Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Professionals Say We're Propagandists

Thank you SubMedia for posting this video - and thank you GlassBead for rolling your tapes. Watch the video where the Society of Professional Journalists (website) dissect DNC/RNC videos put out by SubMedia and PepperSpray asking the audience, "Are they really journalists?"

After slight heckling from audience members, he turns to the panel of professional journalists and says,

"Show them your press pass."

What a joke. From my perspective a press pass is only supposed to send the signal that you take what you do seriously, and you are committed to your role as a journalist as opposed to any other role - organizer, medic, jail supporter, lawyer, police officer, delegate etc.

So, what do we think - are Lambert, me and the Stimulator journalists? Do we fulfill a journalistic niche where corporate and mainstream media have failed us? Do we show original content and represent underrepresented viewpoints that add to public debate and help create a fuller, more diverse democracy? Etc. Etc.?

1 comment:

Acumensch said...

Also worth noting, the speaker asks if there's anybody from PepperSpray in the audience, as if to give himself clearance to push his agenda on everyone else. We were not invited to this meeting, so I assume we are now left to defend our point of view at afar. It looks like it was a room hall-full of cops and cop sympathizers.

And - SubMedia and the PepperSpray collective are TWO distinct media entities. PepperSpray is a collective (an organization w/o formalized hierarchy) with television and internet shows based out of Seattle; SubMedia is produces its own show (which PepperSpray plays on "Indymedia Presents") and is based out of Vancouver BC. While our networks may be the same or similar, and we at PepperSpray always look forward to posting the latest episodes of "End of the World...", we are distinct.