By Will Kreth
There's a fine line between cautious observer and paranoid alarmist in criticism of the approaching convergence of the entertainment, cable television, computer, and telecommunications industries. Staking A Claim in Cyberspace, broadcast this past June, is perhaps the first independent video-documentary to pull together the disparate elements of life in Cyberspace, including the articulate voices of dissent against current FCC policy as well as an appeal to incite citizens to action.
Staking a Claim asks whether the inhabitants along the information highway and/or travelers in cyberspace will be viewed as consumers or citizens. At press time, the FCC had just ruled that 24-hour shopping channels were serving the public good at least as well as programming like C-SPAN. It's obvious which one is more profitable - but how could anyone but a half-wit dare propose they were equal in content?
If interactivity is defined by how quickly the populace can push the "BUY NOW" button on their remote controls, then there's little hope for our species. Fortunately, programming like Staking a Claim in Cyberspace provides a stinging reality-check to the "planned electronic consumer" visions of the media conglomerates. Like a video-sibling to the magazine Adbusters, Paper Tiger TV and Deep Dish TV Network are certainly "culture jammers." And while they urge viewers to write their senators, representatives and the White House - it's apparent that the next video installment should be a "how-to" for citizens who want to transmit their own programming to communities and to each other.
Staking a Claim: By Paper Tiger TV. Deep Dish TV Network: +1 (212) 473-8933. Center for Media Education: +1 (202) 628 2620. Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility: +1 (415) 322 3778. Alliance for Community Media: +1 (202) 393 2650.
STREET CRED
Smut By Any Other Name, and Proud Of ItEinstein on the Beach Meets Eurydice
Staking a Claim in Cyberspace
William Burroughs and The Net: Past, Present,
