Adventures of a Gonzo Journalist
This is the Winter 2020 edition of the Virtual Gonzo Zine Library.
The VGZL is a zine reading list and miniature zine distro. From time to time, I curate some of my favorite zines — zines that I think everyone should be reading, including myself.
These are the main selections from this edition of my reading list. I’ve selected a few bonus zines as well as some other resources to consider, too.
Posted in Journalism, and Yes! Magazine
Often working with just their phones, community journalists can shine light on movements, expose police brutality, and help protect activists from getting “disappeared” by an authoritarian government. At the same time, the wrong tweet—or especially livestream—can leave people in the street exposed to increased police surveillance.
From “snatch and grab” arrests in unmarked vans, to raids on the homes of perceived organizers, activists have good reason to be concerned. From Portland, Oregon, to Philadelphia, law enforcement acknowledge using livestreams and other social media to gather evidence.
As activists begin to face serious charges from the most recent wave of protests, there’s also more attention on the risks posed by inexperienced or unethical community journalists. Meanwhile, more people are protesting for the first time, with some newly taking up the role of community journalist. As such, a debate that’s been bubbling beneath the surface since at least the Occupy movement and Arab Spring is bursting to the forefront: the question of whether, and how, protests should be documented in real time online.
Posted in Creative Commons, and Journalism
The First Amendment doesn’t grant you the right to film people’s faces or put protesters at risk without facing social consequences.
Recently, I’ve watched protesters turn increasingly hostile against some media, especially livestreamers. Even though I’m a journalist, I find myself agreeing with protesters that streamers can put them at risk.
Any journalist, even well meaning ones, can become a media troll if they endanger movements. And right now, as we face off with ascendant fascism, the potential risks to activists are very high.
Smoking hemp can be relaxing and calming, even pain relieving, and pre-rolls (“joints”) or hemp cigarettes make this experience even more convenient. That’s why we selected the best CBD pre-rolls for your enjoyment.
When we started this website, it was hard to even find CBD oil. Nowadays, there’s been an explosion in CBD products with thousands available on the market. Hemp flower is an especially fast-growing category. Thanks to the 2018 Farm Bill, you can legally smoke hemp anywhere in the U.S. Many websites and stores now sell hemp in both “loose flower” (nuggets of smokable hemp) or pre-rolled hemp cigarettes (hemp joints or CBD pre-rolls). Some brands also now make cigarette style hemp smokes, which resemble the tobacco version but with less harmful contents.
Posted in Journalism, and Ministry of Hemp
Though there are hundreds of quality products available, the CBD market is flooded with scams, frauds, misleading products and just plain bad ideas.
Currently, the CBD market is completely unregulated. Almost anyone with some capital can get into the CBD business, and there’s been a glut of raw materials (raw hemp extract) available at falling prices over the past year, especially if you’re not too picky about the quality.
While we normally focus on the positive aspects of the industry, and the highest quality CBD products, we also think it’s important to warn our readers … and put pressure on the hemp industry to do better.
Posted in Austin, Creative Commons, and Journalism
Did you know it’s literally against the law to fire Austin’s chief of police?
I found myself tweeting this fact over and over again, each time some new fresh horror surfaced from Austin’s police force. So I thought I should write something too.
It would be an extraordinary fact at any time, but it seems worth repeating at this moment when so many people are demanding accountability from our nation’s police. One of the key forms of accountability under capitalism, firing a bad worker, is actually off limits.
