And just think, all of this because of one carefully drafted letter to the editor of a local paper!
And there's the key right there, "one carefully drafted letter...."
Whenever a thread like this appears, there are always people ready to jump on the bandwagon and make something happen. Unfortunately, most people are incapable of joining the battle and becoming EFFECTIVE activists (and letter writers). The inevitable result of encouraging this sort of activism, I've really sorry to say, is a slew of half-baked letters go out and the x-jw community becomes tarred with the same brush as the dub, i.e., we're viewed as equally crazy AND we're scary.
What's really needed, and I suspect this will happen one day, is for a professional organization to form that will put professional publicists and writers to work on this task and approach it nationally and in an organized fashion. The role all of us could play would be to forward news reports about JWs to this clearinghouse organization and let them go on the offensive with press releases and/or letters to the editor (organized from the local community through a network yet to be established). I suppose its even possible this forum could be the catalyst for such a thing.
This is a lot of work, of course, would require money, and would need a level of dedication on the part of individuals who have the professional expertise and credentials to carry this out effectively. Barbara's work (cited above) is encouraging and is encouraged. But she's an experienced researcher with gifts most do not possess.