Tradition 11 · November 3

Whether or Not the Name Is Given

Daily Traditions · November 3

The threat today

A.A. answered the television question decades ago, and the answer is more exact than most members realise. From A.A.'s own literature (A.A. pamphlet P-43): "According to a Conference opinion, members are breaking their anonymity when they are identiﬁed on TV as A.A.'s and their faces are shown — whether or not their names are given." Whether or not their names are given. The face is the identification; the name was never the point. That sentence was written when television meant a studio, a crew, a broadcaster's permission and somebody else's decision. It now describes a phone held at arm's length by the person it protects. And notice that A.A. did not respond by refusing the medium. It went to real trouble to use it without supplying a face: "masks; screens; back-lighting that shows A.A.'s only as silhouettes; camera angles showing them only from the back." Elaborate, slightly ridiculous, and entirely deliberate. The reason is seven words long and it is the whole Tradition in miniature. "For we are not selling personalities — we are explaining A.A."

Sit with

A.A. worked out that a face identifies a member as surely as a name, and then went to absurd lengths to appear on television without giving one. What do I show that says more than anything I actually said?

Grounded in: P-43, The Twelve Traditions Illustrated (Tradition Eleven).

Tradition 11

"Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio and films."

Read the Long Form (pp. 563–566). The short form on pp. 561–562 is the one everybody quotes — but the Long Form is where the Traditions actually say what they mean. Tradition 3's "no other affiliation" clause, for instance, exists only in the Long Form. That single clause is why no treatment centre can own an A.A. group. Most of what circulates online skips it.

And a distinction worth keeping straight: the Traditions are governance, not theology. They bind A.A. groups and the Fellowship — not individuals, and not outside businesses. They were adopted in 1950 to keep A.A. from being owned or co-opted. They are not a rulebook for your personal life.

What the Traditions actually say → The Long Form, p. 563 → Search the Big Book → Every day this month →

Ask Recovery Einstein about Tradition 11 → Get the app →

← November 2I Don't Want to Capitalize on Humility Tradition 11All of November November 4 →Thirty-One People and a Cake

Daily Traditions is an independent educational resource from Recovery Starts — not official A.A. literature, not affiliated with Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, and not medical advice. The Twelve Traditions are the property of A.A. Page references are to Alcoholics Anonymous (the Big Book), 4th Edition: short form 561–562, long form 563–566. If you're in crisis, call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline).