Indymedia www.indymedia.org
The Independent Media Center (IMC) is a collectively-run network of media outlets for the creation
of radical, accurate and passionate tellings of the truth. It was established by independent and
alternative media organizations and activists in 1999 to provide grassroots coverage of the World
Trade Organization (WTO) protests in Seattle. The Center acted as an information clearinghouse for
journalists and provided up-to-the-minute reports, photos, audio and video footage through its
websites. With thousands of volunteers and contributors around the world and millions of visitors
to its sites, the Independent Media Center has been recognized as one of the most innovative and
successful "new media" projects launched. Through a decentralized and autonomous network,
hundreds of media activists have replicated independent media centers on every continent, with more
to come. The innovative design of this collectively-run network allows and inspires people to
"self-publish" important media to local and global audiences. The Center's websites allow for direct
posting of text, video, audio and image content by anyone in the world with access to a computer
and the Internet. The absence of editorial filters and publication delays allows for "real time"
reporting, a unique advantage that has motivated activists, corporate media reporters and government
agencies to regularly visit the Center's sites. The Foundation has supported this effort over the
last two years with $40,000 in grants.
Democracy Now! www.democracynow.org
Democracy Now! is a national, listener-sponsored public radio and TV show, pioneering the largest
community media collaboration in the country. The program was launched six years ago as the only
daily election show in public broadcasting. Because of its success, Democracy Now! broadened its
focus and became a national news show committed to bringing the voices of the marginalized to the
airwaves on issues ranging from the global to the local. In 2001, the Foundation awarded Democracy
Now! a $40,000 grant for its production of The War and Peace Report, a daily news program on the
Internet, 40 radio stations and 70 community television stations throughout the United States.
Hosted by Amy Goodman, recipient of the George Polk Award in 1998, this program offers views and
information not available on other media.
AlterNet.org www.alternet.org
AlterNet.org is a project of the Independent Media Institute, a nonprofit organization dedicated to
strengthening and supporting independent and alternative journalism. First launched in 1998,
AlterNet's online magazine provides a mix of news, opinion and investigative journalism on subjects
ranging from the environment, the drug war, technology and cultural trends to policy debate, sexual
politics and health issues. By providing quality journalism, dependable research, issue-focused
public interest content and passionate advocacy, it equips readers to make informed decisions about
problems that affect us all. The Foundation awarded AlterNet.org a $35,000 grant in 2001.
Adbusters Media Foundation www.adbusters.org/home/
Unsustainable consumption. Flawed measures of economic progress. A toxic mental environment.
Media Concentration. For over ten years, Adbusters Media Foundation has been a pioneer of "social
marketing," moving the most critical issues of our time into the public eye in its inimitable,
unblinking style. Vancouver-based Adbusters is a global network of self-described social provocateurs
and culture jammers -- artists, activists, writers, pranksters, students, educators and entrepreneurs
-- inventing a movement befitting the information age. Known for its attention-getting magazine and
television subvertisments and unfomercials, Adbusters now intends to marry words and video with the
creation of Adbusters TV, an international social activist channel available on the Internet with the
aim of toppling existing power structures and forging a major shift in the way we live in the 21st
century. Adbusters TV is an initiative funded by the Foundation through a two-year $151,500 grant in 2001.
back
Go to Grantees in the News
|
