Feature Archives

On April 3rd, independent reporter Josh Wolf was freed from federal custody after spending 7 1/2 months in prison for refusing to turn over video footage to a federal grand jury. That morning, Josh wrote on his blog, "During the course of this saga I have repeatedly offered to allow a judge to be the arbiter over whether or not my video material has any evidentiary value. Today, you the public have the opportunity to be the judge and I am confident you will see, as I do, that there is nothing of value in this unpublished footage."

Author Norman Solomon and peace mom Cindy Sheehan spoke at the Sacramento for Democracy meeting on Wednesday, April 4. The title of the talk was "Meeting the Historic Challenge: War, Peace and the 2007 California Democratic Convention." Norman is a nationally syndicated columnist on media and politics and a newly elected delegate to the State Democratic Party from the 6th Assembly District.

The San Francisco Bay Area Independent Media Center is a non-commercial, democratic collective of Bay Area independent media makers and media outlets and serves as the local organizing unit of the global Indymedia network. The SF Bay IMC currently has a web group and a print group. The Indybay website and Faultlines newspaper groups have separate orientations for new volunteers as well as joint IMC orientations every few months.

A memorial for Nadia Cabezas, who was also known as Kitty Kastro, will be held on Tuesday, April 3rd at 2pm at St. Anthony's Foundation, 121 Golden Gate Avenue in San Francisco. Kitty Kastro was struck and killed instantly by a reckless driver in Indiana on March 5th. Nadia Cabezas stood with ACT UP, educated society about transgender issues, confronted the religious right, and fought for the rights of disabled people. Kitty Kastro hosted a public access show called Tranny Talk, where she interviewed police chiefs, children of transsexuals, religious extremists, mothers of transsexuals who have been killed, and others. Nadia is survived by her partner, who is Tranny Talk producer Dina Boyer, as well as her Mom Kathy, her dog Maya, and the couple's two cats, Samantha and Kitty.

Bay Media Lab host Howard Vicini will present video evidence during a Friday March 16th broadcast on San Francisco cable access covering the case against Josh Wolf. The video is consistent with Wolf's assertion that he was there as journalist covering the event despite statements made by the prosecutor and the judge that called into question Wolf's status as a journalist. The live broadcast will feature discussion among media activists and journalists concerning the Wolf case and others that have resulted in journalists facing federal subpoenas and the prospect of jail time.

Fault Lines, the bi-monthly newsmagazine of Indybay, has just released another issue of radical political analysis and social commentary. Fault Lines #20 features exclusive articles on war resistors, squat riots, Climate Change, resistance to CAFTA, UC Berkeley's corporate sell-out and much more. Free issues of Fault Lines are available at various locations throughout the Bay Area.

Media analyst and antiwar activist Norman Solomon spoke at UC Santa Cruz on February 7th, 2007, about media in times of war. On this night, Solomon received the third annual Ruben Salazar Journalism Award. Audio

Rubén Salazar was a Mexican-American news reporter killed by the police during the National Chicano Moratorium March against the Vietnam War on August 29, 1970 in Los Angeles.