Everyone should read this, not just about TFA but as a look at how these organizations manage the message in "open media." There is an actual memo there and everyone should read it. I was really disturbed by the phrase "known detractors" - they are very actively tracking comments on facebook and twitter.
And if anyone is paying attention here, there is something really troubling to me admitted in that memo. The US Department of Education tipped off TFA that the reporter had filed FOIA requests with the Dept. of Ed. related to TFA.
In the summer of 2012, alumna Alexandra Hootnick (Bay 2008) reached out directly to several people on staff, asking to speak as part of her work for her Columbia journalism school thesis. She said her topic was TFA’s expansion efforts through the lens of Seattle and our i3 grant. It quickly became clear she was unlikely to portray TFA in a positive light—we learned from the U.S. Department of Education she had made a large FOIA request—and that her thesis could become a media piece.
That advance notice allowed TFA to craft a response and strategy before the article was published.
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