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Tag: Media

Yes Magazine: Documenting Protests While Protecting Protesters

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.

Any Journalist Can Become A Media Troll, Even ‘Neutral’ Journalists

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.

Beyond The Concrete Milkshake: Tactics For Defeating Media Trolls & Grifters (Zine)

Posted in Creative Commons, Journalism, and Zines

A free zine by Kit O’Connell with nonviolent tactics for protecting your movement from media trolls and grifters that seek to harm activists.

During the Occupy movement, the smartphone allowed anyone to broadcast live or instantly report on protests or police action using social media. Some of these citizen journalists started to bring in donations from their viewers, usually just enough to keep them supplied with Megabus tickets to the next protest. Most of them either broadly supported the movement, or subscribed to “journalistic neutrality.”

Then, some of them figured out you can make way more money working for the dark side. So they tucked their beanie caps down a little lower and got to work making the Left look bad. A trickle of donations turned into a flood of money.

Dishonestly edit a video, and you could land a job with Infowars. Get roughed up while harassing antifascists, and you earn a 6-figure paycheck. All you have to do is give up a piece of your soul.

How The Media Fueled The Early War On Drugs

Posted in Journalism

Honeysuckle Magazine published my article on the early history of the drug war in the media under their “Honeysuckle Magazine’s Honeypot” imprint.

Life in Isolation (& Gonzo Zine Library Update)

Posted in Journalism, Life, and Zines

It’s time again for me to say THANK YOU to everyone that supports my work on Patreon. Thanks to your help, I’ve been able to continue work on the Virtual Gonzo Zine Library. Read on for a little bit more about that below.

I want to be transparent about my mental health, because I think it’s helpful for others to know they’re not alone in this.

I’ve struggled my whole life with depression. After watching “The Babadook,” I think of depression like the monster in my personal basement. Always there, in my life, but hopefully part of the background most of the time as long as I take care of myself… but occasionally, escaping it’s home in the basement to spend a few days in the foreground of my consciousness. For the most part, I try to love myself and let it pass.

Fascist Journalists Attack The Poor: Laura Loomer & The Project Veritas Cycle

Posted in Creative Commons, and Journalism

It’s happened again. Fascist wannabe journalists attacked the most vulnerable, and as a result poor people will probably die.

Laura Loomer, a talking asshole fringed in blonde hair, is the latest to engage in a punch-down “sting operation” that’s targeted to hurt people with the most to lose.

In an investigative report that’s the talk of nazi rallies everywhere, Loomer went undercover in a refugee camp to expose the “shocking” fact that camp workers help refugees apply for aid in a way that minimizes.trauma and maximizes the likelihood that they’ll get help. Previously best known for spreading Islamophobic conspiracies about her Uber drivers, she’s now trying to graduate to the next level of far right pundit.