The instances where we have branched out into various media and outreach have proved valuable in driving more people towards the community, e.g. Peter Singer’s TED talk, the Sam Harris podcast with Will MacAskill, EAG, the pledge drive and so on.
The examples here are the best outcomes that were generated by people who spent quite a bit of time developing a following. I don’t think they’re representative of what media-based outreach looks like on average.
As some useful data points: CEA isn’t currently trying to promote EA through media outreach expect in cases where a) the audience is large and promising and b) we have access to a platform that lets us dig into the issues in depth (e.g. podcasts). This is because we’ve consistently failed to see much of a return from mass-media style stories about EA and are worried about putting EA in front of a large audience where we can’t dig into the ideas in depth.
Since I’ve been at CEA we launched a major media campaign around Will’s book with mixed results (unclear if it was worth it) and attempts to promote GWWC through media outreach don’t seem to have been particularly successful. This mirrors my experience in my previous job where we worked with multiple outside PR firms on projects with little to show for it.
We don’t plan on doing any mass media. I can see how the bit you quoted might be related to mass media, but hopefully the rest of the post clarifies that our focus will be on resources for LEAN, since our LEAN survey showed significant demand for this.
The examples here are the best outcomes that were generated by people who spent quite a bit of time developing a following. I don’t think they’re representative of what media-based outreach looks like on average.
As some useful data points: CEA isn’t currently trying to promote EA through media outreach expect in cases where a) the audience is large and promising and b) we have access to a platform that lets us dig into the issues in depth (e.g. podcasts). This is because we’ve consistently failed to see much of a return from mass-media style stories about EA and are worried about putting EA in front of a large audience where we can’t dig into the ideas in depth.
Since I’ve been at CEA we launched a major media campaign around Will’s book with mixed results (unclear if it was worth it) and attempts to promote GWWC through media outreach don’t seem to have been particularly successful. This mirrors my experience in my previous job where we worked with multiple outside PR firms on projects with little to show for it.
We don’t plan on doing any mass media. I can see how the bit you quoted might be related to mass media, but hopefully the rest of the post clarifies that our focus will be on resources for LEAN, since our LEAN survey showed significant demand for this.