Angles: Women Working in Film and Video (1995)

Media Activism } } ho owns the airwaves? Should anyone? What are the ethics of such elemental proprietorship? And who can afford to pay for it?” These were questions asked by Linda Yablonskaya in a High Performance article about Deep Dish TV, the “world’s first public access satellite network.” It brings the views of the disenfranchised to the airwaves. For example, a recent Deep Dish program was Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired, about the national health care crisis, which examined issues from diverse perspectives. One of the segments on the show, Treating Prisoners: Health Care Behind Bars, was produced by Women in the Director’s Chair, a Chicago-based membership organization committed to presenting films and videos produced or directed by women, reflecting diverse cultures and expeniences. WIDC has worked in collaboration with a number of community groups to help develop larger audiences, initiate and participate in cross-cultural dialogues and share resources. It also sponsors a media program for prisoners, an annual film and video festival and a tour of works from the festival. The collaborative effort between Deep Dish and local groups such as WIDC is at the heart of grassroots media. Angles asked media experts Cynthia Lopez, programming director of Deep Dish, and Jeanne Kracher, executive director of WIDC, to comment on this kind of media activism, its implications and importance. What is media activism? For me media activism means different communities attempting to redefine their own images, using media (television, film, print) and fighting for the right to do that. Part of what we try to do at Deep Dish is give different types of groups the opportunity to put forth a better representation of themselves. — Cynthia Lopez There are many levels of this kind of activity. It could mean shooting a video or film, showing and talking about it, making sure people have access to it. I think of activism as some sort of active process of creation, exhibition or distribution with the idea of organizing or educating. The whole idea of media activism has come together for me at Women in the Director’s Chair through our outreach programs, particularly our prison program. We have been working with groups of women prisoners at several federal penitentiaries who have initiated peer-run HIV/AIDS programs. In turn this work made me understand a lot more about the lives of prisoners. It led WIDC to make the tape Mistreating Prisoners: Health Care Behind Bars for Deep Dish. — Jeanne Kracher Who are media activists? Years ago people who had access to technology in terms of small film cameras were part of an elite. They documented their everyday lives and special events. As we’ve seen the prices of technology drop, more people have had the opportunity to do such things. You have people who have their own video camera, and who document things in their community. You have people involved in workshops at public access stations. They learn about the editing process. Once you see the editing process, understand it and do it, you realize how media is constructed. Then you don’t accept that the [mainstream] media is unbiased. —C.L. What kind of work is being done? I see a wide range of work. It’s a great time in some ways because we’ve had a lot of really great examples like Marlon Riggs. He not only produced work that was challenging in form and content but wrote about it and encouraged people to do lots of different things with media. Channel Zero is doing interesting work in a certain way. It’s a collective of young people of color from New York. It’s much more open and less didactic than a lot of activist work has been. One of their works was The Nation Erupts, about the Rodney King riots. They have a real hip hop style, almost like the music. Women of Pilsen by Maria Benfield is a fabulous tape. It’s women from the Hispanic community telling their stories and it really gives you a chance to pay attention. —J.K. How important is the process? An important area of media activism is collective work. Work that doesn’t come out of one person’s experience but a group of people. It’s less about the star and more about a collective vision. Then it’s part of a political process. —J.K. Many people equate alternative media with unprofessional media. That is my biggest point of frustration. Just because we have chosen to be alternative, not to be mainstream, doesn’t mean we are not professional or that we shouldn’t be taken seriously. It’s not about being professional. It’s about choosing an alternative vehicle. Deep Dish has been able to show people they can make television. We say,““Don’t watch TV, make it.—C.L. What effect does advanced technology, such as the information super highway, have? People talk about the super highway the way people talked about cable or satellite dishes as kind of a panacea Continued on page 9 VOLUME 2 NUMBER4 @ 3