In 1986, British band Depeche Mode released a song called New Dress. The song deals with the media’s obsession at the time with Princess Diana’s outfits. It highlights how warped media coverage is (and it got far worse since then!)
The song deals with how the media shifts people’s perception away from important matters, onto other things that might influence peoples’ votes. The refrain of the song goes like this:
You can’t change the world
But you can change the facts
And when you change the facts
You change points of view
If you change points of view
You may change a vote
And when you can change a vote
You may change the world
Malcolm X
The civil rights activist Malcom X once said “If you’re not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.“
And yet, decades later, here we all are, still failing to heed those warnings. We still have the media driving the narrative, and that narrative is dictated by the press barons who own the vast majority of the media.
What narrative are you talking about?
The pro-car, anti-cycling narrative, of course. You would expect a strong click-bait anti-cycling bias from the likes of the Daily Mail, The Telegraph, The Express, and all Reach PLC publications. Not wanting to be the odd one out, the Evening Standard is in on this bandwagon, too. The image below is a leaked guidance issues to ES journos, about what to write about. Note the “cycling controversies” item, under Transport, and in a nod to Depeche Mode, the fixation on the royals, in this image:
However, you’d expect better from the BBC – that supposed bastion of bias-free reporting, right? (Also, bias-free? The Beeb? Evidence proves otherwise!) The BBC is so anti-cycling that the Guardian ran THREE separate articles about it. You can find those here, here and here.
But you can change the facts…
Changing the facts doesn’t mean lying, or claiming the earth is flat (spoiler: it isn’t!)
Instead, it refers to changing which facts are in focus. Because when you change the facts, you change points of view.
And how do we change the facts? Joseph Goebbels (supposedly*) said “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.”
*Supposedly, only because historians aren’t certain about this. We are, however, quite certain about how evil Goebbels, and the rest of the Nazis were.
Many organisations use that strategy. Most are supposedly reputable news sources. Some are even various governments. Some examples of the strategy include the refugee crisis (which is miniscule, compared to what we’re usually being told) and the excuses for austerity.
Facts about cycling
Anyone with more than 3 functioning brain cells can independently work out that urban cycling makes better use of the very limited road space available. Equally, they can work out that bigger SUVs require even more road space, leaving roads even more congested. These facts are indisputable.
However, if it was as simple as just pointing out facts to the opponents to better cycling, we’d have Dutch-standard cycling infrastructure everywhere by now. The fact that we don’t should serve as a wake-up call that (currently, at least) we’re batting for the losing team. And that, no matter how unpalatable, is another fact.
If you change points of view…
People are inherently selfish. You may not like hearing this, but we all are, at least to some degree, utterly selfish. When driving, we tend to want others to get out of our way, even if they were there before us. We all want more, even if it means less for others. Don’t believe me? If I was wrong, there would be no sweat shops making the cheap fashions sold in the high streets throughout the UK. We’re all happy to get a bargain, almost regardless of the life price someone else had to pay for it.
However, we can work with that selfishness. We can use it to our advantage.
Whatever change you want to see in the world, change your argument. Saying things like “economists found that every mile driven costs society roughly £1, while every mile cycled saves society roughly £0.50”. That might be true, but it’s meaningless. After all, if YOU were to cycle 100 miles, does that mean I get £50? Of course not! So, what’s your actual message?
Instead, try telling people how any changes benefits them directly, personally. Call on their most selfish desires. “Look, John, I can see why you love your Range Rover so much, but being stuck in congestion isn’t fun, is it? But if you helped us get this segregated cycle lane installed, 1000s of other drivers will choose to cycle instead, leaving the roads far more empty for you to enjoy!”
You may change a vote
This is what it really comes down to: convincing voters to vote for the right things. And of course, the right people. Here’s the thing: regardless of what may have motivated them to get into politics to begin with, most politicians are absolutely selfish. Their first, and foremost concern, is getting re-elected. What’s best for their constituents is a very, very distant second place to that.
Many politicians are slick, practiced and skilled liars. Do NOT fool yourself that you can sway them – that you can change their minds. You cannot. However, you can force their hand. There are only two ways of achieving that:
1) Publicly embarrass them into doing the right thing. This requires most of the public to be on your side. With cycling provision, that’s highly unlikely to be the case.
2) Threaten their ability to get re-elected.
Precious few politicians have the bravery, the leadership, or the vision of Anne Hidalgo, the Mayor of Paris. It is exceedingly unlikely that any councillor in your city is worthy of standing in her shadow. That means, from the outset, you have an uphill battle. However, if you can start a grassroots movement, and change the points of view of voters, you can force your local politicians to fall in line, or risk oblivion.
Strategy
Populism is thriving in the West, but we can steal elements of it. For starters, building on Sun Tzu’s teachings, concentrate your forces in space and time. In this sense, that means keep your message very short. If you cannot define what your aims are in three short bullet points, refine them.
After all, you’re going against populists, using their own strategies, designed to impact on their own power base. Hour-long diatribes will only harm your case. Pick your battles. You’re not trying to win a war. You’re trying to get ONE decent piece of cycling infrastructure delivered.
For example, if campaigning for a protected cycle lane along a nasty, busy road, reduce your plan to why the local people would benefit. Tell them about better health, due to cleaner air. Tell them about increased house prices along the route. Also tell them about benefits to businesses along the route.
The plan
Your strategy might include these three bullet points. You can (and should!) expand on them, but the initial points MUST be simple, and no more that 6 words. For example, if campaigning for protected cycle lanes, you can tell people:
1) Your health will improve
2) Your home will be worth more
3) Your business will benefit
Next, compile evidence that supports your claims. Have that ready for when you’re challenged, and of course your evidence must be watertight. Then, form a “Red Team” – these are people helping your campaign, but who will act as opponents, while you refine your campaign. Their job is to blow holes in your strategy, and to come up with all conceivable objections. YOUR job is to learn from your Red Team, and use what they deliver to make your strategy stronger, before your campaign launches.
Consider leafletting every home in the greater area. Those that do the leafletting should expect to be challenged, and should be prepared with practiced answers and facts. Yes, that means they should ideally have practiced warding off the objections raised by the Red Team. A large part of their job is to overcome objections raised, and get those objectors on-board. Remember, sales training tells us that a customer who objects is a good thing, as it means they’re engaging with the buying process. All we have to do is overcome their objections.
You may change the world
I won’t lecture you about the terrifying threats of climate breakdown. I won’t go into medical evidence showing people who live near congested, polluted roads are at far higher risk of developing dementia (amongst other illnesses!) And I won’t preach to the choir about how in the year 2000, there were around 25 million cars on the road in the UK, while in 2024, there were over 41 million. Finally, I certainly won’t tell you how cars have also increased in size since 2000 – not only are there more of them, each car takes up even more road space.
That leaves less space for vulnerable road users, and obviously means increased congestion. And with increased congestion, increased number of cars, and bigger & heavier cars, we’re looking at vastly increased pollution. Heavier cars wear through tyres quicker, and 78% of all microplastics in the ocean is from tyre dust.
Microplastics are an enormous health risk, and are even found in what should be pure and healthy: breast milk. Think about that for a moment. Right now, there are countless mothers, who absolutely love their babies, and who – through their breast milk – are inadvertently feeding their babies toxins.
Those babies deserve better. Those mothers deserve better. ALL of us deserve better. So please, please do what you can to change the world. I’ve given you a rough blueprint to start.