To Save The NEA And NEH, Perhaps Stakeholders Should Crowdsource ‘Fox & Friends’ Sponsored Content

by
LinkedInCopyPrint

With all the genuine concern in the wake of the Trump administration’s plan to eliminate the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), perhaps political action isn’t the best option. Instead, the NEA and NEH could be saved if we crowdsource a bribe sponsored content on the Fox News talk program Fox & Friends.

An article by Jenna Johnson in the 3/7/2017 edition of The Washington Post confirms what is widely known in that President Trump tends to form his opinions and take action based on what he watches on cable television, especially Fox & Friends.

The article chronicles the minute-by-minute timeline between when opinions are broadcast on the morning program and when the president regurgitates them as what he believes are facts and/or formal White House positions.

So how much would it cost to slip a series of sponsored content (also known as native advertising) highlighting the value and importance of both agencies?

Sure, sponsored content is controversial thanks to being increasingly embedded alongside genuine news content in ways that make it harder for viewers to distinguish, but perhaps we can turn that lemon into some lemonade and change the President’s position.

What angle would you pitch for a successful sponsored content campaign to save the NEA & NEH (#SubversiveArts)?

For starters, we need to substitute “the arts” with something along the lines of “creative power manufacturing.” If we’re fortunate, he’ll simply confuse it with something like the fossil fuel industry and it’s all downhill from there.

#SubversiveArts

 

About Drew McManus

"I hear that every time you show up to work with an orchestra, people get fired." Those were the first words out of an executive's mouth after her board chair introduced us. That executive is now a dear colleague and friend but the day that consulting contract began with her orchestra, she was convinced I was a hatchet-man brought in by the board to clean house.

I understand where the trepidation comes from as a great deal of my consulting and technology provider work for arts organizations involves due diligence, separating fact from fiction, interpreting spin, as well as performance review and oversight. So yes, sometimes that work results in one or two individuals "aggressively embracing career change" but far more often than not, it reinforces and clarifies exactly what works and why.

In short, it doesn't matter if you know where all the bodies are buried if you can't keep your own clients out of the ground, and I'm fortunate enough to say that for more than 15 years, I've done exactly that for groups of all budget size from Qatar to Kathmandu.

For fun, I write a daily blog about the orchestra business, provide a platform for arts insiders to speak their mind, keep track of what people in this business get paid, help write a satirical cartoon about orchestra life, hack the arts, and love a good coffee drink.

View all posts by Drew McManus | Website

LinkedInCopyPrint

Related Posts