Feature Archives

On Friday May 21, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will hold a day-long public hearing on media ownership regulation at Stanford University.  The hearing, which is being billed as a workshop, features two panels with noted speakers from the Communications Workers of America and the Participatory Culture Foundation, as well as large corporate media representatives. Periods for public comment will follow the panel presentations. Two demonstrations in favor of a reversal of the rules that encourage corporate media cross-ownership are planned for 9:45 am and noon.

The Reel Work May Day Labor Film Festival takes place each year in California's central coast communities in and around Santa Cruz. Reel Work presents cultural events, bringing together award-winning documentary film producers, workers, activists, students, and the public with the goal of increasing community awareness of the central role of work in our lives, to discuss economic and global justice issues, and to bring alive the history and culture of the labor movement in the US and abroad.

On April 16th, veteran Indybay reporter David Morse moved to quash a search warrant issued for photographs he took at a December 11th protest on the UC Berkeley campus. The photographs were taken while Morse was covering the protest for Indybay. Despite clearly identifying himself as a journalist, Morse was arrested along with seven others, had his camera and photographs seized, and was charged with multiple felonies. The charges were dropped within days. On June 18th, Judge Yolanda Northridge quashed the warrant, ordering the UC Regents to return the original photographs and all copies.

Josh Wolf spent seven and a half months in federal jail asserting his right as a journalist not to turn over videotape of a demonstration. He is now a student at UC Berkeley. Just last week, as this profile was being prepared for publication, the UCB administration announced it will try to suspend Wolf for seven months as punishment for his being arrested while covering the protest against fee hikes that led to the occupation of Wheeler Hall last November.

Tiny Garcia was arrested for the crime of living houseless in America. From that experience she co-founded POOR Magazine, a media organization that is much more than a weekly journal. Tiny describes the magazine as "a family of poverty scholars teaching on and speaking on issues of poverty, racism, disability, border fascism and indigenous resistance" in this interview with Angola 3 News.

On Sunday, March 28, Indybay will hold an orientation from 4-6 p.m. at Wheeler Hall Room 220 on the UC Berkeley campus. The orientation is intended to be for those interested in learning about the site and getting involved in media production and editorial work. Volunteers will demonstrate how to publish text, photos, audio, video, and much more, including how stories get made into center column features.

On March 27th, a birthday party was held to celebrate 15 years of Free Radio Santa Cruz. The party took place at the Kuumbwa Jazz Center in downtown Santa Cruz. The night featured local musicians and brought together past and present station programmers, as well as other community members. In addition to the local musicians, Tom Lodge, a pirate radio legend and pioneer from England, spoke of the great days of Radio Caroline, which allowed for the British Invasion. Free Radio Santa Cruz can be picked up at 101.1 FM in most of Santa Cruz, and online at freakradio.org.