It's Tough Being Unknown! 

It is not such a good thing when  "everybody knows somebody sometime" and you are not on the list.  When you are the new guy, sometimes the press forgets.  

Many of my friends have asked me how I hope to get known in the six counties that make up Congressional District 17.  Let me tell you, it is tough without major political financing . But, I will persevere with my vehicle and press releases, and letters to the media. I would also be pleased to make a speech whenever asked.  To get the attention of the Press, a candidate must first "press" his nose against the glass of the media outlets (Newspaper, Radio, TV) to get their attention. Watch for my nose prints.

Unfortunately for unknown and not-well financed candidates, in my experience in having run unsuccessfully three times, the priority of the management of media outlets is to maintain their viability by bringing in ad revenue and not giving up space or time to citizen candidates. I know that it will not be smooth sailing. Fortunately, I can set up and manage web sites and I can use Facebook somewhat. Therefore, I can reach web surfers with minimal cost. I will have a Donate Button on many articles and on many sites so that supporters can learn how they can give what they can. Based on what I get, I will buy whatever media I can afford. Thank you ahead of time for your donations. 

I have been disappointed by the media in the past so I am taking the opportunity to tell the public below what they should expect in a country founded by Patriots of, by, and for the People! 

In their article, Journalism in the Digital Age, five Stanford (cs.stanford.edu) authors-- Danny Crichton, Ben Christel, Aaditya Shidham, Alex Valderrama, Jeremy Karmel, take the time to explain the absolute importance of a Fourth Estate (the media) as the most important pillar of our Democratic Republic:

Here is what they say:

"Journalism has long been regarded as an important force in government, so vital to the functioning of a democracy that it has been portrayed as an integral component of democracy itself. In 1841, Thomas Carlyle wrote, “Burke said there were Three Estates in Parliament; but, in the Reporters’ Gallery yonder, there sat a Fourth Estate more important far than they all” (On Heroes and Hero Worship). Four years earlier, Carlyle had used the phrase in his French Revolution: “A Fourth Estate, of Able Editors, springs up, increases and multiplies; irrepressible, incalculable.” Carlyle saw the press as instrumental to the birth and growth of democracy, spreading facts and opinions and sparking revolution against tyranny.

"The fact of the matter is that democracy requires informed citizens. No governing body can be expected to operate well without knowledge of the issues on which it is to rule, and rule by the people entails that the people should be informed. In a representative democracy, the role of the press is twofold: it both informs citizens and sets up a feedback loop between the government and voters. The press makes the actions of the government known to the public, and voters who disapprove of current trends in policy can take corrective action in the next election. Without the press, the feedback loop is broken and the government is no longer accountable to the people. The press is therefore of the utmost importance in a representative democracy.

"Another, related, function of the press is to expose people to opinions contrary to their own. This function is perhaps the most valuable in the Internet age; while people can in theory get information about the actions of their government from online sources, it is all too easy to find opinions online that match one’s own. Informed decision-making on the part of voters requires an awareness of multiple points of view, which is not likely to be obtained if voters bear the sole responsibility of seeking out information on relevant issues.

"The news media provide a forum for debates to take place, as well as moderating and curating the arguments presented by all sides. It is, of course, idealistic to suppose that media give equal, or even proportional, representation to all opinions, but the fact that many media outlets present themselves as nonpartisan sources of information makes them a better forum for debate than online sources such as blogs, which are typically maintained by one individual or a small group of people with similar opinions..."

It would be nice if the mainstream media took the time to provide forums in their media to inform the public of the candidacies of all citizens running in all elections. Even if it were not every day, and the media used its power to permit short speeaches to be carried on their on-line sites. The media's job in our Republic is to inform the public, and let me just say they can do a far better job. When you consider that in the three times that I have run for office, I have not even been interviewed or permitted to participate in any event on Public Television, even though we the people pay for it. I was interviwed when I ran for Mayor on election day but the channel chose not to run the video. Let me repeat, the media do a disservice to the community by not informing the public of its choices.     

I have never been endorsed by any media outlet as I have never been well known by their advertising departments.  

Reporters and Newspaper Executives are not easy to move to your side. They do not feel obligated to assure that the public knows what each candidate has to offer.  

The Press's problem in this primary season for the D17 Congressional seat is that "Nobody expects that a guy 'who nobody knows,' will run for office."   And so I know that as a candidate, I will be very close to being summarily ignored.  

I do not think that anybody in the Press try to purposely hurt me. But, my experience in the past has been that even after writing letters to the editor and sending multiple press releases trying to assure the media that I am a viable candidate, I found myself excluded from much of the news coverage. Whether it was intentional or not, no media outlet tried to make up for the loss of publicity my campaigns suffered.   
 
I would hope that regardless of how well known a candidate may be in this upcoming election, the papers and the other news media of NEPA should permit candidates to do things that help the people become informed about where they stand on the major issues of the day.  In the past, I have had few vehicles provided for me that would help the people know who I am.

Thus, anybody other than an incumbent  or one well endowed by blessings (cash) can expect to be relegated to the back seat in an election. 

The papers. TV, and Radio etc. should permit candidates to submit a short essay, perhaps several times during the campaign.  In some media, a short essay per week might be appropriate. In others, a mere mention every now and then would be very informative for the people.  

The charter of the press is to provide news to the people, and news about who may be chosen to represent the people is worthy news indeed.

For me, the bottom line is that it is not easy for democracy to continue when the people have a tough time getting on the ballot and then they must fight against mythical forces to convince even their neighbors that they are serious in the endeavor.  My political friends say that is the nature of the beast. I say, the beast is the problem. 

An attentive press, concerned about the people, is very necessary to help a person not endowed by the machine to get the message out. 
 
I do have this Web site, www.briankellyforcongress.com. I Thank you very much for visiting.   I know that people do not just appear on this site.  Most have to learn about it from some other media.  Then, they can come to this site to learn about me and to learn why many believe that I am the best person right now for the job of Representative of the People.
 
I think they are right and I am working as hard as I can with the constraints that I have to help you know that I think like you do. Now that you are ehre, please write down the ten letters BRIAN KELLY on a sheet of paper and take it in the voting booth with you on April 26, 2016. Thank you.
 
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