a message passed on to me by a friend of mine:
[blockquote]
TV-Turnoff Network is pleased to introduce a vital, new project – Do Democracy! And, because of your interest and participation in TV-free activities, we are inviting you to be among the first participants.
Do Democracy! encourages people to spend less time watching TV, and to invest that reclaimed time in civic involvement activities for their communities. This involvement might include getting to know your neighbors and their concerns, volunteering at a nonprofit, planting trees in a neighborhood park or working in a voter education effort.
Many scholars have pointed to the tremendous negative impact of our national television habit on civic involvement, voter participation, and more. Robert Putnam of Harvard University estimates that 25-50% of the decline in civic participation may be attributed to excessive television time. Now’s your opportunity to help us help millions of Americans to reclaim time from the tube in order to promote civic involvement.
The project will be based upon two primary activities: Tubeless Tuesdays [Tuesdays to tie in with election day] and eSpread the Word. Details about these and other aspects of Do Democracy! can be found on the project website at www.dodemocracy.tvturnoff.org.
Do Democracy! will kick-off on Tuesday, July 6th. We are launching the project on the first Tuesday after the 4th of July because we’re hoping that millions of Americans will make their own Declaration of Independence — independence from the time-stealing negativity and passivity of television. The kick-off will be centered around a National Conversation of Communities where everyone will be able to begin to share their thoughts, concerns and desires regarding their communities. Please go to www.dodemocracy.tvturnoff.org and start to Do Democracy!
Thank you, and welcome to Do Democracy!
T. Andrew Lewis, Project Manager
Do Democracy!
Frank Vespe, Executive Director
TV-Turnoff Network
[/blockquote]
kirstin
Jul 08 2004
10:55 pm
a message passed on to me by a friend of mine:
[blockquote]
TV-Turnoff Network is pleased to introduce a vital, new project – Do Democracy! And, because of your interest and participation in TV-free activities, we are inviting you to be among the first participants.
Do Democracy! encourages people to spend less time watching TV, and to invest that reclaimed time in civic involvement activities for their communities. This involvement might include getting to know your neighbors and their concerns, volunteering at a nonprofit, planting trees in a neighborhood park or working in a voter education effort.
Many scholars have pointed to the tremendous negative impact of our national television habit on civic involvement, voter participation, and more. Robert Putnam of Harvard University estimates that 25-50% of the decline in civic participation may be attributed to excessive television time. Now’s your opportunity to help us help millions of Americans to reclaim time from the tube in order to promote civic involvement.
The project will be based upon two primary activities: Tubeless Tuesdays [Tuesdays to tie in with election day] and eSpread the Word. Details about these and other aspects of Do Democracy! can be found on the project website at www.dodemocracy.tvturnoff.org.
Do Democracy! will kick-off on Tuesday, July 6th. We are launching the project on the first Tuesday after the 4th of July because we’re hoping that millions of Americans will make their own Declaration of Independence — independence from the time-stealing negativity and passivity of television. The kick-off will be centered around a National Conversation of Communities where everyone will be able to begin to share their thoughts, concerns and desires regarding their communities. Please go to www.dodemocracy.tvturnoff.org and start to Do Democracy!
Thank you, and welcome to Do Democracy!
T. Andrew Lewis, Project Manager
Do Democracy!
Frank Vespe, Executive Director
TV-Turnoff Network
[/blockquote]