<nettime> Historic national broadcast

[DeeDee Halleck <dhalleck@ucsd.edu>]

Dear Colleagues,

I just returned from the Philadelphia Independent Media Center where
several hundred web writers, photographers, camcorder activists and radio
people came together to provide a rare look at the reality behind the US
political process.  My own task was producing the first television version
of Democracy Now, a daily two hour live DBS and KU-analog broadcast to
community television stations across the land. 

I believe that this is the first time that there has been a live, daily
progressive national television news. 

It was all done on a shoe string, with hundreds of hours of volunteer
labor and thousands of dollars of donated equipment.  There are articles
about it on www.mediachannel.org and other on-line journals.  We were
interviewed by Swiss TV, French TV, Canadian TV, MSNBC, NBC national, CNN,
KQED, all of the local network affiliates, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the
Columbia Journalism Review, Harpers and the Wall Street Journal. 

The website is still quite active and gives a good sense of the dynamism
of this extraordinary movement, which had its birth in Seattle. 
www.phillyimc.org You can see the TV show we produced at
www.democracynow.org (go to the archive and see the five days of
coverage). Or at www.freespeech.org

It was exhausting, but totally exhilerating.  My old friend, photographer
Susan Meiselas came by on Tuesday night and surveyed the chaotic IMC scene
in the huge ball room where over a hundred computers, dozens of tv
monitors and faxes and printers hummed and flickered.  "DeeDee," sez she. 
"It only took you thirty years." And it did indeed seem like the
culmination of a life's work, the realization of a thirty year dream for a
national alternative network. 

But it is the courage of the young people on the barricades that has made
this movement real.  And it is the movement that has made this
extraordinary media mobilization possible. 

I passed the kids on Tuesday afternoon sitting in the middle of Broad
Street: a group of thirty very young people: their faces set in determined
resolution as they awaited the charge of the lines of police that had
surrounded them.  There was a courage in their eyes that I had never
witnessed, a courage that I knew I can no longer muster. Most of those
kids are still in jail, denying to eat, denying to give their names. The
beautiful puppets they made in the months and weeks of preparation were
viciously tossed into garbade compacters, or ground under the heels of the
Philly SS troops who stormed their workshops without any warrents and
destroyed all they could grab. But there will be more puppets made and
more streets closed with their bodies.  These kids do not give up.  As one
of them said to me, "they are afraid of us because we have so much love
and because we will never give up." 

It is a new millenium.
DeeDee

(Now on to Los Angeles and the Democrats!)

The following is a list of the segments we included:

Democracy Now: Live Television from Philadelphia

July 31, 2000

Jim Nicholson
A stroll around the convention with RNC chair, Jim Nicholson
Billionaires For Bush . . . Or Gore
Phil T. Rich, with Billionaires for Bush (or Gore).
Millie O'Nare, with Billionaires for Bush (or Gore).
A Reality Tour Through Philadelphia
Renee Maxwell, homeless advocate from Chicago who is  collaborating with the
Kensington Welfare Rights Union. Philadelphia: A Legacy Of Police Brutality
Ramona Africa, Minister of Communication for MOVE. She  is the sole adult
survivor of the  police bombing of the MOVE home in 1985
Linn Washington, Jr., award winning journalist and columnist or the
Philadelphia Tribune, the oldest black newspaper in the country. He is the
director of the Print Track for Temple University School of Journalism.
ACT UP Unfurls Banner
Julie Davids, a member of Philadelphia ACT-UP
Shadow Convention: McCain Reiterates Support For Bush
The Oiligarchy: Bush And Enron
Pratap Chaterjee, an independent journalist who has recently completed a
major investigative report on Bush's ties to Enron. He is also the New Media
Reporter for Democracy Now!
Celia Alaria, a member of Amazon Watch and has just returned from Bolivia
where she visited communities effected by Enron projects and met with Enron
officials.
The Tale Of Two Cities? Camden
Luis Morales, from the Concerned Citizens of North Camden and organizes
around Vieques.  Councilmn Ali Slon-Eel, the Councilman for Camden, New
Jersey.
Ivan Foster, the President of Democracy for Camden, NJ.

August 1, 2000

Democracy Now Confronts President Bush
Former President Bush, interview with Amy Goodman.
Commentary on Gen. Colin Powell's Speech.
David McReynolds, the Socialist Party candidate for president, and a long
time anti-war activist with the War Resisters League.
Father Roy Bourgeoise, the founder of School of the Americas Watch.
Allison Styan, a 17 year old student from Ephrata, Pennsylvania. She was one
of nine people arrested protesting the US Army School of the Americas.
Activists And Activism In Philly
Jia Ching Chan, an organizer with RUCKUS and JUST ACT!
Peter Chung, an organizer with the People of Color               Holmesburg
Prison
Allen M. Hornblum, the author Acres of Skin; Human Experiments at Holmsburg
Prison and is currently completing a new book on prisons in Philadelphia.
Leodus Jones, a victim of the Holmsburg experiments and the Director of a
support service for families of prison inmates.
Mumia Abu Jamal: Trial By Media
Amy interviews Sam Donaldson of 20/20 at the Republican National Convention
about his coverage of Mumia's case.
Steve Lopez, a Senior Writer at Time magazine who recently published an
article on Mumia.
Pat Clark, the National Director of the Criminal Justice Project of the
American Friends Society.
Clark Kissinger, with the organization REFUSE AND RESIST

August 2, 2000

Behind The News
Ed Herman, professor emeritus at the UPenn and co-author with Noam Chomsky
of Manufacturing Consent.
Frank Sesno, Vice President of CNN News on Psyops Interns at CNN
Oliver North, MSNBC Talk Show Host
Jimmy Hoffa, Teamster President And RNC Chair Jim Nicholson
Newt Gingrich
Drug War Prisoners
Nora Callahan, the Executive Director of the November Coalition.
Mary Gaines, the leader of the organization Federal Forum which is a program
to assist families who have incarcerated
family members. She spent eight and a half years in prison for a drug
misdemeanor. She is with her children Rakesha, 18 and Ricky, 21.
Tamika, a 21 year old woman who is raising her brothers and sisters because
her mother and other relatives are in jail.
Protesters Call In From Jail: Two Jane Does
Unlike Father, Unlike Son
Rick Beltram, a Republican delegate from South Carolina and  head of his
District.
Steve Beltram, the son of Rick and is here in Philadelphia  protesting the
Republican National Convention.
Warren Mowry, a Republican Delegate from South Carolina   and head of his
district
Michael Franti, leadsinger from Spearhead on the Cultural Jam!

August 3, 2000

Ralph Nader Crashes The Party
Amy Goodman takes Ralph Nader into the RNC
Gov. George Ryan Of Illinois Speaks On His Moratorium On Death Penalty
Gov. George Ryan Meets Ralph Nader And Seems To Like Him
Police Step Up Crackdown On Activists
Bork, a young anarchist who was arrested this week and beaten up by police.
Brian Petruska, a para-legal with the R2K legal collective.
Scott Kellogg, a protester detained yesterday who had his truck and
possessions confiscated by police
Healthcare, Seniors And The Pharmaceutical Industry
Pedro Rodriguez, with Action Alliance, the largest Senior Citizen's
association in Philadelphia
Dr Joel Chinitz, a member of the Philadelphia Physicians for Social
Responsibility and the Medical Director of the Physician Assistant program
Philadelphia University
Mushroom Workers
Eduardo Ortega, a delegate of the United Agricultural and  Mushroom Workers
Union.
Maria De Los Angeles Garcia, a representative of the Women's Committee of
VLASIC Mushroom company.
Muna El-Shakhs, an organizer with CATA (The Farmworkers Support Committee).
Jessica Cully, an Intern with CATA (The Farmworkers support Committee)
National Youth Convention
Rick Veenstra, Chair of the Illinois College of Republicans.
Goutam Jois, 18 year old with Youth in Action USA and in 1998 was elected
Youth Governor of New Jersey.
Jennifer Wilkie, an organizer of the National Non-Partisan Youth Convention.

August 4, 2000

George Bush's Address
Barbara Gonzalez, a contributing columnist for the San Antonio Express News.
Jello Biafra, was the lead singer of the Dead Kennedys, who ran for the
Green Party nomination for president.
I-Witness Video Police Brutality Wrap-Up
Sarah Scully, the founder of I-Witness Video
Jay Sand, one of the founders of the IMC in DC
Alec Meltzer and Inja Coates co-founders of the Philadelphia Independent
Media Center
Bush Analysis
 Lou Debois, the Editor of The Texas Observer and co-author of Shrub - The
Short but Happy Political Life of George W Bush.
Tour Of Web Site
Pratap Chatterjee, New media Reporter for Democracy Now! and Independent
Journalist based in San Francisco.
High Bail And Surveillance
Video of John Sellers arrest.
David Rudofsky, Civil Rights attorney from Philadelphia.
Gayle Sellers, John Sellers' mother.
Larry Krasner, an attorney for John Sellers.
Patrick Reinsborough, an organizer with the Rainforest Action Network.
Celia Alario, a trainer with the Ruckus Society.




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