Feature Archives

Post-Katrina reconstruction is still in progress throughout the Gulf Coast, with much of the City of New Orleans still in ruins. Dos Americas: The Reconstruction of New Orleans is a documentary focused on those rebuilding the city through interviews with some of the estimated 100,000 Latino migrant laborers who have converged in the area over the past two and a half years. Despite terrible working conditions, massive fraud, a housing crisis, severe harassment by law enforcement, and very limited resources, New Orleans’ Latino community has mushroomed since the storm and is establishing an infrastructure proportional to its size.

On Sunday July 20th, Indybay will have an orientation in Oakland for those interested in learning about the site and getting involved in media production and editorial work. The meeting will be at 3pm at 570 14th St Suite #3.

The indynewswire show airs weekly on Freak Radio, Friday mornings 10-12 noon, broadcasting news and opinion from independent media worldwide, focused on indymedia sites but also drawing from other websites. This week features audio from KBOO, Radio4All, Puerto Rico Indymedia and Portland Indymedia. Topics include the attack against the tree-sit protesting contruction of the I-69 NAFTA superhighway, farmworker Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez who died in the fields last month while picking 'two buck chuck,' police brutality in Portland, political property destruction, sentencing in greenscare cases, the campaign to free Chip Fitzgerald and much more.

Indymedia Newsreal, a monthly television series, brings progressive grassroots organizing, going on in your backyard, to a national television audience. Newsreal is a longstanding collaboration between the Independent Media Center and Free Speech TV. It is shown on Free Speech TV every first Thursday at 5pm PST and sent on disc to community screening groups who show it during public screenings or include it on public access shows.

Skidmark Bob of Free Radio Santa Cruz interviewed media analyst John Anderson about the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) to be discussed at the G8 summit in Japan and H.R. 4279, the Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property (PRO IP) Act of 2007. Although ACTA's title might suggest that the agreement deals only with counterfeit physical goods (such as medicines), what little information has been made available publicly by negotiating governments about the content of the treaty makes it clear that it will have a far broader scope, and in particular, will deal with tools targeting "Internet distribution and information technology." The PRO IP Act proposes to make substantial changes to federal copyright law, including the appointment of a copyright Czar.

Free Speech Radio News (FSRN) is facing closure after its major supporter substantially reduced funding. FSRN has been given notice by the financially-strapped Pacifica Foundation that its funding will be cut by more than $13,500 a month - effective immediately. The reduction represents about a 25% cut in income for the grassroots news collective. Since FSRN is barred from on-air fundraising, it must seek to offset the cut with income from affiliates, foundations and individuals. A massive cut in funding from Pacifica on a moment's notice will make it impossible for Free Speech Radio News to produce a daily half-hour newscast.

Earth First! Radio News is a no compromise weekly radio program produced at Free Radio Santa Cruz. Focussing on direct-action and bio-diversity, EF! Radio provides eco-action and activist news, calls-to-action, updates and commentary on current events worldwide. The May 29th broadcast features updates from the North American Earth Liberation Prisoners Support Network, Tre Arrow Defense Committee, Support for Rod Coronado, Buffalo Field Campaign, as well as news from Montana, Australia, Chile and more.