SCC-MTA Communication Policy and Guidelines

POLICY

The SCC-MTA Communication Policy requires that when we communicate to the outside world as representatives of the SCC-MTA community, that message is to be reviewed by the Communications working group prior to its publication. This includes documents, scripts, literature, prep material, and emails. The logistics for this process will be reviewed at the next SCC-MTA meeting on April 2, 2012.

GUIDELINES

Carefully consider the following points when composing a communication both within the SCC-MTA and from the SCC-MTA to the outside world:

• Be Respectful The Santa Clara County Move to Amend community fundamentally values mutual respect.  Effective communications that incorporate mutual respect automatically prepare the listener to receive the information with an open and positive mindset. This means that whenever we send a message, both within SCC-MTA or from the SCC-MTA to the outside community, we should take care to be respectful of our intended audience.
  
   
• Be Independent A primary objective of SCC-MTA is to reach out across party and ideological boundaries. Messages that use phrases and metaphors that have ideological or partisan connotations can potentially take us away from that objective. The use of words or images like "solidarity", "collective", "progressive", "right-wing", or "clenched fist" carry with them the risk of being automatically rejected by an audience who will not listen to our message because we are now associated with an already rejected ideology. If and when we do use them, that risk should be outweighed by the benefit that might accrue. If the risk outweighs any benefit, it is wise to avoid their use.
  
   
• Be Positive As we reach out to the community at large, we must respect the dignity of those with whom we disagree. We will bring many more people over to our cause as we maintain a positive and hopeful image. There's much to be positive about -- We are not only about eliminating corporate personhood; we are equally about elevating human personhood!
  
   
• Stay Focused When we feel strongly enough about an issue to want to send a broadcast within our community, we should ask ourselves "do I think that this issue is related enough to the SCC-MTA agenda that most of our community will be interested in what I have to say?." We owe it to ourselves and to each other to be as thoughtful and objective as we can in answering this question.
  
   

We're all in this together. Whether or not we agree with each other, we must collaborate to ensure that we present ourselves to the outside world as a cohesive, self-respecting organization with one clear objective in mind - Move to Amend.