E-Mail Blasts, Press Releases, & E-Newsletters

Talk Show E-Mail Blasts etc.

As producer of Barry Gordon’s talk shows, I regularly helped write and send out e-mails to thousands of political activists and other “Left Fielders” nationwide. Typically, each e-mail would summarize the topics and guests for that week’s show; as webmaster, I archived these summaries with audio of the radio shows in BarryTalk.com, and with Flash videos of the TV shows in NewsRapArchives.com.

 

Also, please note that for the e-mail header above, I shot the photo of Barry in the studio and edited it to blend in seemlessly with the graphics he had commissioned earlier.

Press Releases

For our 2008 Presidential Election TV Special, with Congresswoman Linda Sánchez and other notable guests, and for its repeated cablecasts on stations in Pasadena and surrounding communities, I e-mailed a press release to the editors of the largest local newspaper.

 

In 2010, I copy-edited How to Be Unique in a World of Eight Billion People: The Do's and Don'ts of Helping Yourself (or Your Product) Become a Media Sensation, a guide for writing highly effective press releases by Ilene Proctor, a top West Coast representative for progressive authors and producers, who helped Barry and me book top guests for our talk shows, including Vincent Bugliosi and Gore Vidal.

BlackBoxVoting.org Testimonial Comments

As the nationally acclaimed founder of BlackBoxVoting.org, “America’s Elections Watchdog Group,” Bev Harris had been a wonderful guest on Left Field on more than one occasion. So when in November of 2008 she asked for a testimonial she could quote in their fundraising literature, I was more than happy to oblige. Here is what I was proud to write on their behalf:

 

"Over the course of American history, patriots have given their lives to protect our right to vote. And since 2004, Bev Harris and the other patriotic Americans at Black Box Voting have dedicated their lives to protecting the integrity of our voting process — nothing is more important to them, or vital to our democratic republic, than having the votes of our citizens recorded and recorded accurately.

 

"For too long, too many of us were lulled into a sense of complacency, taking for granted that once we cast our votes they would necessarily be credited to the positions or candidates of our choice; we likewise assumed that virtually every voter who wanted to vote could vote, that no unnecessary impediments would block their exercise of this most basic right. Unfortunately, conditions were not always so ideal in the real world.

 

"And ironically — insidiously — given the depths to which such disruptions, accidental or intentional, could shake our faith in our democratic institutions, all-too-many citizens were unwilling to accept the fact that any problems even existed, despite the mounting evidence of critical failures and vulnerabilities.

 

“Without an outcry from the public, no action was taken. That is, until certain citizens brave enough to face the chilling realities started to make the case for reform, in very public ways. And taking the lead from the very beginning was Black Box Voting.

 

“The goal of Black Box Voting is as straightforward as it is vital to our democracy: to ensure fair and accurate elections. And the means by which they achieve this goal, which has already saved countless votes from being lost or cast incorrectly, is by convincing the very citizenry whose skepticism has held back reform to acknowledge the problem and to take action to solve it.

 

“Through their investigations, publications, education programs, and communications in local to national media (including the radio show I produced), Black Box Voting has successfully promoted citizen oversight — the most powerful force in a democracy — to help ensure fair and accurate elections — the most crucial underpinning of democracy.

 

“Black Box Voting has, thus, earned the title of ‘America’s Election Watchdog Group.’ It deserves the support of every American who cares about our priceless legacy of democracy.”

 

— Douglas Drenkow, former producer of Barry Gordon From Left Field