Stand Up - You Can Do It Too
Tuesday, September 11th, 2007About 15 years ago, I bought a slew of fancy electronic equipment from a big chain. After walking in and listing the functionality I wanted very specifically, I was sold products that, it turned out, couldn’t do a single thing on my list. Insisting on a refund, I was told that the store policy excluded them. They definitely got that I was angry, but had no idea what to do. My back up plan was to literally go picket the store with a large sign and my two sons in tow. It would have been onerous time-wise, but I would have done it.
The back-up plan wasn’t needed though, because, after a few hours of furious telephone work, I had the name and private number of the owner of the chain in his chalet in some mountain resort. I’m sure that my call didn’t improve his holiday, but I got my refund. Sitting at this computer, I know that the same task would be even easier today.
Yesterday, I read about Jason Calacanis fighting for, and getting, an apology from Wired.
Jason’s a well connected guy, you say? You couldn’t accomplish the same thing? Yes, you could. Some of it might take longer without the shortcuts afforded by a powerful phone book, but you could do it. All you need is the determination and perseverance. When I tracked down that big chain owner, he didn’t know me from Adam. We weren’t in the same business or community, and didn’t live in the same city or even country. I was simply an angry woman and mother.
What is different than it was 15 years ago, is that we are all now publishers, just as I commented on Jeff Jarvis’s post pointing to his column in the Guardian today about Google becoming a content provider.
The Calacanis Wired scenario is one to take note of. Traditional media has been wrapping itself up in knots for quite some time now over their potential loss of control and authority over the news we consume. There have been many references on weblogs to the NY Times ignoring the pointing out of errors and requests for corrections. In print, newspapers could tuck retractions and corrections into an inside corner below the fold in small print, where hardly anyone ever read them. This can’t be accomplished the same way online. The prospect of apologizing publicly to a reader, let alone one who can talk back, must be the stuff of nightmares for them.
Most individuals publishing online aren’t journalists or reporters, but more of us could and should be advocates for ourselves and each other. A truly free press is a cornerstone of every aspect of freedom.
Next time you are faced with an injustice, stand up …you can do it. If it affects a lot of us, then we have to learn how to join our voices together more effectively, and we can do that too. The better we learn to use our voices, the more we’ll be able to achieve.
