Business Screen Magazine (1965-1966)

MJTION PICTURE SHOWS HOW TO GET OUT THE VOTE lav Hughes "Active Citizenship Campaign" ^•tighl Record Vote. Candidate Support Hughes Aircraft Com ^ is an example of a large tion that tried an experi 1 public affairs, succeeded expectations, and subse lound it had the iirobieni ni; an effective means of iiting results for dissemina .1 ' other interested oreaniza ^ I his aerospace firm decided lotion picture produced in iid color would be the best 1 1 public affairs experiment I hcs is the "Active Citizen iinpaign."" a program de 1 encourage employees to _ jaier interest in their duties A|cricans. The company began Lfam in 1964 during the -klential campaign, and as established new records in Aorkers to register, vote tribute financially to the rtu and candidates of their oil. P jist'.T, \otc iiiul Contribute (ety-seven percent of all J Hughes personnel were red to vote, compared to a "^ ' average of around 70 pcrnety-eight percent of the igps people who were regiset went to the polls and cast (iipallots. Nationwide, the avera poor 61 percent. Also, trjsix thousand Hughes ems contributed more than )0 to their favored party and iatcs. Wjrd of the Hughes Aircraft s spread to other companies the firm began to remany inquiries about the mi — in particular, how the as managed. As a result, lecided that it would be in ■.rny's and nation's interest ument their "Active CitizenpjCampaign" with a film for istribution to interested parEntitled Who Cares, the • traces the history of voting I nitcd States from the Revn to the present, and tells *!he Hughes Aircraft Company Uizcd and implemented the laign at its widely scattered I' and facilities. I>t TN ( f \otiim in A'lierica le film contains both live acrirnd special graphics. The hisI storv of Mitin'j in America is HBER 5 • VOI.IME 27 portrayed by authentic and often rare historic paintings, etchings, photographs and political cartoons. The live action was reserved chiefly for demonstrating the Hughes public affairs pri>gram. In addition, the film contains stimulating scenes of political rallies held at Hughes facilities. Among the notables in the film are former Senator Goldwater (Arizona), Senator Murphy (California), runner-up Salinger. Congressman Actor Wfiulell C^orx iiimIc on-smic appearance and narrated portions of the Ihifihes Aircraft picture. James Roosevelt (California). Ronald Reagan and others. Who Cares was directed and produced by Ken G. Brown, the company's coordinator of visual media, who enlisted the ser\ices of some of Hollywood's leading talent, including Wendell Corey. .Shown to CongressTicn. ECO The film was premiered in Washington. D. C, early this year before members of Congress and at a special meeting of ECO, the Effective Citizens Organization. FCO's membership is made up of businessmen from all walks of life who are concerned with their cmpk>yees" interest in citizenship. Through F:CO. these managers obtain an appreciation and knowledge of our political and governmental processes, and they are advised on ways of promoting belter participation in elections and go\ernment by their personnel. In addition to producing the film \\ ho Cares. Hughes has publishetl a manual and other background material which tln>roughly documents the "Active Citizenship Program." Hughes is offering the mo Huglics ".Active (^iti/.eiisliip (!aiiipin};ti ' pun id lo he one of liic iiiiisl \iii eessiiil public affairs projects initialed hy an industry. During pa.tt program, .several political rallies held in con>pany facilities drew thrinifis of employees and invited quests. Crouds nundxred into the thini.sands. tion picture and other publications to interested parties at no cost. Four Coals of This Campaign The success of the company's program can be credited to welldefined objectives and efficient organization. The project's goals were boiled down to four: 1 . Encourage and assist in registering employees to vote. 2. Stimulate interest and provide the means for e;nployees to become better informed on the candidates and issues in Federal, state and local elections. 3. Promote and facilitate personal contribution to the campaigns of employee's favored candidates and parties. 4. Urge all qualified employees to vote and encourage their relations and friends to do the same. The Hughes campaign was conducted company-wide. Over 24.000 employees participated at nine plants at scattered locations in California and Arizona, and at various district and field offices throughout the United States. Hu.'hes' m.Tna'iement foresaw that usual organization channels of communications within the company might be too inflexible for this kind of program — and for two very good reasons. One — extensive, daily cimrdination would be required with the company's relatively autonomous organizations located at the different plant sites. Two — direct communications and fast reaction time would be essential to the e.'fective management of planned activities of the "Citizenship" campaign. Spec'al Task Group Dircc-ted These programs were solved at Hughes by creating a special organization to bypass the usual echelons of command. This group consisted of a non-partisan segment to administer the registration and contribution programs, and a partisan segment to coordinate and arrange the political rallies and political informatii)n programs. The non-partisan segment was made up of: a corporate Active Citizen>-hip Pnijram Administrator lo provide broad overall direction (CONTIM FD ON NEXT PAGE) Camera crew prcrarrs c'loseup for "off'ce" .scene in //i/g/ic*' public affairs film "Who Cares." L'ce-acti(ni .vci/f/cnrr.v .such as this iverc successfully blench d uilli specici effects and Rraphics. de.sifincd by Mario Casctla.