Feature Archives

On Friday, 9/17, in the indymedia tradition of guerilla video screenings, come check out Street Level TV's FREE San Francisco screening of RNC footage hot off the streets of NYC, in addition to reportbacks from local activists who went into the fray! We will be showcasing work by local videographers Mike Kavenaugh/VAN, Mark Liiv/Whispered Media, Jeff Taylor/Whispered Media, Mo Kingsley/NION, Marc Heustis, Ali Tonak/Indybay, Jay Finneburgh... and more! Jeffrey Grubler from the Ronald Reagan Home for the Criminally Insane will also be on-hand to give a reportback. Stick around for the grand finale: a special edited version of Street Level TV's RNC Special Episode #5, which aired at the beginning of September on Channel 29 in SF and Channel 28 in Berkeley. Don't have cable? That's fine - Street Level wants to make the media accessible. So bring some friends, some blankets, some yummies... and a forty for your Indymedia loved ones! Screening starts at 8pm sharp in Dolores Park in SF.

On Saturday, 9/18, come out and support activists and videographers returning from the Republican National Convention in NYC. 10 p.m.: Screening of segments produced by independent video activists. 11 p.m.: Hip-hop and beats featuring DJ Sake One, DJ LP (FLC), DJ Trinity (TrinityWolf Network), and special performance by Aima (The Mamaz). $5-10 donation benefits Indybay IMC and Street Level TV, no one turned away for lack of funds. At the Noodle Factory in West Oakland, 1255 26th St @ Union. Directions

Street Level TV will air this month at its usual time of 9pm on the first Saturday of the month - but what about those of you out there who don't have cable, you say? Yes, we know you are hungry for independent media, too, and that is why we will be screening Street Level TV on the big screen, which we hope to have become a monthly gig. This Saturday night, come out and join the Street Level TV team at Station 40 for a special episode of SLTV - all about the Repulican National Convention, elections - and more! The screening starts at 6:30pm, followed by bands, including local favorites Full Moon Partisans. Come out and enjoy munchies, practically-free cable television, bands, community... and find out how to get involved with Street Level TV!
SLTV Screening @ Station 40, 3030b 16th Street/@Mission ----- Saturday, September 4, 6:30pm, $3

The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation and is demanding records regarding NYC Indymedia posts that list the names of Republican delegates and urge protesters to "unwelcome" them to New York City. Federal prosecutors said in a grand jury subpoena that the information was needed as part of a Secret Service investigation into possible "voter intimidation."

It appears the FBI and Secret Service are once again engaging in a fishing expedition to route out dissenting viewpoints, harass people exercising their free speech rights, and intimidate others from exercising their right to protest the Republican National Convention. "We can't see any legitimate purpose behind this investigation, and it looks to us like another attempt to repress legitimate political dissent," says Ann Beeson, associate legal director for the ACLU, which is representing Calyx, an internet service provider for NYC Indymedia.

Aside from on the Indymedia website, the information on RNC delegates can also be found in the RNC's official media guide packet, on various state Republican Party websites, and through a variety of media sources.

The ACLU says it plans to hand over to federal officials on Monday the subpoenaed information on Calyx's contacts at Indymedia, but is unable to reveal who posted the delegates' names, because Indymedia does not log identifying information of its contributors. Report on global Indymedia

"Several areas in a city could be linked together and even from one city to another. Theoretically, if enough people rig up transmitters and antennas at proper locations and everyone operates on the same band, it is possible to build a nation-wide people's network that is equally theoretically legal." - Abbie Hoffman, Steal This Book

8/27/2004: Starting today at 10 am PST, a nation-wide people's radio network will be potted up for its maiden voyage on the airwaves. Critical Mass Radio Network is a decentralized network of independent community-based radio stations that will broadcast a coordinated signal internationally, starting Friday, August 27, in honor of the Republican National Convention. As featured in the LA Times, CMRN is six preliminary local stations who have joined forces to bring you a simultaneous and continuous uproar of voices, stories, music and unfiltered news - enough to ram the hot air back down George W.'s throat faster than you can say "republicrat". Join Freak Radio in Santa Cruz, Kill Radio in Los Angeles, RadioActive Radio in San Diego, PDX Radio in Portland, A-Noise in New York City, and your very own locally bred and monitored Enemy Combatant Radio here in the City by the Bay. Together, we will be bringing you live updates from around the country, starting at 10 am. Tune in at 6 pm PST to hear ECR dj's interview Board of Supes Prez Matt Gonzalez, local RNC solidarity affinity groups, peeps from the League of Pissed Off Voters... and more! At 7:30 pm PST, tune in to hear our dj crew live on the ground in New York for the Republican National Convention. Join the network! Be the media!! LISTEN! For local listeners: CMRN's webcast will also be re-broadcast all day on Pirate Cat Radio on San Francisco's 87.9 FM and on 104.9 in the East Bay. More coverage of the protests against the RNC on Indybay's Government and Elections Page | CMRN Station ID | CMRN PSA

8/26/2004: After getting raided and shut down in Brooklyn last week during a pre-RNC rally, the volatile FTAA-IMC documentary "The Miami Model: Free Trade Police State" will make its San Francisco premier at Station 40 on August 26 at 7pm.
With the mounting projects the IMC has undertaken, it has become increasingly difficult to finance them all, especially our kick-ass newspaper FaultLines! This screening was a benefit for Indybay, Fault Lines, and the FTAA-IMC.
The event also featured a photo exhibit by Indybay photographer Matt Fitt and a globalization update by Jesse Swanhuyser of California Coalition for Fair Trade and Human Rights.
Station 40 is located at 3030 B 16th St (@ Mission).

Other indymedia video working groups: NYC Video Working Group | UK Video Working Group | Indymedia NewsReal | Continuing Indybay-RNC Coverage

Ever since the War on Iraq broke out last year, the Chronicle, San Francisco's monopoly daily, has forbidden its employees from taking part in any political act or statement, aside from voting. According to the Chron's revised ethics code, any public political statement by a reporter creates a "conflict of interest," which could lead to accusations of "bias" and jeopardize the paper's "credibility." Last year, technology writer Henry Norr was let go for participating in civil disobedience against the war. Rachel Gordon and photographer Liz Mangelsdorf were barred from covering SF’s same-sex marriages after they married each other, and veteran letters page editor William Pates was sent home on leave for making a $400 campaign contribution. Editorial page editor John Diaz states that even "a bumper sticker would definitely be a concern" as a violation of the code.

According to Ted Glasser, director of Stanford’s Graduate Journalism Program, reporters' biases won’t disappear simply because they’re not allowed to put bumper stickers on their cars. "The policy doesn’t prevent conflicts of interest, it just encourages employees to hide their interests," says Gasser. This makes it more difficult for readers to critically evaluate what they read.

The Chron’s stated commitment to "neutrality" conflicts with the behavior of its top executives; Chairman of the Board George Hearst donated $30,000 to Republican candidates and committees in the 2000–2004 elections. Chron policy is also in violation of California State Labor Code, which provides for up to a year of jail time for employers caught "forbidding or preventing employees from engaging or participating in politics." Hearst executives can rest easy for the moment; employees who have been affected by the ethics code have so far chosen to settle privately instead of pursuing legal action.
Full story by Sarah Norr

The Federal Communication Commission's only west coast hearing on media and "localism" was held in Monterey, CA on July 21st. Although Chairman Michael Powell, son of Secretary of State Colin Powell, was conspicuously "AWOL," three of the five Commissioners were on hand. Six hundred community members and media activists bumped shoulders with Clear Channel reporters and executives for a chance to speak their piece on the issue of local vs. corporate media.

The FCC was recently ordered by a federal appeals court to review its media consolidation plan, which the FCC had voted to push through despite literally millions of letters of protest from the public pouring in to FCC headquarters in Washington. The FCC's plan would allow a single corporation to buy out smaller firms and own all mass media in a "market," including radio, television, cable, newspapers, newsracks and billboards.

Davey D, from KPFA Berkeley, put in eleven years across the bay at KMEL. In October 2001, while a DJ on KMEL, Davey D conducted an interview with Congresswoman Barbara Lee, the only member of US Congress to vote against going to war in Afghanistan. He was promptly fired from the station, which had recently been acquired by Clear Channel. Davey spoke about the importance of public airwaves, the manipulative ways of corporate media conglomerates, and gave examples of how voices are being omitted "with the media's most powerful tool: Silence."

The open microphone session began at around 8:30 and went almost until midnight. Of the hundreds who came out and lined up to speak, the majority were advocates of tighter regulation on corporate media ownership, and more locally-owned independent media sources to create a healthy democratic debate. Organizations like Alliance for Community Media, Grade the News, Media Alliance and Media Watch were present, as well as pirate radio DJs from Enemy Combatant Radio and Free Radio Santa Cruz.

Photos: 1 | 2 | Audio: 1 | 2 | 3 | Reports: 1 | 2 | 3 | Santa Cruz Indymedia coverage