Anonymity Letter to Media
A.A. West Mumbai Inter Group
June 2012
Dear Friends in the Media World,
A.A.’s primary purpose is to carry the “Message of Recovery” to the still suffering Alcoholic. Always mindful of the importance of personal anonymity, we believe this can be done by making known to him/her, and to those who may be interested in his/her problem, our own experience as individuals and as a fellowship in learning to live without Alcohol.
We believe that our experience should be made available freely to all who express sincere interest. We believe further that all our efforts in this field should always reflect our gratitude for the gift of sobriety and our awareness that many outside A.A. are equally concerned with the serious problem of Alcoholism.
This statement reflects a long-standing A.A. tradition of not seeking publicity for promotional purposes, but of always being willing to cooperate with representatives of all media who seek information about the recovery program or about the structure of the A.A. fellowship.
Media representatives are welcome at A.A. open meetings, dinners, regional get-together, or similar gatherings of Alcoholics. The only restriction is a request not to disclose the name of any A.A. member; for obvious reasons, photographs cannot be taken at A.A. meetings.
We respectfully request that you continue to cooperate with us in maintaining the anonymity of A.A. members. The principle of anonymity is a basic principal of our fellowship. Those who are reluctant to seek our help may overcome their fear if they are confident that their anonymity will be respected. In addition, and perhaps less understood, our tradition of anonymity acts as a restraint on A.A. members, reminding us that we are a program of principles, not personalities, and that no individual A.A. member may presume to act as a spokesman or leader of our fellowship. If an A.A member is identified in the media, we ask that you please use first names only and that you not use photographs or electronic images in which member’s faces may be recognized. Our fellowship does not comment on matters of public controversy, but we are happy to provide information about A.A. to anyone who seeks it.
From the very beginning of A.A. our fellowship has recognized that word-of-mouth is not sufficient by itself to carry the program’s message of hope and recovery to the many people still suffering from Alcoholism. The public media has been a vital part of this effort, and today we estimate that there are more than 2 million successfully recovering members of Alcoholics Anonymous in more than 180 countries.
We thank you for your continued cooperation.
Sincerely,
Public Information Committee AA WMIG
