How
you can be a part of a new, ethical media network:
Think
about how many camcorders have been sold in the last few
years. Thousands of students graduate from film making courses
every year. It has been notoriously difficult to put across
minority and environmental messages on mainstream television.
Technology now allows us to side step this problem.
The
Internet allows us to open up the Street News section [which
originated on the undercurrents alternative news video]
to all Video activists and independent video journalists.
Undercurrents videos features were edited and produced centrally
then there was a delay until the next alternative news video
was produced.
The Time is now.
Now,
you can go out and cover an action during the day, and use
a relatively inexpensive home computer to edit together
a functional short news piece for Beyond TV and similar
Internet sites. This can be networked on the Internet on
sites like Indymedia.org well before the "Nine O' Clock
news", or the "News at When" even show.
The Media Network
that works.
If
you are interested in having your campaign event or action
covered then you can use the directory of video/media activists
to get in contact with someone in your area. This has been
described as a kind of campaign issue dating agency, where
we introduce campaigns that want coverage to filmmakers
who are interested in covering the issues.
This
idea is a continuation of the undercurents Video Activist
Network, which ultimately proved to be a network that didn't
work. By creating an open database which can be used by
activists to find media volunteers and vice-verse, we hope
to remove the "information bottleneck" caused
by the centralised organisational structure of undercurrents
and lack of human resources.
Spies like us - a lot!
We
recognise that this database will lack the personal touch,
after all we can't guarantee that filmmakers listed aren't
representatives of Britain's thriving surveillance industry,
which can be seen as part of the legacy of establishment
"intelligence gathering" obsessions. Such monitoring
professionals often use the cover of journalists. However,
from personal experience such plants are often easy to spot.
If
you are worried about meeting "The Man", why not
ask for informal references and see what other campaigns
they have worked with? Arrange to meet up and see if you
speak the same language. We encourage campaign groups not
to be too paranoid. Openness can be your best defence. It
may be a good idea to have a chat with the minions of the
establishment. It can be disarming. They will feel more
comfortable and are more likely to leave you alone if they
think you are genuinely working for positive change. Transparency
can be very useful.
If
you work for an intelligence-gathering agency and you would
like to talk to Beyond TV please drop us a line and pretend
to be a BBC journalist researching a BBC2 program. We'll
meet up! You buy us lunch tho', right?
If
you would like to contribute a Street News Video, Audio
or text feature -
click here 
