April 11, 2010
Dear all:
Many of you are aware of, have signed and willingly contributed to, the Open Letter to Mass Media and Journalist Community (O/L), an attempt to raise our voice against biased treatment by the media of Michael Jackson and an effort to cleanse Michael’s name and reputation soiled by tabloid slander and defamation.
We owe you an update regarding the O/L progress and our future strategy.
PHASE 1 of the O/L Project has been completed. As you know, we collected 1,443 signatures and sent the O/L to nearly 1,000 media outlets in 105 countries worldwide.
Today we are announcing PHASE 2 of the Project. This time, we are targeting a select group of worldwide media and celebrities in a focused way. You will be able to get more detail once our new site that is currently under development is up and running. We’ll give you a special notice once the site has been launched.
Despite an uninformed declaration of the O/L Project closure made by some of the ex-participants of the O/L team who claim that the O/L is their “past project history” we, the O/L Project core team, have never given it up and are determined to see it through.
And here is some project history for those of you who are interested:
The O/L Project was originated by three Michael Jackson Forum members: Miranda M., MJJmahal, and hb. These three individuals readily disclosed their real identity and contact information to worldwide media for the project’s advancement.
Phase 1 involved:
• Drafting and editing the text of the O/L, cover and follow-up notes;
• Putting together a detailed plan to implement the project, track progress and resolve issues;
• Creating an O/L team that became known as International Project Team for Michael Jackson (IPT4MJ);
• Arranging on-line conferences to facilitate the teamwork;
• Arranging for, and updating the translation of the O/L with the kind assistance of various forum members;
• Developing the team’s logo and a letterhead for O/L submission;
• Creating a website to promote the O/L;
• Developing templates in several languages for ease of electronic submission;
• Gathering and meticulous tracking of signatures in support the O/L;
• Posting signatories’ comments;
• Sending out thank-you emails;
• Researching numerous media contacts for the O/L distribution;
• Sending out the O/L by email, postal mail, and fax; and
• Following up with the submission.
The core team was joined by other forum members, including Arina Angelescu, Jana, solonoy, milady, and Miss Denise B., who did a great job helping with the translation, gathering signatures, researching media contact info, promoting and distributing the O/L. A PROJECT OF SUCH SCALE WOULD HAVE BEEN IMPOSSIBLE WITHOUT THEIR HARD WORK, DEDICATION, ENTHUSIASM, TEAM SPIRIT, HEARTFELT SUPPORT AND MUTUAL ENCOURAGEMENT.
Sadly, after a forced and regretted by many forum members departure from the forum of some of the IPT4MJ members, the team ceased to exist. At that point, the core team and the supporting members separated ways due to differences in opinion. The media response had been nonchalant and this fact discouraged some of the team members who called the O/L a “mistake”.
The original members, hb, Miranda, and MJJmahal, have decided to start MJAction as a new organization continuing the work that we began with IPT4MJ with a renewed representation and branding.
Regrettably, due to recent copyright issues with some former IPT4MJ members, we have to make a formal announcement that the International Project Team for Michael Jackson (hereinafter, “IPT”) has been disbanded and ceased to exist.
In view of the above, any unauthorized use of intellectual property created by any former IPT member, including, but not limited to, the IPT logo, letterhead, texts and drafts without express permission of the author of the same shall be prohibited on the grounds of copyright protection. Any failure to comply with the above shall be treated as copyright infringement and appropriate redress shall be sought.
In conclusion, we can only say that we are fully dedicated to continue our work for Michael and cooperate with fan groups with similar agendas.
Yours with love,
MJAction
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January 13, 2010: The IPT team values your strong support for the Open Letter project; thus we are committed to seeing this project through its success and completion. We have finished sending out the initial submissions to countless media contacts, with expanded coverage in the United States and United Kingdom. These are major concerns since they set the trend for the rest of the world. Submissions were done using email, fax, and post mail. This global effort was completed before the Winter/Christmas holidays.
Currently, we are sending out follow-up emails to verify that the initial submission is given the proper attention that Michael deserves. The team is working hard to ensure that your collective voice is heard loud and clear. Together, we trust and believe that this project will make a difference in gaining worldwide respect for Michael. Please keep the faith going strong. Thank you for your continued interest and loving support.
Standing strong with you for Michael,
The IPT Open Letter Team
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Dear friends:
There have been some very unpleasant reports about media attempts to demonize Michael by distorting information from FBI files. This is exactly what we said in the Open Letter to the Media:
“Opinions are routinely disguised as news, distortion of facts runs rampant, selective omission of facts and misuse of true or partially true information are commonplace. The extent of misinterpretations, falsifications and gossip spread by the media about Michael Jackson is atrocious. All this creates an impression that, chasing ratings, the media does not care about truth or proof.”
The current events make the Open Letter particularly relevant and timely and we feel that we owe you a progress report.
1) We closed the signature collection process about 10 days ago having collected 1,443 signatures. Compared to 50 signatures we began with, it is a success. Besides, as we are saying in the cover note, that the signatures were collected over a short period of three weeks only.
2) Nobody had expected the scope of logistics work: we had to create a logo and a template for the letter to look official. We registered a PO Box for feedback, acquired a domain address to set up dedicated e-mail addresses and a fax for the O/L distribution and created templates in several languages. Besides, we had to finalize the media list and split it.
3) We started by sending e-mails and faxes. There were a number of failed delivery messages and we decided to use regular mail to re-send the O/L to those contacts that we were not able to reach by e-mail and to back up e-mails to most influential media.
All in all, we have sent the letter to almost 1,000 addresses in 105 countries and sent over 200 envelopes by regular mail.
We are impatient for feedback though we need to be realistic: due to the holiday season and the festivities, we can hardly expect anything till well after the holidays.
All we can do now is to arm ourselves with patience and get ready to deal with media feedback, once we start getting it.
The project proved to be very exciting and its scope increased thanks to the contributions and helpful suggestions from all our friends in the forum. We were sending the letter with L.O.V.E. and in hopes that our voice would be heeded.
We’ll continue updating you of the progress.
Love.
Open Letter Team
