council mandated

Intros of Ryan and Ellen... I took this opportunity to rest my fingers. :)

In 2005, there was no no-kill movement, 50 percent kill rate, no one in local government or animal welfare was interested in no-kill. Shelter director told him she knew which ones were "adoptable" and which weren't, and her job was to send them to god. She refused help with programs, because she was already saving the savable so there was nothing to do.

But the public? YES! They were interested. So Ryan founded fixaustin.org as a purely political organization.

Liveblogging the 2012 No-Kill Conference: Dr. Robin Downing on palliative and hospice care

Dr. Robin Downing is talking about palliative and hospice care for shelter pets to a packed room.

This is the post-lunch session of the conference, being held at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

I am blogging this live; hit "refresh" periodically to see new material. Since this is live, there will be typos. And only things in quotation marks are direct quotes. Everything else is a paraphrase.

She said someone, a vet, she told about giving this talk was horrified that she would be turning shelter people into "death hoarders." That resources are scarce, how can you spend them on the "5 percent"?

Dr. Downing said that some of that 5 percent cannot be saved, like it not; some of those animals do not deserve to be kept living. But the question is, if there are those whose only "crime" is they are old, sick, have issues... how can we help them, and bring them under the umbrella of those who can be rehomed, rehabilitated, or re-positioned in their world?

Dr. Downing: "Dying is really hard work, and the illusion that the animal should 'die on their own' is just that... we sentence them to suffer to death." (She means unaided.)

She says some diseases are very painful, such as end-stage kidney disease. Animals do not fear not seeing tomorrow -- but they can and do fear PAIN. How do we address that? It can be done. And the no kill movement is where this is going to start.

Livelogging the 2012 No Kill Conference: Rethinking hoarding with Bonney Brown

It's sitting-on-the-floor-room only at the Nevada Humane Society's Bonney Brown's presentation on handling animal hoarding cases without killing.

This is the first session of the conference, being held at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. What I heard in the hallways on my way to the room: "Every where is full!" Certainly every room I looked into was at or near capacity.

I am blogging this live; hit "refresh" periodically to see new material. Since this is live, there will be typos. And only things in quotation marks are direct quotes. Everything else is a paraphrase.