Transcript Anti-cycling campaign in media

ANTI-CYCLING CAMPAIGNS
IN THE MEDIA:
THE CASE OF SEVILLE
VOCA 3rd meeting
Vienna, March - April 2012
A CONTRAMANO
ASAMBLEA CICLISTA
Seville
IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNICATION PLANNING
Karl Rove to an influential Democrat journalist
(not-literal summary):
We make up a new reality with a lot of well-combined false data.
We position this as the “official version”. We do this quickly, at
first of all, when you don’t expect it. Then you get into that
invented reality to try to demonstrate it is a lie… what you
finally may accomplish months later, when nobody is paying
attention to it or when people are already used to take our lie as
the truth.
By that, we get you to be busy trying to show we are liars, and
while you put all your efforts for that, we do whatever we want
without oposition, and even have the time to prepare more and
better lies that will keep you more and more busy and
distracted.
COMMUNICATION POLICY
In spite of the success of its cycling system…
has urban cycling in Sevilla wasted
its communication potencial?
LOST OPPORTUNITIES:
New image of the city
Tourist campaigns
WHAT WAS FAILING?
NO EDUCATIONAL CAMPAIGN FOR
PEDESTRIANS, DRIVERS, CITIZENSHIP
Newsworthy process
Articles in mass media
LACK OF A COMMUNICATIONAL PLANNING
Reference to other cities
AMBITIOUS CHANGE IN A SHORT PERIOD
OF TIME
COMMUNICATION WAS NOT THE PRIORITY
LACK OF A POLITICAL COMMITMENT
MANY OF THESE INITIAL DEFICIENCIES
HAVE BEEN STARTED TO BE CORRECTED
PRESSION FROM INFLUENTIAL GROUPS
ANTI-BIKE CAMPAIGN
WHO’S
THE
GOSSIP?
political parties
municipal candidates
local mass media
columnists
shopkeepers organizations
residents associations
garages, private parking lots
taxi-drivers
car users
MEDIA’S CAMPAIGN “VICTIMS”:
CITY GOVERNMENT
CYCLISTS
THE CITY
MEDIA’S CAMPAIGN “VICTIMS”:
CITY GOVERNMENT
CYCLISTS
THE CITY
Thinks to criticize:
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We have to bear annoying works for building bike lanes!
Building a bike-lane network is expensive!
Bike lanes are useless!
Too much effort and money for only a few users!
Why cyclists should have more rights than us?
Public bike-rental system is unfair competition (for taxis)!
It’s bad for commerce and business!
Parking places are disappearing!!
Pedestrians lose their spaces!
Pedestrians are the victims!!!
Bad image on cyclists
(in Sevillian campaign… and beyond)
Irresponsible riders who are a risk for all
Poor (a vehicle for people with no money)
“Dirty” “outsiders” “hippies” “eccentrics”
Backward, against progress
The cyclist’s stigma
Why so many journalists choose to
draw a bad image of bicycle users?
Several sociologists (Kidder,
Fincham…) have researched this
phenomenon, especially regarding
bicycle messengers.
Fincham (2006, Bicycle messengers
and the road to freedom) compile
media comments such as:
“Lycra lout”
“Bicycle guerrillas” (The Guardian)
“Lycra Nazis” (Jeremy Clarkson, in The Sun)
“helmeted Lycra-clad fanatic riding wherever he chooses”
Some nice quotations
“...cycle courier performing balletic figure eights in the junction in front, one hand on the
handlebars and one clamping a phone to his ear” (The Sunday Times, justifying car
drivers rolling cyclists). Quoted by Fincham, 2006.
“When will people understand that roads are for cars and that there is no danger at all
from speeding motorists if walkers and cyclists steer clear?” (Clarkson, in The Sun).
Quoted by Fincham, 2006.
Our favourite pick:
“ [We should] string piano wire across
country lanes to decapitate cyclists.”
Matthew Parris in The Times
27thDecember 2007
Weakening of the anti-cycling campaign
in Seville:
“We do agree with having a bike-lane
system; we meant we disagreed
about the way it was done”
Besides criticize cyclists, appearance
of criticism to car-drivers’ behaviour
(or even pedestrians’ behaviour)
REASONS FOR THE CAMPAIGN FAILURE:
• Social support to the new infrastructure.
• Criticism was too arbitrary and ungrounded.
• Positive image of urban cycling.
• Some initial mistakes have been corrected.
IMPACT OF CRITICISM
Indifference
Unawareness
Insults from car-drivers
and pedestrians
Self-ratification
Activism
Vandalism against
infrastructures
Indifference to the campaign was due to:
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The campaign was perceived to be a failure.
Criticism were unfounded.
Success of the pro-cycling policies
Partisan motivation was too obvious
Still, some campaign contents were very succesful and even today they last:
“Pedestrians are the weak part, cyclists are a danger for them”
CURRENT LEGAL ACTIONS AGAINST CYCLING ARE FOUNDED IN THIS IDEA
Urban cyclism in Seville
has come to stay
But communication has revealed to be an important flank
in the work of pro-cycling institutions and associations.
DANKE SCHÖN
GRACIAS
THANK YOU