Saturday, September 29, 2001
Mainstream Media Blackout? Turn to Indymedia for News of DC Peace Rallies
Meant to post this earlier... More than 10,000 people are on the streets of DC this weekend demonstrating for a peaceful response to the Sept. 11 attacks, and if you rely on the mainstream media you'd barely know it. Journalistic stalwarts like the New York Times and CNN barely made mention of the rallies, while the MSNBC cable network paid a little more mind. On the other hand, the non-commercial CSPAN cable TV network devoted a good portion of Saturday’s coverage to the main peace rally held in the city’s Freedom Plaza.
Underneath the radar of the mainstream the Independent Media Center of DC was in action providing live 24-hour coverage via an Internet audio stream. The DC IMC took cell phone reports from the streets during tense moments when the Anti-Capitalist Convergence march was surrounded by police in riot gear during the early afternoon. The march was eventually let go by police. The DC audio stream was also picked up by community and unlicensed free radio stations across the country is cities like Minneapolis, Madison WI, Santa Cruz CA and Pittsburgh, leading to call-in discussions from all over the country and the world.
You can tune in right now and find out what you're missing. Go to http://dc.indymedia.org/audio/
posted 9/29/2001 10:35:20 PM [link
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Thursday, September 27, 2001
For the DIY Files: New Soundblaster Card
Tom's Hardware Guide does their usual excellent job at reviewing anything computer-related, this time they look at the new top-of-the-line SoundBlaster sound card, the Audigy EX. From their review it seems like this card offers near-pro-quality for less than $300. Including optical digital I/O and even firewire, this card looks like it would be a good choice for basic audio editing and production for radio without spending a ton. The optical I/O means that it will interface nicely with an external minidisc deck or recorder, DAT or even CD recorder. Sure, it's much more expensive than the cheap-ass $19 sound card that comes pre-installed in most PCs, but if you're even moderately serious about producing good audio material for the web, radio (licensed or micropower/pirate) or even to integrate into digital video, it's worth considering a high-end consumer card like this.
I'm even thinking about it for myself -- if I end up breaking down I'll be sure to review it here.
posted 9/27/2001 01:37:11 PM [link
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A Denial Implies There's Something to Deny
I can't resist this one: Defense Secretary Rumsfeld told a news conference that he doesn't intend to mislead the press. "I don’t believe it’s ever happened that I have lied to the press, and I don’t intend to start now,” he said.
However, doesn't his apparent need to say he won't lie imply that the pentagon and past Defense Secretaries have lied to and misled the press? No, not the US gov't.
posted 9/27/2001 12:31:56 PM [link
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A Retraction: pirateradio @ About.com staying put
To mangle Mark Twain: "rumors of its death are premature." It appears that the news that Phlegm's PirateRadio Extravaganza was being axed by About.com was all a big misunderstanding due to someone at About sending the site editor the wrong e-mail -- ooops. Phlegm himself clears it up in a post to the site's forum:
It looks like I'm not dead just yet. Let me explain. I feel I owe it to you.
As you may already know, About made the painful decision yesterday to let 300 of its Guides go; it also laid off approximately 60 people in the NYC headquarters. Many of these folks have been colleagues and co-builders of sites along with me since we first ventured online as The Mining Company nearly five years ago. I had received two emails from "management" yesterday. The first one explained the bloodshed that went down, but also stated, in effect, "if you're reading this, then you're safe." Two hours later, I received another email, this from the department who handles our Guide contracts (we are not employees, but independent contractors). THIS email basically said, "we'll be sending you your final payment due, no need to invoice for this month, thanks for your work and good luck in the future."
Needless to say, I was confused. So I attempted to access my site administration tools (which are password-protected). I was definitely locked out. My pirateradio.guide@about.com email address had also, apparently, been inactivated. This, for me, sealed the deal over which email was the right one. So I began the process of grieving for my loss, since this site means so much to me on a personal level. Imagine my surprise today when I got home from the dentist to find a message on my machine. It was from Michael Daecher, Manager, Content Development. He was calling to confirm that I was STILL the Pirate/Free Radio Guide, yes?
I called him back and said, no - I got fired yesterday, remember? He said, "that's not right" and when I told him my access had been cut he rang off with the promise of getting back to me. He did, and this is what happened - This entire emotional roller-coaster has been the result of what we all lovingly know as an "email snafu." There were two email lists - one for those let go, and one for those who were spared.
Somehow, I got listed on both of them. I'm one of the lucky ones left....
So there you have it--the moral is, if you're a big dot-com still struggling along, be careful who you send your e-mails to. Apparently it was a complaint from one of the site's visitors that alerted management of the mistake. I think we might call that "checks and balances." Anyway, I'm glad to see the pirateradio page isn't going anywhere in the near future, and I'm also glad that John enjoyed my "maudlin" eulogy I posted yesterday.
posted 9/27/2001 12:27:51 PM [link
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Wednesday, September 26, 2001
A Real Loss: PirateRadio Site at About.com Shut Down.
I first read an unconfirmed report of this yesterday at the Free Radio Network, but I didn't want to post anything here without getting some kind of confirmation from John Anderson, the guy who ran the site. I sent an e-mail to address at about.com, but heard nothing. Then I checked out the pirateradio forums for the site and found this message from John himself:
Folks, I wish this was a joke, and I don't know how long this Forum will still stay active, but it's the only part of my site that I can get into.
I received an email today telling me that 300 Guides have been let go as About continues its downward spiral.
I am one of them, apparently.
I am going to try and resurrect this resource somewhere else, believe it. It may take some time, but I don't plan on going completely away.
In the meantime, please feel free to email me at my own personal address, which is phlegm@tds.net - I don't think my pirateradio.guide address is accepting mail anymore.
Right now, I am in shock and disbelief. I knew things were bad, but I had no idea this was coming.
Thanks,
-John-
This is a major loss to the free radio community. John's site provided a consistent weekly update on all types of news important to those of us concerned with civil liberties and the right to communicate. From legal issues to happenings in Washington, and the important tracking of FCC activities, we could depend on PirateRadio at About to give us a head's up.
The shutdown of this site is part of wholesale shutdown of 300 sites at About.com, which apparently is suffering as part of the dot-com bust. Most of the site editors were paid something for their effort, so that means these 300 editors, including John, are also losing a source of income, which is also sad. So much of the web is built on the volunteer labor of people's passions and intelligence that it is nice to see someone make a little money at it. Too bad about.com couldn't really come up with a good revenue model to support it.
I hope John can bounce back and continue to offer even a portion of this valuable contribution to the free radio community. I also hope about.com keeps up the archives of his work or gives John the right to post it elsewhere--there's some valuable stuff there. In the meantime I'll try to keep posting the news I hear about.
posted 9/26/2001 02:56:32 PM [link
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CNet has another article on wireless community freenets. This article pretty much treads the same old ground as other articles. Again, we hear the grumbling of ISPs and would-be wireless providers over the potential loss of revenue that hasn't yet been shown to even exist. Nonetheless, the idea intrigues me, and I sure wish I had more time to get one started here in my town.
posted 9/26/2001 12:07:12 PM [link
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Tuesday, September 25, 2001
File Sharing, Info-Anarchy and Indymedia
I found the site infoarnarchy.org when I stumbled on a post outlining "the current state of file sharing." It's a good overview of software tools that need to exist, not for the violation of copyright and sharing mp3s, but because there should be no centralized control over information sharing. Information sharing is a key element in the Indymedia movement, although one of its chief weaknesses is that it is still server-based, so that a blow to the server farm in Seattle where a majority of regional Indymedia sites are hosted would bring down a big chunk of the system. Nonetheless, info and memes spread quickly from site to site, since they feature open-publishing and because each regional IMC seems to monitor others, especially during times of crisis. Peer-to-peer file sharing takes the centralized server out of the mix and I think could serve as a vital information nd news distribution method if centralized servers, or even much of the web itself, were to become compromised. They are complementary ideas and technologies--for this reason P2P file sharing must be considered and defended for more than its simple ability to exchange mp3s and porn.
posted 9/25/2001 04:30:05 PM [link
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I sent an e-mail response to Poynter.org with roughly the same critique of their article on radio and Sept. 11 as in my last blog entry. I get the feeling that they don't get so many responses, since probably not more than an hour after I sent it I got an e-mail back from them asking if they could post my e-mail along with responses from the authors. Unfortunately their responses aren't particularly weighty--they appear dashed off--but I nonetheless appreciate that there is some kind of direct dialog. Click here to see it all.
posted 9/25/2001 04:08:39 PM [link
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Thursday, September 20, 2001
Radio's Role in Disaster Coverage?
This article from Poynter.org briefly covers the role of radio in informing and connecting people in the aftermath of last week's disasters. Unfortunately it's kind of shallow, focusing on radio's roles in providing first news to many people and some radio stations' fundraising efforts. While these aspects are undoubtably important, this overlooks radio's role in providing alternative news, information and opinion. In any given city there are far more radio stations than TV stations, and likely more non-profit ones at that. These stations are far more likely to provide coverage that doesn't follow the "party line" and also more likely to provide coverage primarily intended for radio. Because of the overall decline of radio news networks in the last ten years, most non-news oriented commercial radio stations--that's most of them--aired audio feeds of the major TV news networks in the first 24-48 hours after the attacks. Yes, that's useful, but offers nothing that TV doesn't. The Poynter article gives a nod to NPR, which provided it's own brand of radio-centric coverage, but otherwise doesn't give much attention to radio-centric journalism and coverage.
It's a shame that most folks--especially journalism scholars at Poynter--see radio in such a narrow perspective, apparently ignorant that something exists beyond commercial radio and NPR, and therefore also ignorant of the possibility that there could be even more.
posted 9/20/2001 03:31:42 PM [link
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Stepped Up Defenses Means the Military Wants the Spectrum
As ZDNews reports, the future of so-called third generation wireless data devices (3G) is looking grimmer after the attacks on NYC and DC, since the military will likely pressure the FCC for more spectrum space for defense purposes.
This is nothing new, of course, since the electromagnetic spectrum has always been viewed as an important military resource. The military and the young FCC clashed over the management of the spectrum in the early 1940s, when the military decided to make its own allocations without involving the FCC. This is one of the reasons that FM radio was actually moved from 40-44 Mhz band to the 88-108 Mhz band where it currently resides. This move instantly rendered obsolete transmitters and radios, which effectively stunted the growth of the band until the 1970s. This may be a "democratic" nation, but don't mess with the military.
posted 9/20/2001 02:40:09 PM [link
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Freespeech.org To End Free Web Hosting
CNet News reports that freespeech.org, a non-profit progressive web hosting service, is halting their free web hosting as a result of increasing costs and popularity. Their fee-based hosting service will continue.
In their report CNet compares freespeech.org to commercial services, like Yahoo's GeoCities, which are trying to move from free to fee--a comparision that I think misses the mark some. Most notably, GeoCities was never intended to be a non-profit free service, but rather intended to make its money through advertising, a strategy that hasn't worked out as planned. CNet also fails to note that freespeech.org is not simply a web hosting service. It's specialty is hosting streaming media, especially video, which requires significantly more bandwidth than web pages, and therefore much more expensive. Given this, it's amazing that freespeech.org has been able to offer a free service this long. Still, their fee structure is very much a bargain, with 100 MB of streaming media storage for $15.00/month and no bandwidth limits.
Nonetheless It's too bad that freespeech.org had to pack up its free service, since distributing streaming media on the 'net is still a pretty expensive enterprise. I hope that maybe they can put together a "scholarship" or grant system whereby they can provide free hosting for organizations from depressed or more impoverished areas. I would contribute to that.
Unfortunately this goes to show that the economic downturn can affect non-profits as well, even if not in quite the same way. It's a reminder that we need to keep these organizations in mind (and in our checkbooks) if we value an independent and non-profit internet.
posted 9/20/2001 02:32:03 PM [link
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Monday, September 17, 2001
Where To Find Alternative News on the 'Net and Elsewhere
A lot of folks have asked me lately about where they can turn to find news from outside the official sources, and where to find informed commentary and ideas that are excluded from the mainstream. Of course, I advise folks to find their local community radio station, if there is one, or local alternative newspaper (again, if present). On the 'net these are a few of the sites that I've found useful and informative:
alternet
(the associated
press of the alt. weeklies)
counterpunch
(unrelenting muckraking)
global
indymedia (decentralized
grassroots newsgathering and analysis)
infoshop.org
news kiosk
(news and opinion from an anarchist perspective)
mediachannel.org
(pointers
to their own and others coverage)
webactive
(progressive radio & audio online)
wired news (civil
liberties are key)
world
news (more
rounded int'l perspectives)
z
magazine / znet
(leading journal of progressive thought, run and organized
in a progressive manner)
If you don't have a good local community radio station, don't have good access to Internet audio or are away from your computer, then you can listen to Radio For Peace International on shortwave. They call themselves an international community station, and they're worth tuning in even if you do have all the other resources. Right now they are airing Democracy Now! in exile, which is providing a 2-hour program of alternative news coverage each day this week. The program airs on RFPI at 0000, 0800 and 1400 hours UTC/GMT (or, for American shortwave newbies: 8:00PM, 4:00 AM and 10:00 AM EDT -- subtract an hour when we switch back to standard time).
A shortwave radio is a great tool to have in these times of crisis (and in general), since it allows you to access the voices of other nations and cultures in their own words. It takes some time and patience to tune in stations, especially those from more impoverished nations that are also far away, but worth it. It's too bad, but as far as I know Afghanistan does not have any shortwave stations--I would like to hear what the Taliban leaders have to say in their own words, even if I won't like much of what they do say.
They typically have a few cheaper shortwave radios at stores like Circuit City or Best Buy. Radio Shack is a better place to look since they have several decent radios under their Realistic brand name. You're best off with a radio that has digital tuning rather than the old analog slide rule, since digital is more precise and makes it easier to find a station if you know its frequency. This is no advertisement, but RS has a really nice portable radio on sale for $149.00 that I can recommend (model DX-398). I have the model DX-505, which I like quite a bit. I bought it on sale for $99, though I think it's current price is $149.
Once you've got a radio it helps to have a reference to find stations and frequencies--though just tuning around can be fun. I use and recommend the Passport to World Band Radio.
posted 9/17/2001 03:25:56 PM [link
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Rights and Civil Liberties Up for Grabs?
In the aftermath of the attacks on DC and NYC last week, it seems that politicians and gov't officials are on the lookout for any one or thing that could have even possibly played a role in these attacks. Because the terrorists who carried out these attacks are not organized like a conventional army, it appears that they took advantage of the same rights, freedoms and technologies that the rest of us use and take advantage of in our daily lives--the same rights and freedoms which Prez. Bush has said these terrorists hate and that we must defend. Yet Bush has also publicly stated that we have to be willing to give up some of these liberties in the effort to prevent future terrorist attacks.
Slashdot has been leading the charge in standing up for our rights and liberties on-line, especially the right to privacy, which is protected by the use of cryptography. On Saturday a small group of geeks gathered at the University of Maryland in Baltimore along with Rep. Lynn Rivers of Michigan to strategize ways to oppose the curtailment of civil liberties. Slashdot provides this synopsis and call to arms. Wired News has this report on the meeting, and ZDNews carries this Reuters story titled "Digital privacy may suffer amid attacks."
As the Wired and Slashdot stories say, now is the time to contact your elected reps and ask them not to slice away at civil liberties in the vain hope that this will seriously affect terrorism. Protecting our free nation from terrorism begins to ring hollow when we give up our freedoms for that protection. Dissent is not unpatriotic, but indeed the greatest tool of the patriot to affect positive and progressive change. To get contact info for your federal representatives, check out the Senate and House websites.
posted 9/17/2001 01:25:55 PM [link
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Sunday, September 16, 2001
Third Try:Wired News says "Amateur Newsies Top the Pros" and Lisa Rein and O'Reilly says that "P2P Keeps the World Connected." There are alternatives out there, now that some folks have made it easier.
My question is: what will be the Blogger for TV and Radio? With billions worldwide still not yet wired, we need the revolution and evolution of new media to trickle down to old.
posted 9/16/2001 03:21:20 PM [link
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Third Try:Wired News says "Amateur Newsies Top the Pros" and Lisa Rein and O'Reilly says that "P2P Keeps the World Connected." There are alternatives out there, now that some folks have made it easier.
My question is: what will be the [link
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Wired News says "Amateur Newsies Top the Pros" and Lisa Rein and O'Reilly says that "P2P Keeps the World Connected." There are alternatives out there, now that some folks have made it easier.
My question is: what will be the [link
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Wired News says "Amateur Newsies Top the Pros" and Lisa Rein and O'Reilly says that "P2P Keeps the World Connected." There are alternatives out there, now that some folks have made it easier.
My question is: what will be the [link
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Friday, September 14, 2001
li>How the Geeks Kept It Going
While the mainstream news sites were buckling under the traffic on Tuesday as news about the disasters began to spread, sites like Slashdot stepped up their resolve, put aside their usual "programming," and did their best to disseminate news. In this post Slashdotter CmdrTaco explains how they kept the site up and running while expriencing around 4x their usual traffic.
posted 9/14/2001 02:11:45 PM [link
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Thursday, September 13, 2001
Two More Opinions on Pacifica
Pacifica is the 50-year-old community radio foundation, which owns 5 stations in the US and provides alternative news programming to many more community stations across the country. If you've heard about Pacifica, then you're probably already aware of the tremendous conflicts within and surrounding the network. To get a brief recent update see this entry to the mediageek newsblog from Aug. 24.
Earlier this week journalist Marc Cooper released a scathing critique of both sides of the Pacifica battle. Cooper hosts Radio Nation, which is the radio companion to the Nation magazine, one of the longest running progressive news magazines in the US, and has been a frequent target of the Free Pacifica campaign's rhetoric due to his moderate stance on the battle over Pacifica, and occasional words of defense for the current Pacifica regime. If nothing else, Cooper's recent statement shows that he sees problems and misdeeds all around.
On Monday Village Voice writer Nat Hentoff wrote a piece entitled, "WBAI = Anti-Free-Speech Radio." The title refers to the tag-line "Free Speech Radio" which Pacifica has used at all its stations, especially during fund drives.
In the last few weeks there have been major defections from the Pacifica national management. Most prominently, Steve Yasko, the national programming director, recently resigned--though, as Cooper dicusses, it may be for the wrong reasons--to save his own reputation rather than for the good of the network. The saga continues...
posted 9/13/2001 02:37:47 PM [link
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HRR-Decatur FCC Visit Audio
Jon Anderson at the Pirate/Free Radio Page at About.com now has audio posted from the FCC visit to Human Rights Radio in Decatur, IL (not the one operated by Mbanna Kantako in Springfield, IL).
Here are direct links: mp3 file [2.7 MB], streaming RealAudio.
posted 9/13/2001 02:09:28 PM [link
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Wednesday, September 12, 2001
Traffic to this site has more than quadrupled since yesterday morning, and I suspect that this is part of a larger trend of folks looking to the independent web for alternative information, thoughts and viewpoints on the attacks in NYC and DC yesterday. As has been widely noted, during the hours immediately following the plane crashes mainstream news sites were almost impossible to access, presumably due to tremendous traffic, making smaller, indy websites both attractive and a necessity. These sites--especially weblogs--tend to feature very fresh updates that feature ideas from outside the box of mainstream "received wisdom," regardless of specific viewpoint.
I hope and believe this is a positive trend, that perhaps it's helping people cope with these tragedies by demonstrating that they're not alone, that there are others who might share their feelings and viewpoints, even if they don't get them reflected back by the mainstream media. The undending media reportage of these awful events and their aftermath can have a positive unifying affect, but I think can also be alienating to people who continue to hear talking heads and pundits parrot the same opinions and analysis over and over again, especially when they can't or don't agree with those analyses. There's a wider world out there, and it does seem a bit easier now to find.
Myself, I'm still not sure how to process all that's happened in the last two days. The shock may be wearing off, but it's being replaced by more sadness. Probably the moment when it really broke me down yesterday is when I first heard the report that as many as 200 firefighters who had gone in to save lives after the blasts were likely killed by the collapse. I can't comprehend the bravery and the tragedy. I also can't comprehend all the talk of WAR that I keep hearing, from the President to Senators and journalists and pundits ad nauseum. I don't care if these were acts of war, it takes a strong and integrous nation not to be suckered into fighting fire with fire, war with war. I don't want to see more young American men die just to bring about revenge or vengeance. I'd like to think that we can rise above as a nation and gov't and somehow find a way to pursue JUSTICE. Let me be clear, war is not justice, and justice will not be had by war.
I know I'm not alone in this feeling, I know this because of the 'net and because of people in my own community. I joined more than 100 of them last night at our IMC, and from the calls that streamed in today to the Center, I know there are many more who couldn't make it. I hope that some of you from all over are reading this right now. I am sad and I am angry, but I do not want rage to become the emotion that marks the senseless passing of all these people. I hope that these deaths somehow can spark a little sanity, a little effort to reduce the killing. Because I cannot doubt, if the US goes on a rampage to bring about vengeance, there will only be vengeance in return, and the blood will only continue to flow.
Sorry, this post isn't all about media--somehow the media by itself doesn't seem so important to me today. But, still, I am concerned with what we can do with the media.
posted 9/12/2001 09:35:41 PM [link
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Tuesday, September 11, 2001
I want to say thanks to Ev of Blogger who responded to my e-mail that I sent about my concern over the search terms being used to help bloggers find other blogs covering the sad acts of terror this morning (see last entry). He noted that he does not have time to change the search terms, since he spent a lot of time getting the search to work in the first place, but recognizes that they do limit what comes up. This disclaimer has been added to the custom search page.
From what Ev wrote in his disclaimer, I think it's safe to assume I'm not the only one who pointed this out. I hope the other e-mailers were civil and appropriately appreciative of Ev's efforts. Too often in the net environment it seems like there are people too willing to piss all over another person's good efforts just because it doesn't quite meet their standards or is not quite perfect. You can see too many examples of this in the comments posted to Slashdot. I have little tolerance for this and find it to be completely counterproductive. Still, fair and constructive critique and suggestions are a necessary part of growing better things (software, groups, organizations, institutions, etc.), and so we can't either be afraid to dish it out or take it. Ev earns my respect for being honest and open in hearing sincere feedback on his work.
posted 9/11/2001 11:40:39 PM [link
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I'm a little disturbed that the "custom search page" at Blogger intended to help people find weblogs that are reporting on the tragedies this morning in NY and DC are using only the search terms "terrorist" and "World Trade" as the heuristic. I don't mean to jump all over Ev, the guy who is doing his best to cobble something useful together in little time, but these two terms leave out a lot of info--not to mention that "terrorist," while perhaps accurate abou these events, is nonetheless such a loaded term that it only selects in those webloggers who accept that terrorism is necessarily what has happened, and leaves out those webloggers who might be primarily writing about the human toll, or, like me, also considering the US and World military response. Again, I'm not bashing on Ev, since I think the idea is a good one, I'm only pointing out that these two search terms necessarily limit the sites that will be caught and therefore, to an extent, limit the range of ideas attributed to webloggers. (note that now, since I complained about the word "terrorist", this weblog will get caught by the search--that is not my intent, but I don't mind either.)
I suggest that the following words be added: washington, tragedy, airplane, response, nyc. Put these in an "or" relationship, or in a search where any two triggers a result and the results will be far more balanced.
posted 9/11/2001 04:07:07 PM [link
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Wired News also reports on the surge of non-traditional news sites rising to the occasion in the aftermath of this disaster.
posted 9/11/2001 03:56:23 PM [link
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Here's a link to amateur photos of the Pentagon when the plane hit it this morning.
posted 9/11/2001 03:51:40 PM [link
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boingboing remarks about how weblogs and other indy sites are filling in the gaps left by the completely overwhelmed corporate media sites. If you can see it, you can tell it.
posted 9/11/2001 03:49:37 PM [link
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There is no way I cannot say something about the horrific events that happened this morning in New York City and Washington DC. When I first heard the news on the radio this morning as the local announcer broke into NPR news I thought maybe I'd dreamed it--unfortunately I didn't.
Aside from my concern and condolences for the families of the thousands who have been killed and injured, I am also gravely concerned about the response that may come from this, from the US government and others. I fear tremendously violent military response that will, in turn, take many other innocent lives in a messy attempt to single out those who are believed responsible for these heinous acts. I fear that basic civil liberties and freedoms will be sacrificed in a vain attempt to insure safety. No rational person in this nation will defend the acts of terror and violence that have happened, but sane, rational and compassionate person can and should question the response. Is war a truly reasonable or desirable result? How can the death of hundreds or thousands more possible make up for the deaths that have already happened?
At this moment it is crucial to also keep one's eyes on the indpendent and alternative media, which will be the only voices brave enough to challenge the militarized "conventional wisdom" already carpet bombing us from the mainstream media. These same voices may themselves become target as all our freedoms become to be at stake.
Right now the Internet is pretty bogged down with traffic, as major news sites are almost impossible to get--be it due to network damage in NYC or just sheer hits. The Indymedia centers seem to be holding up well. For good information and alternative perspectives turn to the Washington DC IMC and the Global IMC. Here at the Urbana-Champaign IMC we're trying hard to keep our site updated with info from other IMCs and local news as we get it. Our site is off the main IMC server cluster, so we are not as easily bogged down in traffic.
On the radio, you can turn to your local Pacifica affiliate to hear breaking news coverage without the mainstream military-industrial slant. The Common Dreams news website is also offering wire and independent coverage. For a different international perspective you might check out the French News Agency AFP, available on Yahoo.
Also, don't be afraid to share your views and the alternate sources you read and hear. Share them on an Indymedia site, discussion board, on your own website or just with friends and family. If we just sit passively by and only allow "official sources" to guide our thoughts and opinions, then we will only become tools of the officials. Indymedia and the DIY ethic are about every one of us taking charge of our lives and the forces that effect us. I can't agree with the IMC credo more: "BECOME THE MEDIA"
posted 9/11/2001 03:43:48 PM [link
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Monday, September 10, 2001
More regulatory fun: The Washington Post reports that "New FCC Members Send Clear Signal On Indecency." And that signal is "clean up your act and document it." The two commissioners, one Republican and one Dem, are advising the radio industry to keep recordings or transcripts on air personalities about whom they receive listener complaints--ostensibly so that the FCC can more easily determine the merit of listener complaints to the FCC.
Frankly, I'm not sure what to think of this. I have little respect for the crass mysogynistic gutter-talk that the likes of Mancow and Stern now resort to, but I also see the tremendous potential to use this weapon against independent and community stations that challenge the status quo for the sake of progressive change rather than giggles and titilation.
posted 9/10/2001 04:58:34 PM [link
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One Cagey Cat: WSJ Interviews FCC Chair Michael Powell
Like many crafty politicians, Michael Powell seems to be hard to pin down at times. This interview from today's Wall Street Journal does nothing to clarify. Some choice quotes:
"I take the view that the public interest infects everything I do. Every decision I make, I will argue to the last day I am here, I am taking in the name of the public -- not in the name of some company and not in the name of some consumer-interest group."
"The thing that often gets left out of the debate is that the American form of capitalism and markets is absolutely not laissez faire. I bristle mightily when I see people describe any view of mine as laissez faire."
"Markets are extremely capable of harming consumers, and you need to be extremely vigilant about that. I don't have any expectation that anyone pursuing profit is doing so out of the goodness of his heart. They will do whatever they think will maximize their self-interest."
"Take diversity. There's no question that if one person owns everything, it's probably not diversity. It's also true that if every single distribution outlet were owned by a different person, that would be the ultimate in diversity, but it might not be economically sustainable.... When the commission says you can own two stations in a market that has eight voices left, why eight and not nine?"
All these are quotes from a guy who is pushing to eliminate ownership limits on media, and who recently gave Rupert Murdoch a second exception to current ownership rules, allowing him to own two TV stations and a newspaper in NYC (For everyone else, you can't even own a TV and newspaper (unless you're Murdoch)).
Overall the guy comes off as a kind of pragmatist, but I don't mean that as a compliment. He may be sincere when he says that a better way to rationalize limits must be thought out by "creating a better foundation and a more rigorous way of making these evaluations," but I'm suspicious because he wants to first throw out the existing evaluations and limits before building this new "foundation." Unfortunately, it sounds like a great way to put off 'til later what you actually never intend to do.
In fact, I think this quote near the end of the interview is most telling: "I am a believer that there is increasing evidence of serial monopoly in technology markets." Well, a monopoly is still a monopoly--and in effect, there's no difference between one company having it for 50 years, or 5 each for ten.
posted 9/10/2001 04:46:39 PM [link
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Saturday, September 08, 2001
The FCC On the Prowl Again in Central Illinois: Decatur Free Radio Station Visited
This is message from Prof. Mike Townsend, of University of Illinois-Springfield, who is a strong advocate of Mbanna Kantako's Human Rights Radio in Springfield, IL, as well as an advocate of free radio altogether. It was originally posted to the pirate/free radio message board at about.com:
Driven like an obsessive/compulsive handwasher desperately searching for the nearest washbasin or kitchen sink, FCC agent Will "Snoopy" Grey just can't resist staying away from Human Rights Radio.
Unsuccessful in his 14 year quest to shut down Mbanna Kantako's founding station of the microradio movement, "Snoopy" has now turned his attention to one of Kantako's proteges, Lavelle Johnson,who went on-the-air with HRR-Decatur last year.
"Snoopy" secretely triangulated and recorded Lavelle's broadcasts before paying a visit to the station on Aug. 27. Unfortunately for Grey, Lavelle had been well prepared for the visit by his mentor,Kantako.
The FCC usually plays the role of "intimidator", but that was not the case on this official visit. Lavelle never gave Grey a chance as he immediately and firmly refused to allow the agent to enter his home, all the while recording what turned out to be a one-sided encounter on his trusty hand-held tape recorder - a favorite Kantako tactic. He then proceeded to question the legality and morality of the FCC's actions and to question Grey's own role in enforcing such repressive measures, even suggesting that Grey "come on over to the right side."
Grey's response was weak and defensive and within a couple of minutes he hightailed it out of there, quoting some FCC regulation code #. Lavelle told him to" have a nice day" and that he looked forward to their next visit. And the beat goes on.......
Mike Townsend
For more on last year's FCC raids on Mbanna Kantako's Human Rights Radio, see these previous reports: the first FCC raid on Sept. 29, audio links and links to mainstream press coverage of the Sept. raid, a report of the December shut-down of HRR. The audio page also has a short piece on the Sept. raid that I produced for the Urbana-Champaign IMC's Newshour.
posted 9/8/2001 12:11:22 AM [link
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Friday, September 07, 2001
Wired News reports on a new copyright bill that would require copyright protection controls in almost every piece of electronic equipment and create new felony penalties with fines up to $500,000 for distributing content with altered or removed copyright controls. I don't have time to comment on this except to say that it is evil. It represents a nearly unprecendented full-frontal attack on basic fair use rights and necessary ability to manipulate and reconfigure intellectual property beyond just being a mindless consumer. The sponsor of the bill is Sen. Fritz Hollings of South Carolina. His e-mail is available at this link.
posted 9/7/2001 11:22:56 PM [link
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Wednesday, September 05, 2001
Mediachannel's Danny Schechter asks: When Is A Journalist A Journalist?
Schecter offers a nice overview and analysis of the ongoing collision between independent journalists--who take advantage of digital video, the web and other new technologies--and the mainstream establishment, including gov't, mainstream media, and other institutions of power. A choice observation on the journalistic world: "Most mainstream journalists don't acknowledge how their own ideologies (or the pressures of their employers) guide their work. Yet they are considered "real journalists" because of their insider status and where they stand in the pecking order of some media combine."
posted 9/5/2001 01:25:42 PM [link
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The Village Voice provides us with "Telecomm for Dummies," a tour of the Media Industrial Complex. It's a helpful scorecard for keeping track of the big players in the telecomm world on both sides of the coin--the real money playas and the critics.
posted 9/5/2001 12:25:42 PM [link
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Do Indy Filmmakers Really Present a Challenge to Hollywood?
This Wired News article quotes a "young filmmaker fresh from the George Lucas movie factory" who says that big-budget effects ruin films, and therefore Hollywood has much to fear from independent digital filmmakers. Case in point: Star Wars Episode 1 was not as good a film as the original Star Wars, even though the former had many, many more visual effects.
This seems to be a common notion amongst the digerati these days, and while I want to believe it, I don't think it's quite as simple as it's often presented. For instance, in popular music, it has been a common assumption amongst true collectors and fans that indpendent music (indie rock) is truly where the great stuff is. Since the advent of the 4-track recorder and home studios some 10-15 years ago, independent musicians have had the means at their disposal to record music with decent fidelity. And, true, every so often a great indie rock band bubbles up into the mainstream, sometimes causing a few small revolutions within the music industry (think Nirvana). But does this really change things? Or does it just cause the industry to go looking for a thousand copycats of this next big thing?
Without doubt, having a monopoly over the necessary technology for producing recorded music or movies is one very significant way in which the mainstream entertainment industry maintained its stranglehold on American culture. As the technology for creating these art forms has become cheaper, it has certainly increased the opportunity for people to create such art outside the industry system. But does that mean these independents pose a direct threat?
Even as the Internet provides a near-ubiquitous distribution apparatus heretofore unavaiable without tremendous capital outlay, are those 1000s of bands with their songs on mp3.com making any inroads on Britney Spears or Linkin Park? Sure, posting your clever independent film or song on the 'net might arouse the attention of record companies or Hollywood studios. But in that case, are independents really posing a challenge or just creating a new system of "farm leagues" that feed into the majors?
While the film studios and recording companies may not have the same lock on the production equipment, they still have a good lock on promotion and distribution. They have the stacks of money necessary to carpet bomb America with TV and radio ads, billboards and promotional knick-knack swag garbage until we're knee-deep and dazed. And, whether we think it's a good thing or not, the strategy works. For every clever "Blair Witch Project" underground-PR campaign, Hollywood has a hundred consciousness-blitzing ad-campaigns for Pearl Harbor.
It's not that I want to pour cold water on the fire of independents, but rather bring the romantic notion of the artistic underdog back down to earth. Regardless of how cheap or available the technology for creating art becomes, as long as we have a fundamentally corporatized system of distribution and promotion, the independents will only occasionally present a challenge, which will quickly be neutralized by being absorbed. Just think for a moment, paints, canvas, pastels and pencils have been cheaply available for most of the century, why hasn't this caused a tremendous democratization in the visual arts? Because it's not about the means to create, it's about the means to commodify and sell sell sell. And that, my friends, continues to be less democratic, not more.
I'm glad to now have the means to create videos and films cheaply and easily. I just don't harbor the fantasy that somehow I'll be making a great living doing it. It will take a much bigger systemic change before that happens.
posted 9/5/2001 12:15:50 PM [link
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Tuesday, September 04, 2001
DIY Audio Computer: this page details the "Scrap Computer Audio Source Project," for using a cheap used PC to stream out mp3s. One application for this 'puter is for an unlicensed micropower radio station. (via pirateradio@about.com) This project is interesting because it relies on DOS for cheapness and stability--though the author notes that some of the younger kids might use linux. Not a novel project, but still useful ideas for making an automated pirate station--if the computer is cheap enough you can leave your studio unmanned. If your station is in a location that's not also your home or office, then personal liability is minimized in the event the Federales find the station.
posted 9/4/2001 03:14:08 PM [link
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More on @Home: Broadcasting & Cable reports that the broadband service is losing affiliates Comcast and Cox Communications, both of which operate cable TV systems. The short report also says that the @Home creditor demanding immediate payment of $50 million--a payment that threatened to shove the company right into bankruptcy--is now delaying its demand.
Ay, how likely is it that this year I'll have new owners for my cablemodem system, along with rate hikes and service problems?
posted 9/4/2001 03:01:32 PM [link
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I, Cringely has this incisive analysis of the problems facing Excite @Home cablemodem broadband Internet service, as the company stands perched on the brink of bankruptcy. After delving into some of the internal company politics that hampered the company, Cringely nonetheless reaches the conclusion that "Excite@Home failed mainly because broadband did not grow as quickly as expected. Broadband is not, at this time, a viable industry."
I have an @Home cable modem and would be hard pressed to give it up. It makes all my Internet usage much easier and helps integrate the Internet as a basic part of my life, just like any other utility. I hope it sticks around... for my sake, not AT&T or Excite.
posted 9/4/2001 10:43:54 AM [link
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Sunday, September 02, 2001
I posted the news reported on today's edition of my radio program to the Urbana IMC site. Some of the news was already reported here--but has been edited and revised with more recent information for broadcast--so I won't waste blog space with it. If you're interested you can read it here.
posted 9/2/2001 11:31:10 PM [link
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