Digital Be-In 12: Live Netcast
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Digital Be-In 12: Live Netcast |
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DIGITAL BE-IN 12 Report by Mark Glaser A few hundred "New Edge" types, some holdovers from the hippie-era original Human Be-In of 1967, others curious consciousness-raised ravers, came from near and far for the 12th Digital Be-In in San Francisco’s SoMa district. The theme was media revolution, the ambient mood was nightclub and a feast of video projections and decorations. Photo: From left to right: Joan Blades, Rose Aguilar and Malcolm CasSelle. In one room was a full stage set up for the musical acts that would come later. In a corner was a pay bar with alcohol, juxtaposed conveniently next to a tea setup with special drinks for those of the non-alcoholic persuasion. Across from the drinks was a food stand selling organic vegetarian (probably vegan too) food with a distinct East Indian flavor.
Photo, left: Digital Be-in founder, Michael Gosney Next came a special media panel moderated by Mr. Gosney, and starring folks like Rose Aguilar of CNET, Jeff Perlstein of Media Alliance, Malcolm CasSelle of NetNoir, and Danny Sheehan, famous social justice attorney. Michael Gosney gave a short intro to the crowd, explaining that this 12th Digital Be-In was two years in the making, and was the descendent of the original ’67 event, recreating the spirit of the peace-and-love era but with a techno twist. He noted that the dot-com hysteria that had gripped the SF Bay Area had given way to dot-bomb and where did that leave us? Where do we go from here? Most importantly, what’s Next? Photo, right: Jeff Perlstein, Director of Media Alliance
Jeff had a funky American flag that had all its stars removed [courtesy of Adbusters]. In their stead were corporate logos of companies like Nike, CBS and Warner Bros. Jeff said that we had to challenge the corporate control of media, challenge the San Francisco Chronicle to do a better job, and challenge the recent buyout of AT&T broadband. Next up was Rose Aguilar, who works for technology media giant CNET, and their CNET Radio outlet - along with an email newsletter and web site called NewsWeCanUse.com, with news of interest for women. Rose explained why she stayed with a big media outlet such as CNET: "I don’t want to preach to the choir. No one has ever told me to change the content of my stories. Never." She said that she rewrites the gist of news stories for her friends who don’t have time to read all the news. Because she’s online for 8-10 hours per day (!), she has time to cull the best stories and send them on to others. Now she has subscribers in many other countries, including South Africa and Saudi Arabia. Rose noted how media concentration has worsened in the past 10 years, going from 50 companies controlling most outlets in ’92 to only 5 conglomerates controlling most information today.
Photo, left: Malcolm CasSelle of NetNoir Michael Gosney piped up that most media conglomerates are supported by advertising, and the movie "The Matrix" was a major contemporary myth. Our lives have become so much about consumption and buying more, More, MORE. Now, more than ever, the indie media is vital to getting another viewpoint. Michael mentioned Adbusters magazine as an example of alternative media that was standing up to corporations.
Last but certainly not least was Danny Sheehan, who gave a rousing speech motivating people to act. The famous lawyer, who had helped to agitate against nuclear power in the late ‘70s, was angry at the current situation, which he called an "emergency." What’s going on? Now that Bush Jr. is in power, Sheehan said, and the GOP controls the House of Representatives, they are pushing to bring nuclear power plants back. They stopped building them in the U.S. after the Silkwood lawsuit, but now Congress was limiting liability, meaning more plants could be built without worry of lawsuit.
Photo, left: Danny Sheehan, Social Justice Attorney Soon his words were subsumed in pulsing electronica music, as the attentive audience turned to dance, bringing their minds and bodies into one space of action. Sites to learn more: Check out the photographer, Amy Carr's site at www.amycarr.com. |
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Michael
Gosney, the godfather of New Edge, the guy who put this all together,
took over as Master of Ceremony, as speakers began to take the stage.
The theme remained media revolution, but on a smaller scale, the theme
was, "Hey, you guys in back! Shut up while the speakers are speaking!"
It seemed that you couldn’t keep schmoozers from doing their thing in
such a conducive setting. After the Jobs panel, people obviously felt
the need to network, exchange cards, and hope for that big break in the
career realm.
First
up on the panel was Jeff Perlstein of Media Alliance, who said we have
to challenge the existing media structure and their stranglehold on our
information. He helped with the Independent Media Center, an important
alternative voice, including its site, Indymedia.org. He said the Center
had grown in prominence as it now was in 80 cities in 15 countries and
helped cover the ’99 WTO protests in Seattle.
Then
came Malcolm CasSelle of NetNoir, who said he had worked at a media company
that sent up satellites to beam TV programs into 70 percent of the globe.
And what were they beaming to all those millions of households? "Dallas"
and "The Bold & the Beautiful." His message: We have to watch very
carefully what we’re beaming into homes from space. Content is driven
by economics, social standards, and movies will go around the globe upon
release in the U.S.
Joan
Blades of MoveOn.org took the mic next, explaining how her grass-roots
online organization had tapped 500,000 disaffected voters during the Clinton
impeachment campaign. "We tried to do our best to help these people connect
to politicians," she said, "and now we’re focusing on campaign finance
reform." MoveOn tries to help people who are busy get involved in local
and national politics.
"We
must break the lock on the media by corporate control," Danny said. "We
need alternative media to tell these stories. The big media won’t do it.
And now Bush Jr. is justifying carpet-bombing in Afghanistan and all across
the Middle East. We need a new revolutionary political consciousness."