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Table of Contents National Campaign for Freedom of Expression Chapter 3: Responding to... Appendix I: What To Do If it Happens to You Appendix III: Sample Documents
This section is directed at both individual artists and organizations (arts and others) presenting an exhibit, performance, screening, or reading that is challenged. Some of the items described below are more pertinent to organizations, but individuals can benefit from them as well.
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RESPONDING TO Freedom of speech in general, and artistic freedom in particular, are integral components of a free democratic society. It is a fundamental constitutional principle that our society benefits from the free exchange of ideas and that each individual has the right and ability to decide for him or herself what to hear, see, speak, sing, paint, sculpt, dance, and perform. Standing up against one challenge may discourage future challenges and discourage other artists from self-censoring. Resisting a challenge can validate the work or works at issue by stimulating informed discussion. However, fighting back against challenges to your freedom of artistic expression can be physically, emotionally, and financially draining. It can place a tremendous burden on you or your staff. It can also adversely affect your relationship with presenters, funders, neighbors, and colleagues. Although some challenges are resolved in a few days, others may drag on for years. Organizations such as NCFE can alleviate some of the burden. We have learned a lot since 1990 and this Handbook is the result. Get the Facts The first step in fighting challenges to artistic freedom is to identify and record all of the relevant facts about the challenge. A thorough but concise outline of the facts will help you in writing letters, developing media statements, discussing your situation with attorneys, and informing your public and your funders.
Notify Involved Parties Distribute your fact sheet to staff, board members, funders, the artists involved, other affected artists, and members and subscribers. Meet with staff and explain the situation. Designate one person who will handle outside inquiries regarding the challenge. Enlist Key Allies Contact Advocacy and Service Organizations Contact a national free speech organization such as NCFE, your local ACLU affiliate, People for the American Way, or the National Coalition Against Censorship. If a local free speech group exists, contact it. Look also to your local and state arts advocacy organizations. However, be aware that some may be reluctant to choose sides in local controversies. Present your situation to them, and emphasize its impact on broad cultural policy. Determine if any local university art, literature, theater, or media department can offer you resources or support. There are also national service organizations for particular media or demographics, such as the College Art Association, the Society for Photographic Education, and National Association of Latino Arts and Culture. See Appendix II for a list of
national advocacy and service organizations. Identify Allies Within Your Community As discussed above, cast a big net in identifying allies in your community. Look to journalists, librarians, booksellers, academics, members of the clergy, arts patrons, as well as representatives from all arts disciplines. National organizations may be able to mobilize their supporters locally in your defense. Most of the national service organizations have members in every state. If you have a local freedom of expression group, much of this work may already have been done for you. Determine whether any public officials or prominent members
of your community support your position. And do not forget the people
who come to your performances and exhibitions. They may be your most persuasive
advocates. Mobilize Community Support Contact Your Local Supporters In many incidents you will need to contact your allies frequently to keep them abreast of developments, hearings, rallies, and so on. A telephone/fax/email tree will help you disseminate information rapidly. The coordinator activates the “tree” by calling the first tier of supporters. Each supporter on the first tier then contacts several members of the second tier and so on. Action alerts can be an effective means to organize phone
and letter-writing campaigns and other grassroots activities. An action
alert should be brief, providing essential background information, and
outlining the specific steps you are asking allies to take. It is helpful
to provide sample letters or phone scripts, but you should also emphasize
that personalized communications are generally more effective. Action
alerts can be distributed via fax, email, phone tree, organizational newsletter,
or postings at galleries, performance spaces, coffee shops, or bookstores.
A sample action alert is included in Appendix V. Start a Letter-Writing Campaign Ask supporters to write letters on behalf of your position. Letters should be directed to the challengers, the decision makers, local newspapers, and governmental officials. It is helpful for a wide variety of your local and national allies to write letters on your behalf. Sample letters are included in Appendix V. Letters and faxes are preferred because they provide decision
makers with a written record of support for your position. However, when
time is short, consider telephone calls, email, or distributing postcards
to your allies with a preprinted message for immediate mailing. Organize Public Discussion Challenges to freedom of artistic expression are excellent opportunities for educating the community about freedom of expression or the specific subject matter that has raised the challenge. Public discourse and dialogue can transform even the most contentious challenges into constructive discussions. Produce a symposium, forum, or panel discussion about artistic freedom. Consider inviting those on both sides of the issue, and present a balanced, intelligent account. Providing the artists, curators, or directors the opportunity to speak directly about their work is almost always a good idea. It is also helpful to include a panelist who is familiar with the broader incidence of censorship and can contextualize the incident at hand. Stage a Public Demonstration Consider staging a public demonstration in support of your position. This can be a rally, parade, or picket. These events are more appropriate for incidents of longer duration rather than for those likely to resolve themselves in a few days. Organizing a public demonstration is very time consuming but it can be effective in demonstrating community support and attracting media attention to your position. However, a poorly attended rally or one that proves disproportionately disruptive can harm your cause. As always, be careful not to demonize or personally attack your opposition. Instead focus on promoting your values of freedom, liberty, and democracy. Confront the Challengers Make sure those challenging your work, and those who will make any decisions about whether your work will appear, know that you are aware of your rights and are going to defend your work zealously. As always, resist the temptation to respond to challenges on a purely emotional level or by vilifying your critics. Don’t belittle your opposition or their beliefs. The most effective letters, discussions, and presentations are those that acknowledge your opposition’s concerns but present your position intelligently and rationally.
Media Advocacy Using the media to mobilize public support is a strategic decision that should be made after careful consideration with the individuals and groups involved in the challenge. Dealing with the media is time-consuming, and you cannot control what a journalist will report. Media attention potentially can inflate an incident into something much more public and contentious than you ever intended. But even if you decide not to actively engage the media, you should prepare for the likelihood that they will contact you. Develop a Media Strategy Before speaking to the media, you and allied groups should develop a unified media strategy. Most importantly, you need to determine how to frame the issues and what you hope to achieve in telling your story. This handbook provides general guidelines. The course you
choose will depend on the particular nature and circumstances of the challenge.
Organizations such as NCFE can assist you with media advocacy and help
you develop your media strategy. There are also progressive public relations
groups that assist public interest and nonprofit organizations by providing
media training and media consulting services. See Appendix II for more
information about these organizations. Develop Your Message Develop a strong key message. Condense your issue into three strategic points: the problem, the solution, and the call to action. Take charge of the debate so that it is conducted on your terms, with your words, and with your metaphors. Select and organize the key pieces of information to tell the story you want to tell. Be sure that all your allies communicate the same basic message. Broaden the debate beyond discussion of the work under attack. Question the attempt to “impose a moral agenda” or “stifle dialogue.” Champion the “rights of artists and audience members in a free society.” Be very clear about why the public should care about these issues. Emphasize the value of the artist or the organization to the community. Appear more reasonable than your opponents but don’t belittle their concerns. Stick to your message. Don’t answer reporters’ questions, respond to them with your key points. Use your key points to maintain control and direct the interview. As distasteful as the notion of “sound bites” may be, short and concise sentences help insure the reporter gets your quotation down exactly as you said it. Avoid being overly subtle and forcing a reporter to read between the lines of your comments. Be very careful when using sarcasm; it reads poorly. Don’t be afraid to say “I don’t know” or “I’ll get back to you” or to refer a reporter to someone who is better able to respond to a question. Identify and Contact Members of the Media Most communities have several media outlets, including daily
and weekly newspapers and television and radio stations. Target the reporters.
Identify which reporters—arts, legal, local, or other—would
be most interested in the story. Respect deadlines and be timely, friendly,
and sensitive. Pitch your story as compelling, controversial, and new.
Follow up with any journalists who cover the incident. Keep them updated
as the situation develops. Maintain a press file for all the coverage
you do receive. Create a Media Release Media releases and press statements provide reporters with the essential details of the challenge and succinctly communicate your message. An entire release or statement should be no more than two pages and should include a contact name and phone number. Start with a headline that states your position affirmatively. State what you support and what you are doing, not only what you oppose. Follow with a strong lead that states your key message; avoid presenting information chronologically and burying important issues or facts in the middle of the statement. Follow your key message with essential background information. Include statements by allies and community leaders that can be lifted by reporters as quotations. Include a brief description of your organization or your credentials as an artist. The release must establish the credibility of the artist or organization. Peg your media release to coincide with an important event such as a vote or demonstration. Plan ahead. Media releases can take up to 10 days to be processed. Even releases by fax should be sent three to four days ahead of time. An example of a media release is included in Appendix VII. Respond to Media Coverage Letters to the editor can be an effective way to respond to articles and editorials about a challenge to freedom of artistic expression. Letters should be brief. Most editors will print only a portion of your letter, so include only essential information. Also include your name, telephone number, and address so that the editor can verify that you wrote the letter. Most newspapers will not print unverified letters. Refer to the article or editorial to which you are responding. A letter to the editor thanking the newspaper for positive coverage is an effective way to amplify the effect of that coverage. You may want to submit an op-ed piece to your newspaper, articulating your position in your own words. Or consider soliciting an op-ed from a person outside your organization who can frame the issues in a larger context. Contact the editorial staff to learn the submission procedures and guidelines. Consider Legal Options Responding to a challenge to freedom of artistic expression by filing a lawsuit is risky. Litigation is exhausting, frustrating, contentious, expensive, and slow. Cases can take several years to resolve. The general public tends to respond poorly to litigation. Also, you are limited in what relief the court can grant you should it rule in your favor. Monetary damages are difficult to prove. Of course there are no guarantees—no matter how strong your case—that you will win. But litigation can be extremely rewarding and may be the only way to halt a long-standing practice of censorship or a legislative enactment. You may vindicate not only your own rights, but the rights of your entire community and perhaps even the rights of artists nationally. Sometimes government officials will respond only if there is a real threat of litigation. And if you need immediate action, one of the law’s emergency procedures such as a temporary restraining order may be available to you. It is essential to consult with an attorney familiar with First Amendment law if you are considering litigation. Not every challenge will give rise to a legally cognizable claim. Most litigation will arise from challenges by, or decisions of, public officials. These challenges are the ones that most directly implicate the First Amendment. You also may be able to sue if the terms of your exhibition, performance, or rental contract were not followed. But read your contracts carefully. Some contracts will allow presenters or site managers to cancel an event for stated reasons. These conditions may be enforceable. The contracts may also specify that disputes be resolved through arbitration, rather than in court. Attacks by private persons and entities are rarely addressable by litigation. Indeed, private individuals have the First Amendment right to voice their distaste for your artistic expression. Respond to these attacks with the grassroots and media advocacy tools described above. Resolutions What does it mean to successfully resolve a challenge to freedom of expression? It might mean that the exhibition or performance goes on as planned. However, it might also mean that some mutually agreeable compromise is reached, or compensation is paid. Or it might mean that meaningful and educational dialogue took place or that long-term relationships and understanding were established. Even if you decide to litigate, you will often need to devise a resolution to address any residual effects of the court’s decision. Be creative in working out resolutions. Consider alternative presentation venues, especially if you can get assurances that visitors to the original display space will be directed to the relocated work. Consider suggesting a public discussion or the distribution of explanatory materials that address your opposition’s concerns. Work for arrangements that will support long-term solutions within your community, instead of those that address only the particular challenge. Indeed, sometimes these can be more favorable outcomes than merely keeping an exhibit open.
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at Public Hearing Saves Funding