by Crimethinc. Workers' Collective
Available in 284 free installments
Owner:
We paraded north into downtown, took a left on Friendly Avenue, and circled the block, arriving on the doorstep of the J. P. building on Market Street. We presented our ninety-five demands, which were printed on a Suzuki violin, and made our way back to the park. It was a quick in-and-out operation, lasting approximately 40 minutes, start to finish.
All in all, the parade was a great success. We got the reactions we wanted out of the shocked denizens of the business district, and in ourselves most of all?sweaty palms,
pounding heartbeats, terror and exhilaration, tumult and exultation. There are things we could have improved on?^better preparation, tighter marching formation, not forgetting the demands in the van and having to run back for them, and especially integrating the periphery more (bringing them in earlier?) so there would be no risk of anyone feeling like a mere warm body in someone else's project?^but, overall, it was a good way to challenge ourselves and escalate the tensions in Greensboro, maintaining the feeling that something is happening.
Marches and Parades 345
Media, Independent
Why Do Media Yourself?
Ingredients
Optional Ingredients
Instructions
There's Already Independent Media m My Town!
346
Creating your own media enables you to spread information without being censored or
misrepresented, freeing you and those you reach from dependence on corporate media. Independent media centers can be hubs of radical activity, drawing together otherwise disparate groups and connecting the efforts of intrepid independent journalists. Anyone has the potential to serve the public as a journalist, videographer, radio technician, computer technician, or photographer wdthout going to expensive universities or specialty schools. Stop waiting for the corporate media to cover your stories, and begin making your own media!
A GROUP OF ASPIRING ANTICORPORATE JOURNALISTS
Computer WITH internet access Video camera Video-editing software
Digital camera or a scanner Microphone and audio tape recorder
There may already be media outlets in your community that are independent to some degree. While you can bet your bottom dollar that every nationally-affiliated news station is utterly at the mercy of their corporate masters, there are often smaller venues that may have some integrity left. These can include public access TV channels, low-power community radio stations, college radio stations, alternative websites, and local cultural.
subcultural, and news magazines. Work out which stories they aren't covering, and how your independent media group could provide them with material no one else offers?^local and global news from a revolutionary perspective, for instance. If there is already a group working on radical media production, you may want to join their collective or at least build a relationship with them. Always welcome connections, and be on the lookout for new media activists and free or cheap equipment. At the same time, be wary when considering joining an existing group; almost every established media institution has strings attached, just as almost every paid journalist has ulterior motives.
After checking out your local media scene, see if you can get a collective of radical media Becoming the Media
activists together. As in all collectives, diversity is strength: in media work, a diversity
of technical strengths and social backgrounds is a must. Media work can attract a wide
range of people of differing ages and demographics?and beware, these people may
fight amongst themselves! One of the most difficult parts of working in your group may
be dealing with the wide variety of differing political beliefs and goals while keeping
everyone focused on productive activity.
It is essential for radicals to stick to their principles in media work. To protect your group from being co-opted by liberal interests or internal hierarchies, be consistent in operating by consensus and direct democracy and make a point of having no ties with the corporate media.
Many media groups use an open-membership collective model that allows anyone to at- Media Organizing and Focus
tend meetings, present ideas, and participate in the production of media. These groups
operate by consensus and encourage new individuals to join. Media affinity groups may
form for specific projects, such as covering an illegal direct action that cannot be an- independent Media
