There's a Mole in our Protest Organization and It's Us

It's happening over and over, and it's very effectively debilitating the idea of organized protest.

You remember 'protest' don't you, from its glory days of the 60's ? People believed in a cause and due the emerging influence of the TV media, they got coverage and their message spread far and wide developing supporters in unlikely corners - supporters that were voters - and so governments listened. It was simpler times, and it represented with some hindsight, the peak of the ability to influence policy and direction through mass protests.

These days, you'd think organizers would have it easier. There's certainly no lack of causes - (insert your city here) G"x" protest, university fees, global warming, save the furry mammal, this war, that conflict, garbage dumps, changes to public transit...the list literally does go on and on and I haven't even mentioned the perennial favorites like poverty, abortion or homelessness or the cadre of social program changes out there. But - here's news - the anti-protest types are smarter at the moment, and they know how to effectively debilitate any protest out there...

You see the anti-protest types are using the eye of the media very effectively against demonstrators who've become complacent in their view of the publicity the generate. The "truth" it seems isn't enough anymore to create a rallying cry around their cause. That's because perception rules, and the 'anti' camps have begun to spin the story so that the truth is all but obscured. Instead you see masked protesters looting stores, flipping cars and causing damage, which all but eliminates the veracity for whatever cause it is. The TV pictures and print & online media stories and twitter updates are about how uncontrolled and unruly the protest is (we expected Gandhi perhaps?), which means we the external audience lose our sympathy for those protesting...and if we voters don't care, then the powers that be who are being protested against, don't care. Voter in this sense carries both a literal and financial meaning.

So, if you were being targeted by some fair-thinking group that didn't like your policies, would your organization hire some folks to don masks and pretend to play along with the protests, and then do the visible bad stuff ? All with the intent of swaying public opinion ? I bet you would. In fact there's a growing chorus of accusations of this from various public bodies that have held protests in recent times.

Now, walk the steps of the fair-thinking group's protest organizers who have a sizable task just getting people out, to show support for their cause. They don't control the crowd, or issue wristbands to those protesting for them. After they set it in motion, they are bystanders to the wave of enthusiasm they helped generate. They're powerless to do much other than complain after the fact that their efforts were hijacked if that turns out to be the case. And afterward...well it's too late. The very nature of what they try to do (organize strangers) means open communications as well, enabling easy infiltration. So, I put forth that today's model of mass protest is screwed.

But there is an answer I think, and it lays with the very piece of leverage that has moved the balance of power. Media attention. Once protests drank from it in an age of innocence, and now the anti-protest groups manipulate it more effectively.

Think about this.. what was the most effective large protest in very recent times ? The Daily Show's "The Rally To Restore Sanity/Restore Fear" which drew over 200,000 to Washington. It was masterminded by the left/right/left wing approach that Stewart and Colbert very successfully bring to TV. While it's causes are interesting, they aren't material to this argument - the point here I'd make is that they succeeded in bringing an unpopular sentiment to large scale attention because they are masters of media spin. They controlled and managed the message fully.

The lesson here therefore is that to succeed you need a media consultant - a professional who does positioning, and secures the message to be brought by the crowd to the media, almost without the need for the crowd itself. Imagine a virtual protest, or even a threat of large scale protest. Get celebrities endorsing it, get excitement building about it, and get it all done without the uncontrollable masses being your delivery mechanism for the message. Organize it, get people on message and put it in cells where just anyone isn't allowed to join. This is a 21st century protest, and it'll do away with the biggest single issue any protest faces - our open involvement. You see in the world of mass demonstrations, we're our own worst enemy.