Indie journalists tout do-it-yourself media

Indie journalists tout do-it-yourself media

by: Cheryl Rossi

Independent media is vital because it asks the questions avoided by mainstream media, says a local independent media producer.

Frank Lopez will talk about how he began creating his own works in a variety of media at D.I.Y. Media!! in Vancouver Feb. 15. He'll be joined by Anne Elizabeth Moore, former editor of the legendary but now defunct Punk Planet magazine.

Lopez was first inspired to create his own work after a friend gave him a "very badly put together" book called the Emperor Wears No Clothes in 1993. Its author, Jack Herer, copied microfilm from libraries to compile a book about the history of the hemp and marijuana plant.

"It seems like such a rich history, it just really blew my mind that this wasn't really out in the public knowledge," Lopez said. "I was really turned on by the fact that this guy just went out and did it... and it sells volumes."

By 1994, Lopez, an Atlanta, Georgia-based film student, had started subMedia, to show his own work. By 1998, he had put together a multimedia CD-ROM, the Hempcyclopedia.

But Lopez, who moved to Vancouver in 2005, wants to spread a wider message than the history of pot.

"When you look at what happened in the United States in the run up to the war with Iraq, the president of the United States and the entire administration of the United States lied to the public repeatedly to make the case to go to war," he said. "We need something that does the job that the traditional media has not been doing for the last 30, 40 years, to question the government and to actually bring the truth out. These guys brought a massive debt to the United States, if you want to talk about money, massive loss of life of innocent lives in Iraq, and the media just stood by and let it happen."

Lopez said he'd rather read the Republic of East Vancouver newspaper than the Vancouver Sun and said criticism that indie publications and broadcasts are slanted and represent low-quality journalism don't hold.

"If they want to question the quality of journalism they should just look at the traditional media now," he said. "In Canada, for instance, try to look for any stories about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that is not tilted toward the Israeli side of things."

Compared to Atlanta, independent media flourishes in Vancouver, according to Lopez, who sees the plethora of publications, productions and graffiti here as both a backlash against media concentration and a part of Vancouver's rich counterculture history.

Through subMedia Lopez creates a profanity-laden video blog, feature-length documentaries and two 'zines. He recently returned from working on the Democracy Now! radio and TV news program in New York.

Moore, the Chicago-based author of Unmarketable: Brandalism, Copyfighting, Mocketing, and the Erosion of Integrity, will talk about the gamut of indie media at Friday's event.

D.I.Y. Media!! is at the VIVO Media Arts Centre, 1965 Main St., which was formerly Video In, at 8 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 15.

For more information, see submedia.tv/diy.

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