Civil Defense - a weblog by Joshua Breitbart

Anyone who reads this blog is likely able to offer the cliché, “I gave at the office.” I’m sure many of you also donate funds to worthy projects.

But in light of this message below from Clamor Magazine and for all of the hard battles of the past year, I hope we can go even further in this particular season of giving.

I’ve donated to many of these groups in the past. This year, I’m trying to multiply my usual amount by 5 in recognition of increasing need and importance. (I’m also fortunate enough to have been employed about five times as much this year as in the past, so I can do that.) If ever there was a situation where every bit would help, this is it:

Subject: Fwd: Emergency Message from Clamor Magazine
From: <clamornews@clamormagazine.org>
To: joshua@clamormagazine.org
Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2006 09:01:43 -0600

First, we’d like to thank everyone for the well-wishes and concern you’ve shared with us following the announcement that Clamor would be ceasing publication.

Today we are writing to ask you to help us protect and sustain Clamor’s closest allies:

Just Seeds, Left Turn Magazine, Spread Magazine, Critical Moment, Alternative Press Review, Infoshop.org, Faesthetic, Vegan Freak, and Left Out all use the online infoshop we’ve built over the last few years.

On Friday December 15, we received word that Sky Bank, one of the banks to which Clamor owes money, froze our bank account and intends to block the transfer of the infoshop to the crew that was going to take it over. This move runs counter to what we (our lawyer included) thought would happen, and it has profound repercussions for the people and projects that were depending on us to continue providing distribution and making regular payments.

The sense of loss we have felt in closing Clamor is completely overshadowed by the knowledge that we have jeopardized these otherwise growing and healthy projects. Without the money Clamor owes them, some of these projects will not survive.

WE NEED YOUR HELP to ensure that these valuable independent media projects do not go down along with Clamor. You are probably receiving many requests at this time of year. These are all incredible projects that you should support on a regular basis, but it is urgent that you offer that support right now.

Your direct donations will not affect our debt to them, but given the bank’s the strength and aggressiveness at pursuing our limited business and personal resources, this is only way we can see to repay them.

There are thousands of active Clamor supporters out there. Please stay active: use the following links to make donations directly to one or more of these projects or contact us to make tax-deductible donations of $500 or more.

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justseeds has been the only spot to find socially conscious street art, anarchist literature and political printmaking all in one place online. Please donate to help Josh MacPhee continue this important work. The future of justseeds depends on you.

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Left Turn is an international network of activists committed to exposing and fighting the consequences of global capitalism and imperialism. Through Left Turn magazine, and face-to-face forums, we amplify voices of those on the frontlines of radical struggles for social justice, and provide resources for strategy-building and reflection. We are on the brink of survival financially and the seizure of funds owed to us has been a major blow. We hope you will contribute and/or subscribe as a testament to the importance of supporting radical independent media.

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$pread Magazine is a quarterly, glossy magazine by and for sex workers and those who support their rights. This current situation may have grave effects on their future ability to continue publishing. Please step up and donate using their link.

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Critical Moment is an independent community newspaper serving Southeast Michigan. For the past three years, we have featured hundreds of authors, provided critical analysis of issues facing local communities, and championed various forms of resistance taking place in our area. But the future of Critical Moment is in jeopardy due in part to the recent collapse of infoSHOP direct. Please help us reach our modest goal of $1000 so that we can print our 20th issue and continue to provide a critical voice to Southeast Michigan. Go to www.criticalmoment.org to make a donation or subscribe.

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Infoshop.org & Practical Anarchy are the online resource for radical news, opinion, and information as well as the occasional zine focusing on practical aspects of anarchism. Please help them weather this storm by donating.

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Faesthetic is a yearly graphic design & art magazine printed in small quantities with submissions from talented creatives from around the world. Please donate via paypal to his account info (at) faesthetic.com

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If you would like to donate to Jen and Jason’s legal support, please donate via paypal to our account at jason (at) clamormagazine.org.

In frustration and solidarity,
Jason and Jen

I got tagged by my editor at Digital Communities to cover last week’s Digital Cities Convention in Philadelphia. You can read the article here.

Digital Communities is industry funded, but with editorial independence (as far as I can tell). The readers are supposed to be city and industry folks, but I’m trying to write articles that are at least understandable and hopefully useful for a broader audience.

This article tries to use the convention to get a snapshot of the field of municipal wireless, which is changing really fast and getting much more competitive.

My friend asked me about one section in it:

Terry McGowan from PacketHop agreed. At the end of the second day, I jokingly asked him if he’d rung up any sales at the conference. He gave an answer, but in a common obstacle in writing this article, when I confirmed the quote with him, the Director of Corporate Marketing intervened and rephrased the answer: “The conference was very worthwhile for PacketHop,” said Kevin Payne of PacketHop. “We found that there was a lot of interest in our solutions for municipal services and that there were many opportunities to meet with actual decision makers.”

“Why was it a common problem in writing this article?” she asked.

It’s a common problem because I’m easy to talk to, actually interested in what people are saying, and most people are nice and happy to engage on a human level. (Others are self-important or trying to impress.) But then I’m more ethical than most reporters – I identify myself and check quotes with people – while PR flacks are mostly twits who idolize Ari Shapiro in the sense that they think they’re job is to deflect questions rather than answer them.

Compare my original paragraph:

Terry McGowan from Packethop agreed. At the end of the second day, I jokingly asked him if he’d rung up any sales at the conference. “I wish it were that easy,” McGowan said, “but there has been some interest.” [...] McGowan continued, “There weren’t a lot of people here, but they were the right people.”

That actually sounds like he and I had a conversation, which we did; Terry seemed like a nice guy doing. I filled in the rest, which is a writer’s job, describing how the product is a “solution for municipal services” and who the “right people” are. The PR translation was absurd to the point of offensive.

It’s also worth pointing out that Sascha Meinrath and co. submitted a proposal to the Department of Homeland Security in 2003 for an open source version of what PacketHop does – self-forming wireless mesh networks for emergency responders, specifically medical – but was turned down, only to find out that DHS then funded the development of a proprietary solution for 100 times as much money.

It’s really my fault for checking quotes with people. As my editor said, “if the person said something, they said it. If the journalist was up front as to who he is and that he is media, then that quote is fair game — even if the person later wanted to retract the quote or not have it used.”

I certainly was up front about who I was with John Rivers, the Cisco rep, who even said, “I can give you this one” before giving me not very useful quotes. I used them just to show that we had talked, but then he said in a follow up email, “I do not recall making either comment and do not support your including either in an article. For official quotes from Cisco, you should contact someone in Cisco Media relations.”

So I think I’ll stop that practice.

While I’m being negative, I should also thank Joe Caldwell from US Internet, the folks from IBM (who did pass me on to a PR person, but at least didn’t recant what they said in person), Erika from W2i, and Robert Ramsay who all gave useful quotes and stood by them. That makes a reporter’s job a lot easier.

Upcoming articles will be on hard-to-find sources of federal funding for broadband projects and the applicability of the Americans with Disabilities Act to the World Wide Web, as well as profiles of of ConnectKentucky and One Economy.

Please send me any thoughts or suggestions relating to those ideas or other potential articles, if you have them.

Bruce Schimmel, in his latest Loose Cannon column, dropped a bomb on Comcast. Apparently, Monopolia Comcasticus “has never met certain minority and women business goals” as required in its franchise agreement with the City of Philadelphia. The penalty for this violation, according to the article, should be about $4.4 million.

Rebate, anyone?

Mind you, Comcast is still allocating its share of subcontracting money to local businesses, just not ones that are owned by women or African Americans.

It’s not surprising that Comcast would so blatantly flout its agreement with the City or that the City wouldn’t confront the local behemoth. We’re still waiting for our public access channels.

The absurd thing is how much time City Council spent pressing Earthlink on precisely this issue. As I blogged when Comcast was before City Council in June,

Councilman Nutter asked some pointed questions, including about Comcast’s fulfillment of its minority- and women-owned business requirements. Considering how intently Council focused on that issue with Earthlink, it was revealing to see how little they pressured Comcast on it.

Apparently, this caught Bruce’s eye, as well, and he followed up on it doggedly, getting the data and crunching the numbers. It would be nice if the City would now get a payday out of it, but little chance with this administration. Bruce deserves some appreciation regardless.

The way Bruce tells it, without Nutter, we’d still be speculating. So his article pushes me a bit towards Ruby Legs’s  positon in support of Nutter for Mayor, even while most of the other people I know in Philly are backing Fattah. A willingness to buck Comcast is pretty much the first thing I look for in a Philly politician.