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 he advent of consumer video technology in the late 1960s opened the door for a new generation of DIY media-makers. Carrying forward a tradition established by their film-based forebears, many of these DIY videomakers wielded the camera as a tool for political commentary, reform and revolution. As outsiders to both a corporate mass media system an established party-dominated political order, media activists have often looked outside the electoral politics for solutions to the day's challenges. Yet some could not resist the true lure of covering the escapades of American electoral politics, particularly its preeminent media spectacle, the national conventions at which U.S. presidential candidates are anointed by the Republican and Democratic parties.
In much convention coverage, DIY media activists have sought to give a voice to those marginalized by the power brokers in the convention halls and shut out of the discourse by the corporate media. It is tragically ironic that the major social issues covered 40 years ago, namely war, economic injustice and civil rights, continue to vex our country and the world beyond our borders. Fortunately, today's generation of media activists is mounting an increasingly sophisticated challenge to political and corporate media hegemony. By forging tactical partnerships with frontline grassroots organizers, these diverse media activists are building new movements for progressive political transformation where "speaking truth to power" is only the first step to reclaiming that power.
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