The Obama presidency has created new political realities that were difficult to even imagine a year ago. How can we adapt our framing of issues and progressive change messaging in response?

In late spring thirty-three communicators from around the country came together for PCN’s tenth national gathering to meet each other, exchange skills and assess the larger political context in which grassroots justice movements are now working. In a Saturday session, a dozen PCNers working in diverse issues such as economic justice, reproductive rights, climate change, and international peace came together to talk about the possibilities and challenges of this new political reality.

The New Rhetoric

New beliefs permeate the changed atmosphere in which we are working:

• There is a renaissance in patriotism among those who were uncomfortable during the Bush years. Finally people are able to say, “My country doesn’t torture,” and believe that it is true.
• There is more hope and this creates energy for new visions to emerge. Obama set the stage for this renewal and now we can build messages off of his themes of hope, a better world, and promises for changes in areas such as international diplomacy. For example, Obama is willing to participate in climate talks so the U.S.’s reputation is being repaired abroad.
• There is an opening for new ideas in the political dialogue. Grassroots justice groups can enter into this space to make challenges, including holding Obama accountable to live up to his rhetoric.
• The message that racism no longer exists because Obama is in the White House still circulates and needs to be effectively unpacked.

There are some issues where people are feeling particularly challenged around developing messages because while the rhetoric has changed, the action has not. Groups working on the war in Afghanistan and climate justice, for example, are still working to find the right frames and messages.

Tone is Important When Talking About Obama

As the group shifted to look at how to capitalize on positive trends and address negative ones, they talked about what happened to talk show host Tavis Smiley when he sought to highlight the on-going existence of racism and its effects. He tried to hold Obama accountable in his State of the Black Union forum and people reacted negatively.

Tone seems to be an important factor when talking about Obama, and Tavis Smiley’s tone got in the way of people listening to important ideas he was raising. How do we set the proper tone and create messages that people will be able to hear?

• Focus on policy and action.
• Articulate values of justice rather than using the Right’s frames (for example: don't just adopt the conservative frame that big businesses are “too big to fail”)
• In setting the right tone, appreciate any progress made, and keep pushing to the next step. We need to document and acknowledge the progress, but also be clear and specific about the gaps. Remind people that Obama himself asked us to push him. We need to find ways to disagree with him without being disagreeable.
• We can engage with the Administration because there are now people who were steps away from – and in a few cases actively involved in - our movements now are actually in the administration.
• We need to dig below the rhetoric. If you look at the banking crisis, for example, the first frame was that people shouldn’t have had mortgage in the first place with people of color being targeted, but now people who are “credit worthy” are having problems.  We need to identify and articulate the substance of what is happening from the very first frames that are presented.

Framing for Justice During the Obama Presidency

To advance new approaches to the work, we need a strategy so that frame and message development can happen in timely and responsive ways. We can:

• Identify a few trends and key opportunities and focus some coordinated attention there. For example, the climate justice movement can work between now and the December UN talks to replace the Kyoto Protocol in Copenhagen. If a good bill gets passed in the U.S., we could really attend the talks to advance climate justice.
• Shift the focus from federal to state targets. This might be a more effective avenue, but clearly this will not work in all states. California, for example, is practically in bankruptcy. And progressives need to keep the pressure on a national level as well, since Obama will be a moderate.
• We need better mechanisms to prepare for media openings, including rapid response calls, peer support, and monthly calls to jump onto hot issues. We need infrastructure to keep us connected, so that we can get out the right messages at the right time.

In wrapping up their conversation, the group talked about the need and ways to continue work on this, including the need to work collaboratively, identify trends and opportunities, formulate key questions to explore, and plan to engage with broader audiences. PCN will work to support these ideas through continued networking and convening of communicators on the regional and national level so that we can make good use of the opportunities of the Obama presidency.