Free Radio Olympia Off the Air

The long-standing unlicensed station Free Radio Olympia is off the air as of May 22 in order to avoid a probable raid from the FCC. However, they are maintaining their internet stream at their website.

Here’s the story according to an email sent to FRO allies:

Free Radio Olympia ceased transmitting its signal over
the airwaves on Tuesday, May 22nd to avoid a probable
raid by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
The interruption of our service to the community will
last until a new volunteer steps forward to host our
transmitter.

Recent FCC harassment has escalated significantly,
both statewide and nationwide. The FCC has also
recently harassed two other unlicensed stations in
Washington State, according to DIY Media’s FCC
enforcement database. They are located in Port
Townsend and Everett.

Read more »

Dispatch from Oaxaca: Breaking the Communication Blockade

I received the following email from George Salzman yesterday:

Oaxaca, 3 May 2007
Friends,
I fully endorse this call for support of popular radio in Oaxaca from Tonee Mello, who initiated the Oaxaca Study-Action Group with me in December 2005. Here’s Tonee’s message:

Subject: [oaxacastudyactiongroup] APPEAL
From: Tonee Mello
Date: Wed, 2 May 2007 17:02:55 -0700 (PDT)
To: oaxacastudyactiongroup@xxxxxxxxx.com

Mis Amigos,

Mid afternoon on May 1, Labor Day, students took over the radio station at the Autonomous University Benito Juarez of Oaxaca. They explained that they intended to give ample coverage to the labor day events, which included a march by the Popular Assembly Movement.

By seven o’clock that night, government supporters were already hard at work jamming the university signal. By 10:00 the students were no longer audible.

The fear of the government is that the public hear honest news, news of real events that affect the lives of people without money and power, in towns lacking any access to newspapers. Their only source of news is government controlled corporate television.

The only available remedy is community radio. Right now, young Oaxaqueños are working to put on the air as many community radio facilities as the communities can afford. The technical support project for them is completely Oaxaqueño in staff and muscle. It’s controlled and managed at the base, in a system of democratic participation. But the funding comes in part from people like you.

This is the moment to show Oaxaca communities that they are not alone in wanting access to the truth as it relates to them in their towns and villages.

Your donation, of any amount, will help to maintain the vital training and technical support provided by Servicios de Comunicación de Oaxaca .

If you want the address to send money, drop a line to Jean Rodriguez, wabob(at)earthlink.net

Arthur, on the Rocks, into the Drink

I’ve only seen Arthur magazine a handful of times, picking it up in various record stores or bookstores in random cities and places — I think I found it once in my home base Champaign, IL. I always enjoyed this free publication because it seemed freewheeling, with truly interesting interviews and reviews, and not published primarily for the purpose of selling me a lifestyle.

So I’m little sad to read that Arthur is no more, resulting from irreconcilable differences between the founding editor and publisher.

I was generally surprised to find it here in the Midwest, since a lot of the ads were very Los Angeles oriented. But now I understand that Arthur relied on a fairly grassroots distribution network of volunteers who moved it around the country. Chicago’s Lumpen magazine–which started here in Champaign–also relies on similar volunteer labor to distribute it outside of the city. In fact, I’ve carried a bundle or two home with me after bumping into its publisher/editor Edmar in Chicago or at the AMC.

It’s especially sad that Arthur’s demise appears to be the result of personal differences rather than a lack of success. Even though Arthur relied on ad revenue, according to its editor the magazine managed to maintain full editorial independence.

We need publications that can carry on in the spirit of the underground press of the 60s and 70s without having to get bought up into the not-so-alternative alternative weekly empires.

Alas, the grassroots is not always easy… but it’s worth it.

NYC Grassroots Media Conference

For the 4th time independent media makers will be gathering in New York City this coming Saturday, Feb. 24, at the NYC Grassroots Media Conference. There’s workshops, film screenings and art galore. This year’s conference theme is, Media and Movements Beyond Borders:

This year, the NYC Grassroots Media Conference seeks to ask: What are the common threads inherent in our global struggles for social change and how does the media contribute to our understanding of the root causes of injustices faced by world communities? From educating ourselves and our government leaders to spreading our messages and recruiting broader and more diverse constituencies into our campaigns, media is central to the struggle for social justice. Therefore, the fight for better access to and representation in the media is essential for advancing peace and justice both at home and abroad.

This is not about Web 2.0, YouTube and MySpace. It’s about using media tools for the purpose of justice, not mere profit.

I hope they can keep this conference going. I can’t go this year but I would like to go sometime.

Homelessness Marathon Starts Tuesday at 7 PM EST

I’ve been completely remiss in not posting about the 10th annual Homelessness Marathon, airing on community radio stations across the continent beginning Tuesday, Feb. 20 at 7 PM EST, ending at 9 AM the following morning.

The marathon highlights the problem of homelessness and gives people who are homeless an opportunity to participate and speak for themselves on air as live guests and by calling in to a toll free number.

This year the Marathon comes from Fresno, CA, which will be a bit warmer than previous host cities. But the fact of climate does not minimize the harsh reality of living homeless.

I helped produce the 2000 Homelessness Marathon, which we hosted at WEFT, putting together the tech on our end and running the control board. It was an amazing, exhausting night, and cold as hell. Jeremy Alderson, the director of the Marathon, impressed me with his determination and dedication as he spent twelve hours in the sub-zero Illinois night, coming in only five minutes an hour for a bathroom break.

And it was also incredible to see all the people who turned out to participated who were either homeless, had been homeless or were in and out of homelessness.

WEFT, of course, will be carrying the program in its entirety, as it has since the 2nd Marathon. A list of the dozens of other stations is on the Marathon’s website.

I hope that the growing support for the program is also indicative of growing support for homeless people. I really appreciate what Jeremy says about the program’s growth on the about page:

As the Marathon has grown, its philosophy has evolved. When I started, I thought I had to scold people and tell them why they ought to care, but now I know that Americans really do care, and that no matter how grave the failings of our society may be, homeless people aren’t on the streets because that’s where we, as a people, want them to be. So I’ve backed off a lot. I now mostly look at the Marathon as giving people the reasons for what they already know in their hearts.

Blogumentary for Free Online, a Smart Move

I haven’t watched it yet, but independent filmmaker and blogger Chuck Olsen has uploaded his entire Blogumentary to Google Video for free.

As Jason Scott notes (towards the end of the post), here’s a guy who gets that getting his film done and out there for people to see, however and whenever, may very well be more valuable than waiting around to get it into film festivals or on the big screen.

Not that you shouldn’t want to make some money off your efforts, or at least make back your costs. But as much of the copyright and Creative Commons arguments have pointed out, sharing and making a living aren’t mutually exclusive. And maybe sharing will open up your work to far more people than who would have ever seen it at a film festival or other big-name event.

Bringing People Together with Streaming Media

This evening I helped put on a live video webcast [archive webcast link] for an event where I really felt like the webcast served a practical and necessary purpose, allowing many more people to view the event than could fit in the venue.

The event was an open forum to tackle “Racism, Power and Privilege” at the University of Illinois, where I work (and once studied). It was held in the university’s largest auditorium, which holds 1750 people, and was filled to capacity. So two overflow rooms were arranged to watch the webcast, where I’m told there were about 640 people in attendance.

It’s a very important event for this time at Illinois, where the racial climate has been becoming more tense and hostile. The pressure to retire the university’s racist mascot continues to rise while it seems like a lot of the majority white students refuse to acknowledge their privileged position. Two recent scandals have shone light on the problem of Illinois’ racial climate. One involves hateful violent messages posted about Native Americans to a Facebook group called “If They Get Rid of the Chief I’m Becoming a Racist.” Another regards a “Tacos and Tequila” party thrown by a frat and sorority last fall where attendees came dressed up as the most noxious racial stereotypes.

The student group that organized the forum had to put a lot of pressure on some administrators just to attend the forum and listen to concerns of students. These same students have been coming under fire themselves for daring to stand up against the embedded racist attitudes prevalent amongst a privileged white student population. Some of the organizers talked about receiving death threats and constant harassing emails.

From the packed house in the auditorium to the long lines of people who queued up to speak, it was clear how necessary the forum was and how pent up the demand was. Aside from using the university’s sports arena, there really wasn’t a venue to hold everyone who wanted to be a part of this event.

While watching a live webcast isn’t the same as being at the event, I think the overflow rooms serve a similar purpose because they allow hundreds more people to watch together. And those who couldn’t make it into any of the venues could still watch from their desktops.

While I’m a big proponent of using the internet to distribute video, I often feel like live webcasts of some events are really more window-dressing than something truly useful. You get bragging rights for having a live webcast, even if very few people tune in.

Today, the live webcast was not just trophy but served a real purpose that would have been difficult to pull off (especially so cheaply) without streaming media technology. I feel lucky to have been asked to help make it happen.

The People Decide: Oaxaca’s Popular Assembly

Nancy Davies has a new book coming out with Al Giordano’s Narco News Books, The People Decide: Oaxaca’s Popular Assembly. Giordano announces the book:

When on May 25, 2006 Nancy Davies published a reporter’s notebook entry on The Narcosphere titled “The Desperate Government in Oaxaca” few observers– other than Davies – saw the regime of Governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz as desperate.

Ruiz, since coming to power in 2004, had run roughshod over social movements, imprisoned political opponents (the subject of two Narco News video newsreels last February, “Prisoners of ‘Democracy’” and “Marcos Goes to Jail”), violently attacked opposition journalists, and the movements themselves were historically divided. The teachers’ union known as Section 22 went on strike as it had every May 22 for the past quarter-century, but few expected that the 2006 strike would amount to anything more than modest gains.

Davies began what would become more than seven months of nonstop reports with an opening dispatch: “Oaxaca is a perfect example of a place where those in power see the collapse of order – their order. The violence escalates more in line with their fear than with ours. When they start beating up photographers and shoving around elderly women, they must be frantic.”

More than seven months later, Oaxaca is world-renowned for the rebellion through which people took back control of the state capitol and other municipalities for more than four months, chased out the repressive state and city police corps and political bosses, seized control of the radio and television airwaves, and constructed an alternative government from below. It was on June 14, when thousands of striking teachers . . .

NarcoNews is offering advance orders of the book for $20 contributions to its Fund for Authentic Journalism. It’s also a way to gauge the size of print run this small publisher should start with.

Nancy and her partner George Salzman are two Americans living in Oaxaca since 1999. George writes that they first went there to “‘give it a try’ for six months,” and now,

I now think of myself as a Oaxaqueño — yes, still a gringo — but at heart Oaxaqueño.

He and Nancy have been filing reports from Oaxaca for NarcoNews, Counterpunch, and George’s own website.

They were guests on the mediageek radioshow on November 10 [listen now] and September 15, 2006 [listen now].

NCMR Panel: Make Music with Your Mouth, Kid: Hip-Hop Activism

This panel was certainly the most fun and the most thought-provoking of all the panels I’ve been to at the NCMR. It’s nearly impossible for me to summarize because each presenter brought a unique perspective and set of facts to lay on the audience. But, as the title of the panel suggests, all the presenters were united by hiphop, either as musicians, DJs, organizers or activists.

Malkia Cyril started off the session with some rhymes, and Brotha Los ended his presentation with a song of his own. Having the uniting element of music woven into the fabric of the session really loosened up the room but also kept our attention focused.

Hiphop is alternative media and an important form of communication. And hiphop is affected and repressed by media consolidation, with Clear Channel growing at the expense of independently owned black stations, and then dominating the selection of ultra-commercialized artists who get heard.

Yet the larger question of the panel really was organizing and activism, with hiphop more as a means rather than the subject itself. Although it was all good, Rosa Clemente, a radio host at WBAI in New York, was a highlight. She reminded all of us that the issue of justice is framed by white supremacy, which cannot be denied and must addressed.

Clemente recalled that the history of independent media in the US really starts with black people, with Frederick Douglass and Ida B. Wells. And nobody remembers that Juan Gonzalez, of Democracy Now, was a Young Lord, working on the group’s newspaper in the 1960s.

She concluded that if progressives are no longer thinking about Katrina, but worrying about 2008 and whether or not we can get Hillary elected, then “we don’t have an analysis.”

To me, this session was about youth and organizing and having a far more inclusive media environment where talk of race and gender isn’t limited to discussing the topic of diversity, but part of all the media reform and justice conversations.

It’s a very important and necessary point, and still not obvious in the media reform movement. I do think Free Press has made observable effort to be more inclusive with the NCMR — there has been much improvement since the 1st conference in 2003. But there’s far to go, and the conversation within the movement has really only begun. And, really, I don’t think the mainstream white media reformers in Memphis right now have these issues in their consciousness.

I recommend listening to this panel when it gets posted to the Free Press schedule page. They’ve been pretty fast getting the audio online, so we can probably expect to see it tomorrow.

Technorati Tag: NCMR2007

Listen to Daily Reports from the NCMR

John Anderson is filing daily reports from the National Conference for Media Reform for his program Media Minutes. John will definitely be capturing all the highlights of the day, along with interviews with prominent and interesting people working to change our media environment.

The first daily report for today, Jan. 12, is already posted, featuring:

Scholars converge in Memphis, Tennessee to explore ways to intervene more effectively in media policymaking. Independent journalism and the free speech of soldiers in a time of war is under seige by the U.S. Army; we hear from one of the reporters caught in the crossfire.

Technorati Tag: NCMR2007