This is 2 of 5 in our 2015 House of Delegates Blog Series. Our Delegates and Alternate Delegate convened to review each of the 3 Recommendations and each of the 2 Position Statements. We've provided a pros and cons section for each. Please read and offer your thoughts on this year's Recommendations and Position Statements. You can earn FREE MA Chapter education! Get to know more about the House of Delegates and this year's Recommendations and Position Statements by clicking here.
Recommendation: Wisconsin Chapter Recommendation (Media Education)
Whereas:
● Words and imagery used in the media that create the impression that massage therapy is equivalent to prostitution may increase volume of those seeking sexual services approaching Massage Therapists, thereby creating potential physical or emotional harm to the therapists,
● Journalists, advertisers, and creators of media may be insensitive to the negative impact that the words and imagery they publish may have on massage therapists,
● A journalist/media education kit would include how word and imagery choices may cause harm to massage therapists by equating massage therapists to prostitutes; a cover letter explaining how the media in question is harmful, customizable to reflect an overview of local massage law and regulation; suggestions for alternative approaches (such as suggestions to describe someone as being guilty of practicing massage without a license and guilty of prostitution, or described as a prostitute offering their services under the guise of massage therapy, rather than describing such a person as an illicit massage therapist), history of AMTA, and FAMT locator information that could be sent by chapters to the creators and publishers of negative or insensitive content so that it may reduce the future occurrence of such content,
● Access to such an approved kit would allow chapters ability to respond immediately and directly to the authors and publishers of content offensive and potentially harmful to therapists,
● Such a kit could be distributed electronically, the initial financial impact would be minimal, limited to design fees and initial labor expense of posting to intranet and distribution to chapter leadership,
Therefore be it resolved that the House of Delegates recommends to the National Board of Directors that the Board commission the creation of a model journalist/media education kit for chapter use.
Pros:
1) State Chapters could combat negative and misleading references of massage therapy in the media in a timely manner. State Chapters respond to local & state news coverage. National office responds to offenses in the national media coverage such as TV, national news coverage, etc.
2) Having well thought out responses that the National office provides would empower each member to confront this issue in a well thought out manner in a timely fashion. It gives each massage therapist the preferred verbiage to be used.
3) It offers consistency within our profession. A standardize message would give us facts and words to mount a clear, concise rebuttal message.
Cons:
1) Should the state chapters get involved or just let National handle it?
2) Do we want National to spend money on this issue?
Thoughts? Comments? Ideas? Please post in our comments section below. You can earn FREE education just by doing so!
Please continue to visit the AMTA-MA's blog over the next few weeks as our 2015 HOD Blog Series will cover each Recommendation and Position Statement. Each blog post will have a pros and cons section created by our AMTA-MA Chapter-elected delegates. We invite you to share your thoughts in the comments section of our blogs. Check your inbox the week of JULY 26TH. We'll be sending out a brief survey to enlist your feedback on these recommendations and position statements. Anyone who comments on any of our blogs, on HOD-related social media posts on Facebook or Twitter, or by completing our survey will be entered into a raffle for a $75 chapter education credit! That is equal to one full day of education! Make sure you can receive our emails by signing up here.