Mediastrike
Encyclopedia
Mediastrike is an independent media activist organisation based in Adelaide, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

.

Aim

Mediastrike is a leftist organisation that's stated aim is to challenge mainstream media by producing accurate, independent coverage of news and current affairs on a local, national and international level and Mediastrike's slogan "The media is a weapon and it's aimed at you. Shoot back" embodies this aim.
The organisation publications both in print media, and online differ from other leftist media in that the publications are entirely free with a view to mass distribution, with costs covered through other events as well as through voluntary donations.

Mediastrike uses citizen journalists
Citizen journalism
Citizen journalism is the concept of members of the public "playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing and disseminating news and information," according to the seminal 2003 report We Media: How Audiences are Shaping the Future of News and Information...

 as well content provided by other, mainly leftist organisations to provide content for both its online and print publications.

Print Publications

The group has begun work on a free zine
Zine
A zine is most commonly a small circulation publication of original or appropriated texts and images. More broadly, the term encompasses any self-published work of minority interest usually reproduced via photocopier....

 named "The Antidote", the first issue of which is currently being distributed. "The Antidotes" stated slogan of "Immunizing our community against corporate news propaganda" restates this organizations aim of producing reliable independent reporting on contemporary political and social justice issues. The zine is also available online http://word.mediastrike.org/wp-content/uploads/2007/01/antidote_read.pdf.org. The second issue of the zine is still in planning stage.

Film Screenings

The organisation has already held a series of low-cost documentary screenings. Topics include issues as diverse as the history of media reporting from conflict zones throughout the 20th century and the Battle of Seattle
WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999 protest activity
Protest activity surrounding the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999, which was to be the launch of a new millennial round of trade negotiations, occurred on November 30, 1999 , when the World Trade Organization convened at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center in Seattle, Washington,...

anti-corporate globalisation
Anti-globalization
Criticism of globalization is skepticism of the claimed benefits of the globalization of capitalism. Many of these views are held by the anti-globalization movement however other groups also are critical of the policies of globalization....

 protest.

Further film screenings are planned as part of a mini-film festival, probably centering on the ongoing war in Iraq from both the perspective of Iraqi civilians affected by the war and the perspective of American soldiers serving in Iraq.

Online

Owing to the low cost of running media organisations online, Mediastrike is currently focusing on providing a greater volume of online media through its website. Mediastrike.org presents original articles, as well as reproducing selections from other mainstream and leftist media organisations. The move towards a greater emphasis on online publication has reduced the amount of time it takes to get information out (a major limitation of smallscale print media).

Events

Mediastrike has also held a protest against workchoices
WorkChoices
The Workplace Relations Act 1996, as amended by the Workplace Relations Amendment Act 2005, popularly known as Work Choices, was a Legislative Act of the Australian Parliament that came into effect in March 2006 which involved many controversial amendments to the Workplace Relations Act 1996, the...

 aimed primarily at youth. The rally, entitled "slave revolt", brought together Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...

 punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

 bands and speakers in opposition to the Howard
John Howard
John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....

 governments controversial industrial relations legislation changes "WorkChoices
WorkChoices
The Workplace Relations Act 1996, as amended by the Workplace Relations Amendment Act 2005, popularly known as Work Choices, was a Legislative Act of the Australian Parliament that came into effect in March 2006 which involved many controversial amendments to the Workplace Relations Act 1996, the...

". The event also featured a performance by the Adelaide based "rambutan circus collective".

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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