A couple weeks ago, at the Hyde Park Art Center, I held a workshop about engaging audiences through self-publishing as a part of the Pedagogical Factory exhibition I've been involved in down there. We talked about how big media tends to operate, and then how to make zines, and then we made, I dunno, 7 or 8 of them? And then took them to the FCC hearing tonight in Chicago. Like this:
- I made 10-15 copies of each zine
- folded and cut them on the front steps of Rainbow/PUSH, which attracted quite a bit of attention from passersby, including
- the milling about medium-range media, who thought it was cool enough to film (yes, that's a cop car in the background)
- regular people, who not only asked WHAT they were, and IF they could have one, but HOW to make their own!
- handed them out mostly to people I thought might be "opposition" (read: business suit) because, you know, they're cute! so who's gonna get offended! nobody! (most of them read them, laughed, and passed them on to friends to read also. no one vocalized "opposition" to anything stated therein.)
- I was unfortunately unable to testify. why? well it seems that the FCC was a little more excited to talk about diversity than, you know, hear the community talk about their own diversity, so their introductory remarks ran over by an hour and a half, and i was # 112 on the list! so likely that was not going to happen, at least in my just-got-there-from-the-doctor's-office state, so after 5 hours i split.
- but not before i submitted, as my "testimony," copies of all the zines. they're now a part of the public record. awesome!
SIDENOTE:
OH MY GOD the WGN coverage, on in the background RIGHT NOW, is insane. "It's not unusual for a company to own many outlets in different cities, but nonetheless it falls under the jurisdiction of the FCC," the report started—when the resounding (overwhelming, even) note the hearing struck was that this exact situation is bad for local community health, a terrible economic decision, and moreover, becoming DANGEROUS as more and more people are shut out from the media (and the advertising rates!) that drive what we are forced to consume, and are willing, in some cases to even become violent. (yes it was a very dramatic hearing.) Note on the TV that they are mostly showing the footage of the Commissioners—and not the public, who were vociferously against such stations as WGN. Exactly 6 people, while i was there, spoke in favor of media conglomeration—and that was in 5 hours. (I believe when I left the remaining 200 testifiers planned to speak against consolidation. All the suits had left the building.) And supporters of major media conglomeration were terribly, horribly, inarticulate. "But we offer many volunteer opportunities in the local community," WGN itself offered up.
WGN, by the way, is owned by the Tribune Media Company, currently rallying the FCC to allow it to purchase MORE media outlets (it owns I think 48% of all media consumed in Chicago), and under a system that will allow it to NOT PAY TAXES ANYMORE.
Oh but what's weird? The Fox News coverage of the hearing was spot-on. Why? 'Cause it was totally freaking controversial. What kind of world do I live in where Fox can be counted on to provide actual coverage of the evening's events?
