Ideas for Advocacy Project
In my Civic Issues Brief, I explored the issue of corporate mega-mergers not fulfilling their potential to make a significant impact on society. My proposed policy would require all mega-mergers to outline a plan for how its united forces will take on an initiative over time, whether it be sustainability, philanthropy, further development, etc. This same concept of companies coming together to make a positive impact can be applied to my hometown, and I plan to take this approach to the Advocacy Project. For example, there is a nutrition company based in my hometown called Come Ready Nutrition, and Dicks’ Sporting Goods is also based in the area. These companies could team up to establish after-school sports programs for less fortunate communities in the Pittsburgh area, and with their resources, they could provide sports nutrition items and sporting equipment. Another possibility would be to direct my project to Kraft Heinz, one of the mega-mergers that I looked at specifically through my Civic Issues Blog and Issue Brief. Through my research, I found that Kraft Heinz cut its research and development costs from where Kraft had them before the merge took place. I would propose the idea to Kraft Heinz to establish a Research & Development program with the four universities in downtown Pittsburgh. This would provide research opportunities for students, and the corporation could also test their products in the university dining halls.
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Reflection on “Photographer as Witness: A Portrait of Abuse”
“Photographer as Witness: A Portrait of Abuse” is a piece of advocacy as it brings attention to a very serious issue. Through these pictures, the photographer is trying to build awareness for this issue and scare people out of being in these situations. However, I do not necessarily think this work is the most ethical. Although Maggie gave permission for her family’s life to be photographed, I do not suspect that Maggie imagined domestic violence being content for the photographs. Additionally, there are glimpses of Maggie’s two young children amidst the fight, and now that the photographs are published, the children will always be able to relive this traumatic memory. Furthermore, these photographs could have been coupled with at-large statistics and measures for prevention/change to show how this work can be a vehicle for progress. As it stands, it seems to be very focused on exposing the suspect rather than driving change.
I think both of your ideas would be great projects related to your issue brief and civic blogs. The after school sports program would be a great way to show the benefits that can come when two companies work together to accomplish a goal. The research and development idea would provide great opportunities to students while encouraging Kraft Heinz to use their merger for the good of the economy. I agree that the photo series is very effective in bringing attention to an issue that needs it. I also agree that Maggie may not have agreed to the photos if she had known that domestic abuse was going to be a part of that.
I think it is a great idea to directly address a company that has had a megamerger. I feel like this will help make them think about what they are doing in terms of development. I think research and development is essential for the world as a whole. For this reason, I think that topic would be the best.
Your ideas for your advocacy project are correlative to the issue brief but are also pretty confident. I’m just uncertain of how feasible it is for two business to combine and create this type of program. Yet, it makes sense to do this locally. However, I would be interested in what type of mechanism (speech, podcast, info graph, etc) you use to accomplish this.