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Livestreaming Ethics With Reb Z: Citizen Journalists Must Take SidesA person in a yellow jacket films an event. Livestreaming ethics means always being aware of what is and isn't in your frame. It means showing what the mainstream media ignores.
A person in a yellow jacket films an event. Livestreaming ethics means always being aware of what is and isn't in your frame. It means showing what the mainstream media ignores. (Morguefile, public domain)
July 27, 2018
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Livestreaming Ethics With Reb Z: Citizen Journalists Must Take Sides

Posted in Creative Commons, Journalism, and Occupy Wall Street

“I started as a journalist to show, during the Occupy protests, what wasn’t being shown.”

In the first part of my interview with Jon Ziegler, also known as Rebelutionary Z, we shared some tips for livestreaming. This time, I wanted to go a bit deeper and urge citizen journalists and streamers of all kinds to consider their personal livestreaming ethics.

There’s a misconception that livestreaming is always about simply showing what’s happening in an unedited, raw form. While most streamers aren’t altering their footage as it goes online in any way, they’re still making choices about what to film, who to interview, and how to frame the footage with their commentary.

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Farm Bill Hemp Amendment Blocks People With Felonies From Growing Hemp
A pair of hands in handcuffs reaches upwards. Some advocates say a hemp amendment to the 2018 Farm Bill would legalize hemp at a cost to vulnerable people. (Pixabay / KlausHausmann, public domain)
July 11, 2018
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Farm Bill Hemp Amendment Blocks People With Felonies From Growing Hemp

Posted in Journalism, and Ministry of Hemp

A hemp legalization amendment in the 2018 Farm Bill prevents anyone with a felony drug conviction from growing hemp.

Some existing hemp entrepreneurs could even find themselves shut out.

“I have a very successful business, I’ve been in this from the get go,” said Veronica Carpio, an experienced hemp producer and president of Grow Hemp Colorado, at a hemp conference in New York last month.

Despite her undeniable contributions to the industry, a past felony cannabis conviction endangers her continued involvement. “If this bill passes, I’m out.”

Read moreFarm Bill Hemp Amendment Blocks People With Felonies From Growing Hemp
Juneteenth Prison Protest Targets Prison Slave Labor In Austin, TexasAnarchists gathered for the Juneteenth prison protest on June 18, targeting the Texas Correctional Industries showroom and another prison office.
A pair of masked anarchists at the Texas Correctional Industries Showroom, wearing black clothes, hold a banner reading "Stand with Striking Prisoners!" The banner depicts the state of Texas with bars across it, and a fist breaking through the bars. June 18, 2018. (Kit O'Connell)
June 25, 2018
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Juneteenth Prison Protest Targets Prison Slave Labor In Austin, Texas

Posted in Austin, Creative Commons, and Journalism

Last week, Austin anarchists marked Juneteenth a day early with a protest against modern-day slavery.

Juneteenth, honored on June 19 each year, marks the day that news of the Emancipation Proclamation reached slaves in Texas. However, the 13th Amendment to the Constitution legalizes unpaid or shockingly underpaid slave labor by those behind bars. The Juneteenth prison protest in Austin targeted two offices operated by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Around dawn, activists scaled flag poles at the Austin offices of the TDCJ parole board to replace the U.S. and Texas flags with an anti-prison slavery banner. Later, more anarchists (and this reporter) gathered to protest at a showroom where corporations come to hire prison labor.

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Texas is one of the few states where prisoners receive no paid compensation for their labor, yet are expected to afford commissary items, $100 medical copays, and post-release expenses,” a representative of the group told me.

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Livestreaming Tips With Reb Z: Be A Better Journalist On Facebook Live & BeyondJon Ziegler's top livestreaming tips include holding your phone in landscape mode and holding your hand steady when moving or turning.
"Kettled" activists film and livestream on their smartphones as they await arrest. St. Louis, October 3, 2017. Jon Ziegler's top livestreaming tips include holding your phone in landscape mode and holding your hand steady when moving or turning. (RebZ.tv, used with permission)
June 14, 2018
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Livestreaming Tips With Reb Z: Be A Better Journalist On Facebook Live & Beyond

Posted in Creative Commons, Journalism, and Occupy Wall Street

Want to be a better livestreamer? I asked indie journalist Jon Ziegler, for his top livestreaming tips when we recently spoke.

Jon, better known to his fans as Rebelutionary Z is one of the most experienced streamers today. He began covering footage of protests and activist events during Occupy Wall Street. Unlike most of the people who started then, he’s continued to report from liberal and radical left events. He credits the Black Lives Matter protests in Ferguson and St. Louis for bringing him back to the field after Occupy ended. Since then he’s traveled around the continent, including reporting on the Standing Rock protests where he sustained a serious injury from a rubber bullet. He also streamed the nazi attack in Charlottesville that killed Heather Heyer.

I asked Jon for his top livestreaming tips. I’ve divided them into two sections, one for newcomers and people who only stream occasionally. He calls these “Johnny On The Spot reporters,” people who were in the right place at the right time to catch a breaking event. In the second section, I’ve included some further tips for more experienced citizen journalists.

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Starbucks Racism & The Media: There’s Nothing New Except The AttentionRecent incidents of "Starbucks racism" reflect the everyday experiences of many black people & POC..
Washington, D.C, March 24, 2018. Activists wearing Black Lives Matter shirts speak out in front of a banner reading "Decriminalize Blackness." Recent incidents of "Starbucks racism" reflect the everyday experiences of many black people & POC. (Flickr / Lorie Shaull, CC-BY-SA license)
May 22, 2018
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Starbucks Racism & The Media: There’s Nothing New Except The Attention

Posted in Creative Commons, and Journalism

As a journalist, I want to talk to other white people about recent coverage of “Starbucks Racism” incidents.

People of all races are horrified by the reports filling the news of black people targeted by whites for everyday activities. I’m calling it “Starbucks Racism” in this post not because I particularly hate Starbucks. It’s simply that the incident in which police arrested two black men waiting for a third friend at a Philadelphia Starbucks is now infamous. This story ushered in renewed interest in the media in this kind of “casual” but extremely dangerous racism.

There’s a reaction to these Starbucks Racism stories I’ve mostly noticed among white people. It reflects both a misunderstanding of systemic racism and a misunderstanding of how the media works. I’ll paraphrase something I saw on a friend’s wall: “What’s wrong with people? I’m so disgusted at how people act recently.”

Read moreStarbucks Racism & The Media: There’s Nothing New Except The Attention
Hemp CBD Is Still Legal: What The HIA vs. DEA Lawsuit Really Means
A statue of "Lady Justice" holding scales in one hand and a sword in the other. The decision in the HIA vs. DEA lawsuit has spread confusion. (Pixabay / AJEL, public domain)
May 17, 2018
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Hemp CBD Is Still Legal: What The HIA vs. DEA Lawsuit Really Means

Posted in Journalism, and Ministry of Hemp

The HIA vs. DEA decision, a ruling in a landmark lawsuit by the hemp industry, has caused a lot of confusion about CBD’s legal status.

The Hemp Industries Association sued the Drug Enforcement Administration last year in an effort to overturn a DEA rule declaring CBD oil illegal. When the court dismissed the case on April 30, based on what was essentially a technical matter, misinformation about the ruling quickly spread online. Since we’re hemp advocates and supporters of access to CBD oil, we knew we had to get to the bottom of the HIA vs. DEA decision and what it means for the industry.

“Our hope was that they would withdraw the rule or go back through the traditional rule making progress,” said Colleen Keahey, executive director at the HIA.

Read moreHemp CBD Is Still Legal: What The HIA vs. DEA Lawsuit Really Means