Turn on the news today and you are likely to catch a headline or two about the accusations Rupert Murdoch and his media companies are facing in England. The scandal has hit grand proportions–enough for many to consider his resignation from his own conglomerate a possibility. British moms played an important role in this news.
Last week, moms from the influential British parenting site Mumsnet rallied online in outrage when it was revealed that people from News of the World, owned by Murdoch, had hacked the phone of Milly Downer, a tragically murdered girl.
These moms harnessed the power of their voices and organized to ask advertisers of NOTW to reconsider their sponsorship. All the site did was share a list of sponsors’ emails with suggested copy for emails and Twitter messages such as: “Dear @The-Cooperative, will you be reconsidering your advertising spend with #notw given that we now know they hacked Milly Dowler’s phone?”
Mumsnet didn’t need to do much more because their outraged readers organically started a campaign to hit the News of the World’s sponsors that instantly went viral. These moms didn’t even need to leave their homes to rally, stand outside a store to collect signatures or even pick up their phones. These smart women united their voices into a massive, loud roar that could not be ignored. That’s true power.
Just days after big-bucks advertisers started canceling their sponsorship to Murdoch’s paper, it was announced that The News of The World would close after 168 years of being in print. Online moms can take credit for the public uproar that elevated the scandal.
Mumsnet, with 1.6 unique monthly visitors, has made it clear that moms are a force to be reckoned with. Moms Clean Air Force must utilize to our advantage the social media mobilizing tools at our immediate disposal. Never has it been this easy, or this important, for us to campaign directly to those that need, and want, to hear about those issues that matter the most to us.
For me, that issue is the right to a healthy life breathing clean air. I have the power to inform myself and the responsibility to, in turn, inform others about those fighting with big dollars to contaminate our air with deadly toxics in the name of industry. Enough is enough.
Pay reverance to your voice. It is your voice joining other voices that creates a catalystic roar. Join us here and listen to it. It might just change your world.