---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
Subject: Media is a Plural: Just Say Yes Men
From: "MediaChannel.org" <mediachannel@mail.democracyinaction.org>
Date: Mon, September 21, 2009 12:59
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Media is a Plural -- September 21, 2009
Just Say Yes Men
By Rory O'Connor
I've long been a fan for years of the zany duo of performance
artists/political activists known as the Yes Men, ever since their
turn-of-the-century stunt of creating their own "corrected" World Trade
Organization website at GATT.org (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade).
Soon their fake site began to receive real email queries from confused
visitors, including invitations to address various elite groups on behalf
of the WTO. Naturally, and hysterically, the Men responded as if they
actually represented the WTO ? all of which is documented in their very
funny and very pointed 2004 film "The Yes Men."
Now the Men have a new, almost as amusing documentary about to hit movie
screens across America ? "The Yes Men Fix the World," which they
accurately describe as "a screwball true story about two gonzo political
activists who, posing as top executives of giant corporations, lie their
way into big business conferences and pull off the world's most outrageous
pranks. "
But it is in their actual stunts - and not just in their documentation of
them ? that the Yes Men truly excel. Of late they have taken to targeting
the media directly, such as last fall's fake New York Times? which
declared the Iraq War over, Universities to be free, Bike paths expanded ?
and even announced the much-anticipated resignation of NYT Op-Ed apologist
? oops, I mean, columnist - Thomas Friedman.
Now comes their latest effort - this week's stunning "SPECIAL EDITION" New
York Post, trumpeting the headline "WE'RE SCREWED" in large point type.
The Yes Men's latest elaborate media hoax/heist blanketed Manhattan early
Monday morning with a fake "truth-telling tabloid" about climate change
and how it will soon affect New York City ? and the rest of the world?
New Yorkers were met with the appearance of a "special edition" of the
Post highlighting warnings that the city could face "deadly heat waves,
extreme flooding, and other lethal effects of global warming within the
next few decades." The most alarming thing about the spoofy newspaper was
that the news within it came from a spooky - but official - City report.
Distributed by thousands of volunteers throughout New York City, the paper
was created "as a wake-up call to action on climate change" by a coalition
of activists. It appeared just a day before a United Nations summit in
which Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon will attempt to persuade world leaders
to reduce carbon emissions in the lead-up to December's upcoming climate
conference in Copenhagen. (Ban has called the Copenhagen gathering a
"once-in-a-generation opportunity" to halt the global rise in greenhouse
gas emissions "if we are to avoid catastrophic consequences for people and
the planet.")
Although the 32-page Post is a fake, everything in it is true. "This could
be, and should be, a real New York Post," said Yes Man Andy Bichlbaum.
"Climate change is the biggest threat civilization has ever faced, and it
should be in the headlines of every paper, every day until we solve the
problem."
The fake Post's cover story reports the real conclusions of a scientific
panel commissioned by the mayor's office to determine the potential
effects of climate change on New York City. (The report, released in
February, received little attention in the real media.) Other articles
described the Pentagon's warnings about global warming; the government's
inadequate response to the crisis ("Congress Cops Out on Climate");
China's alternative energy program ("China's Green Leap Forward Overtakes
U.S."); and how, if the US doesn't quickly pass a strong climate bill, the
crucial Copenhagen climate talks this December could turn out instead to
be a "Flopenhagen."
The paper includes original investigative reporting, such as an article
revealing that Deutsche Bank - which erected a seven-story "carbon
counter" in central Manhattan - not only invests heavily in coal-mining
companies worldwide, but recently entered the business of coal trading
itself. It also displays the world's gloomiest weather page, covering the
next 70 years?rather than just the next 7 days ? and an "Around the World"
section that describes the disproportionate effects of climate change -
such as droughts, floods, famines, water shortages, mass migrations and
conflicts - on the poor. Although they have done little to cause the
problem, developing countries will bear the brunt of its effects.
But all the news in the faux Post isn't bad ? one article ("New York
Fights Back") reports that the Big Apple's carbon emissions are only one
third the national average. There's also a lot of Yes Men-style humor,
including a page of cartoons and a number of pointed but funny ads ? for
sex ("Awesome. No carbon emissions."), tote bags, and even tap water
("Literally comes right out of your faucet!"). A more serious ad promotes
civil disobedience and encourages readers to risk arrest in a planned
global action November 30, just before the conference in Copenhagen.
Scared of the future effects of climate change? Angry at the media's
failures to highlight the problem?? Anxious to do something about it???
Just Say Yes Men!
(Editor's Note: The fake New York Post paper is one of 2500 initiatives
taking place in more than 130 countries, part of the "Global Wake-up Call"
on climate change. For more information, visit www.tcktcktck.org/wakeup or
contact The Yes Men at tabloid@theyesmen.org. To see the New York City
report on climate change click here. Link to video news release:
http://nypost-se.com/video/)
Comment on this post:
http://www.roryoconnor.org/blog/2009/09/21/just-say-yes-men/
