Aid & Abet

In December, friend and collaborator Josh Breitbart interviewed Jason and me about Clamor for WireTap Magazine. The interview is finally online, and you can read it here.

I appreciate having another person’s perspective on the project, and blush at the many nice things Josh had to say, including, “Jen and Jason were awe-inspiring in their ability to fulfill commitments they had made. They worked harder for less personal reward than anyone I knew in the alternative media world. And they had a community, especially in the Midwest, that was supportive and engaged and creative. The act of publishing Clamor extended and strengthened this community.”

So, thanks Josh.

I will be moderating a panel at the 12th Annual Bay Area
 Anarchist Bookfair this year. The panel is Sunday,
March 18 at 1 p.m., but the bookfair runs both Saturday and
Sunday - the Announcement is below.

Here's a description of the panel:

The Future of Radical Print Publications 

A debate about print vs. online with the recent closures of both Clamor and LiP magazine’s print editions, along with the shake-up in the magazine distribution industry and the increasing costs of printing on paper, does this mean print is
becoming obsolete for independent, radical viewpoints? This panel discussion
will include print and online journalists debating the best way forward for radical periodicals (magazines and newspapers included).

Panelists:
Jen Angel / Clamor Magazine (moderator)
Sarah Olson / independent journalist
Tomas Palermo / Wiretap Magazine
James Tracy / Left Turn Magazine

The 12th Annual Bay Area Anarchist Bookfair
SATURDAY, March 17, 10am-6pm
SUNDAY, March 18, 11am-5pm

*18 Speakers *Over 50 publishers and book vendors
*Panel Discussions *Cafe *Free Bike Valet Parking
*Artwork *Kid and Family Space * Free Trade Zone Outside

Where: San Francisco County Fair Building in Golden
Gate Park, near Ninth Avenue and Lincoln Way
SAN FRANCISCO, CA

Admission: FREE

The Bay Area Anarchist Bookfair is one of the world's largest gatherings of anarchist and radical literature, and a San Francisco tradition since 1995. The Bookfair has expanded to two days for 2007!

There will be even more anarchist books, speakers, panelists and political groups from the Bay Area and around the country.

SPEAKERS: Jen Angel, Melody Berger, Chris Carlsson, Ward Churchill, Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, Stephen Dunifer, Fly, Aaron Gach, Tiny Garcia, James Kelman, Saul Landau, Josh Macphee, Wendy-o Matik, Keith McHenry, Cindy Milstein, David Solnit, Michelle Tea, James Tracy, Marina Sitrin

PANELS:
* Strategies to Uproot War and Empire
* IWW Standing Up to the Boss!
* The Future of Radical Print Publications
* Indigenous Perspectives on Anarchism: Resistance, Solidarity & Paths of Self-Determination
* The F-Word Salon
* Connecting the Big Picture to the Little Picture
* The Future of Independent and Radical Bookselling

Everyone is invited!

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: make/shift no. 2

Make/shift, a new feminist magazine launching this spring, is seeking
submissions for its second issue (fall/winter 2007). The first issue
features fiction by T Cooper; an interview with Loretta J. Ross; a love
letter to Ugly Betty; dispatches from Beirut; a photo essay of immigrant
hotel workers struggling for a living wage in Los Angeles; columns by Randa
Jarrar, Erin Aubry Kaplan, Nomy Lamm, and Mattilda aka Matt Bernstein
Sycamore; and much more.

For Issue 2, we are seeking

--investigative journalism
--photojournalism
--critical essays
--personal essays
--profiles of feminists activists, artists, projects, and thinkers
--fiction and poetry
--art and photography
--book, maga/zine, film, art, and event reviews
--hybrid pieces 

We are also seeking content for the following regular make/shift features:

--Everyday Actions: scenes of feminist action in everyday life (200 to 400
words)
--Documents: documents of feminist discourse in progress (doodle-covered
meeting minutes, e-mail exchanges, notes on recent actions, and the like)
--Make/Plans: listings for our international calendar of upcoming events
(submit info for events occurring between September 2007 and March 2008)

Finally, we¹re searching for a crossword-puzzle artist in need of a venue.

Make/shift pays $.02/word plus two copies.

Send pitches or full-draft submissions to info@makeshiftmag.com.
Deadline: March 23

The editing and publishing collective behind make/shift is Stephanie
Abraham, Jessica Hoffmann, and Daria Yudacufski.
 
www.makeshiftmag.com

In December 2006, Clamor stopped publishing. Because I helped start this project, this was an emotionally difficult decision. But, I can say that as part of the publishing group that decided to close our doors, it was the right decision.

I’ve spent the last few months working on a reflection and analysis of my work with Clamor. This was a very important article for me to write, for myself, and I hope that it serves to offer some insight to the inner workings of a long-term project. Also, because radicals are often poor historians, I felt it important to do my part to record our history.

The article is long and tries to do many things. There are several smaller articles within that could be teased out, such as the role of independent media in movement building, the finances of independent publishing, and the importance of building institutions. One day, I hope to elaborate on these ideas and help encourage discussion on topics which I view as essential.

Clamor has been a very important project to me. Mostly, it has helped bring me into contact with individuals who amaze and inspire me, individuals who worked as staff members, contributed their work, or were featured in the magazine. I will always be thankful for the opportunities that were available to me because of the magazine. Thank you to everyone who has supported me and Clamor over the years.

You can download a PDF version of the article here. Eventually, this article will be posted on the Clamor Magazine site when we finish changing it over to reflect that the project has closed.

*** UPDATE ***

The article has been revised and greatly expanded, and is now available as a pamphlet from PM Press. You can order one here.

******

I welcome any and all comments and feedback, either here or via email.

——

(as a preview, here is the table of contents)

Seven Years of Clamor: Challenges, Successes, and Reflections

1. Introduction

2. Why Independent Media?

3. The Beginning of Clamor: What We Were Trying to Do

4. Successes
a. Entry Points: Helping New Voices be Heard
b. Content: Integrating Politics & Culture
c. Building a Foundation: Decision-Making Structures
d. Diversifying Income
e. Innovation through Adversity
f. Being a Good Community Member
g. Midwest Represent! Why Geography Matters
h. Standing our Ground: American Apparel

5. Challenges
a. Money: The Great Specter
b. Debt: Finding Money for Starting and Continuing Projects
c. Operating Outside the Niche: Marketing to Advertisers and Subscribers
d. Getting the Word Out: Models for Distribution
e. Growing Pains: Issues of Power, Diversity, and Representation
f. The Non-Profit Industrial Complex: Volunteers vs. Paid Staff

6. The End of Clamor: Why We Decided to Close

7. The Future