AA and the media/free speech!

[Guest guest]

Hi All

I think we ought to remain addict-l garrett-l.

As free speech etc, seems rather topical at the moment, I thought I would

ask something that I guess Ken or Chaz will know:

I think I read in " AA comes of Age " that AA has managed it's PR very

cleverly, right from when it first put Walter under house arrest to make

sure he didnt drink prior to a promotional radio broadcast.

they couldnt lock up everybody indeifinitely however, and as the 12 & 12

elucidates, some ppl who rushed to microphones got " disastrously drunk " .

I think one of the reasons why hardcore AA's often dislike and even dismiss

the 12 & 12 is because , perhaps drunk on AA success, dropped quite a

few revealing comments abt the deceptive tactics used by AA which are

embarassing to modern AA pseudosecularists.

The Anonymity tradition is justified by the self-effacing motives of

humility, letting other ppl speak well of them, and also not letting anyone

take AA over or use it for their own purpose. These last two are

manifestly absurd, and dominated it far too much for anyone to

have a chance of doing that.

What also reveals is the self-serving aspects, which he relates

without embarassment. firstly, that vast amounts of favourable publicity

that they could not possibly have paid for, all the better for its apparent

impartiality. secondly, anonymity was also a protection against anyone

getting busted for getting drunk.

If AA *really* wanted not to self-promote, and to be let others speak

highly of it, the Tradition would be *Dont mention AA in the media*. what

it is instead is *dont reveal your name or identity*. You can trumpet AA

as much as you like, providing nobody has the faintest idea of who the hell

you are. It becomes impossible for anyone to tell whether anything you say

abt you is true, either before AA or after it. there will be no

evangelist-caught-with-hooker type stories abt you, not matter what you get

up to subsequently. they cant even check if you are AA, or whether youre

making your radio broadcast between slugs of whiskey.

The dismal thing abt this is that journalists bought it, despite the

standard journalistic practice of checking ones sources, and hunting out

the truth, especially when showing that sacred cows' poop stinks too.

AA wrote apparently to all main US news outlets, requesting that they not

reveal the identity of any AA. Not, you note, dont let ppl promote AA, but

please dont reveal their name, because we we want to be

ever-so-humble-Uriah-Heep. In this way the entire news media of the US

allowed AA to pull their teeth - or their balls. They ought to *demand* the

identity is revealed of course, and seek verification of their stories - or

make them pay for broadcasting them like any other advert.

This is bad enough, but then this is where my question comes in.

I think I read in " AA Comes of Age " abt an incident which is even worse.

I sometimes think I dreamt this, hence my earnest wish to have it confirmed

or refuted.

Apparently, there was a company who made soup or something, and they were

going to sponsor some radio broadcasts in which a highly religious (even by

AA exacting standards) person was going to trumpet both his band of

religion and AA. Pleads for him to stop were ignored - he said he felt

" inspired " to make them. why not? it's perfectly Step 11 compliant.

If memory serves, AA put a stop to it by writing to the company threatening

to boycott their product - and to denounce its linking to AA. It worked.

AA had used commercial pressure to maintain its stranglehold on the media.

Of course, if it had officical spokespersons as contacxts like an open and

honest organization wishing to promote itself in the media would do, it

would hardly have needed to resort to such tactics, would it?

Somebody please tell me this was all a terrible dream!

Pete

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Cool Briton

Whosoever saves One Life

Saves the World Entire

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