Busboys and Poets Books Presents THE ACTIVIST’S MEDIA HANDBOOK
Date and Time
Nov 7, 2022 6:00 pm
Location
14th & V
2021 14th St NW, Washington, District of Columbia, 20009
Nov 7, 2022 6:00 pm
14th & V
Busboys and Poets Books Presents THE ACTIVIST'S MEDIA HANDBOOK
David Fenton’s new book includes over 150 photographs, graphics and examples of iconic activist advertising produced by Fenton over the decades, including the infamous “General Betray-Us” ad accusing General David Petraeus of distorting the Iraq war. This ad was formally censured by both houses of Congress, an historic first.
Fenton’s career spans the modern history of the American left. Yet his book cautions against the sectarianism, ideological rigidity, excessive identity politics, cancel-culture and divisiveness which characterizes too much of the left today. Using linguistics and cognitive science, he explains, for example, how the public hears slogans like “defund the police” as “you don’t want any police to protect me.” Such cluelessness is a gift to the right and its campaign against democracy in America.
In this new book David lays out concrete proposals for how to rein in the cancerous disinformation intentionally spread by Fox “News” and on social media. “You can have a democracy, or you can have completely unregulated social media, but you can’t have both,” he writes.
David Fenton is joining us on the Busboys stage to discuss and celebrate their book. This event is free and open to all. Our program begins at 6:00 pm, and will be followed by an audience Q&A. Copies of THE ACTIVIST'S MEDIA HANDBOOK will be available for purchase before and during the event. Please note that this event will not be live-streamed.
We ask that guests RSVP in order to receive direct updates about the event from Busboys and Poets Books.
David Fenton is named “one of the 100 most influential P.R. people” by PR Week and “the Robin Hood of public relations” by The National Journal, founded Fenton in 1982 to create communications campaigns for the environment, public health and human rights. For more than five decades he has pioneered the use of PR, social media and advertising techniques for social change. Fenton started his career as a photojournalist in the late 1960s – his book Shots: An American Photographer’s Journal was published in 2005. He was formerly director of public relations at Rolling Stone magazine and co-producer of the No-Nukes concerts in 1979 at Madison Square Garden with Bruce Springsteen, Bonnie Raitt, James Taylor, Jackson Browne, and other artists. He has also helped create JStreet, Climate Nexus, the Death Penalty Information Center, and Families for a Future. He sold Fenton a few years ago to work on climate change full time.
