Mandate Media in the NYT: Fund infrastructure

In a story about the 2012 Netroots Nation conference, our president - Kari Chisholm - was cited in the New York Times. The NYT story focused on the challenge to progressives in the wake of the Citizens United case and possible responses.

Kari noted that the progressive response must be a continued investment in long-term strategic infrastructure, rather than simply short-term spending on TV ads. Of course, both are critical - but the ratio has long been weighted heavily toward the short-term end. Efforts by groups like the Democracy Alliance have begun to shift the balance, but continued investment is critical.

Here's the NYT clip:

Internet-savvy members of the political left have found the root of their problem — the “super PACs” unleashed by the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling. They just do not know how to solve it. ...

Strategists are considering ways to “inoculate” candidates against negative advertising through an improved ground game and an emphasis on using social media for personal interaction and persuasion, rather than blasting messages indiscriminately. Some expressed a heightened sense of urgency behind frequently discussed aspirations of financing a liberal message machine, including bloggers and radio stations.

“Donors are getting increasingly frustrated with funding TV ads, which might win an election but don’t create lasting value,” said Kari Chisholm, an Internet campaign strategist from Portland, Ore.