Parallel Institute Video-Tapes

Publisher:  National Film Board of Canada, Canada
Year Published:  1976
Resource Type:  Film/Video
Cx Number:  CX179

Training tapes to teach poor and working class organizations the basic practical and political skills of organizing.

Abstract: 
These training tapes are designed to teach poor and working class organizations the basic practical and political skills of organizing. These tapes are made to be used in specific situations for specific audiences. They work best when used as part of a larger training situation. They are least successful when shown to general audiences who aren't involved in any organizing efforts. (1) Bad publicity and More Bad Publicity (45 min.) This tape deals with who owns and controls the media in Canada and how that affects the kind of publicity poor and working class organizations receive. The tape answers alot of questions about how the media in Canada functions and helps people achieve a more realistic understanding of what they can expect from the press, TV or radio. (2) Getting Better Publicity (25 min.) This tape outlines how to achieve maximum media coverage in terms of both practical skills--how to write press releases, hold press conferences, train press spokespeople, as well as political ones - the kind of information the media is interested in and how you can use them to help build your organization. (3) Making your own publicity (15 min.) This tape explores the different ways that organizations can publicize their work without relying on the established media. Newspapers, flyers, pamphlets, posters, all these are publicity tools that can be used to build and strengthen an organization. Not a "how to do" tape, rather a source of ideas drawn from the work of different organizations.