Two months ago, Luke Rudkowski of WeAreChange and I confronted Senator Rand Paul at the Capitol building as he was leaving a public press conference. We asked him why he endorsed war mongerer Mitt Romney for President if he stands for so many things that Rand Paul is against.

A week after the video went viral, my workplace received multiple threatening phone calls from a staffer representing the Media Relations Committee at the Capitol. The representative said I could be arrested and charged with trespassing and harassment for my actions. He also threatened to strip me of my press credentials. It was confirmed to me that Senator Rand Paul had directly filed the complaint.

I proceeded to meet with the Media Committee of Bureau Chief heads of all the major mainstream outlets in the Capitol building to explain my side of the story. They told me that they had worked extremely hard to “get access” to Congress and that they can’t have people like me set it back.

After a month of silence on their end about what the final charges would be against me, I decided to come out with the story for the sake of providing the public the truth.

I was interviewed about the incident via WeAreChange:

I explain the full Rand Paul incident to WeAreChange (transcript below)

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UPDATE: 10 AUGUST 2012 13:32 PDT

WE ARE CHANGE — “This is Luke Rudkowski here, reporting on another incident of the suppression of the free press. This time it’s of a US Senator trying to get a journalist fired for asking him tough questions. I’m joined by the one and only Abby Martin of MediaRoots.org and RT.

“Now, if you remember, myself and Abby Martin collaborated together on questioning U.S. Senator Rand Paul on his endorsement of Goldman Sachs/Bilderberg puppet Mitt Romney for the 2012 Elections.”

Luke Rudkowski (on the street):  “Hey, Senator [Rand] Paul. My name is Luke of We Are Change. We had an interesting conversation before about the Bilderberg group. And, knowing what you know, how can you support Romney when The Guardian reported he was at the Bilderberg meeting?”

Abby Martin (walking into the building):  “Hey, Rand. Abby Martin from Media Roots. I just wanted to ask you one quick question. You know, your endorsement for Mitt Romney. People had a lot of questions about it.”

Luke Rudkowski:  “Now, the video was a really big hit online. But the most interesting part of the story happened after the video was already up. Abby, can you tell us exactly what happened to you after that video went online?”

Abby Martin:  “After that week passed, the next week I went into the studios, I went into RT America. My boss said, ‘Come in to our office. We need to talk to you.’ And they just said, you know, ‘What did you do last week? And why are we getting threatening phone calls from the Capitol police and also the Senate Media Relations Committee at the Capitol Building?’

“And I just told them exactly what happened. I showed them the video. I said that it was totally unaffiliated with RT America. And they said this guy was calling them, threatening them, saying they were gonna send the Capitol police down to arrest me, threatening to strip, not only, me of my press credentials, but everyone at the station of their press credentials.”

Luke Rudkowski:  “This is just for asking a question, asking U.S. Senator Rand Paul.

“And can you tell us who these phone calls came from and where they originated?”

Abby Martin:  “They were originated from the Senate Media Relations Committee. I’m not gonna say the guy’s name because I don’t, it’s Mike something; I forget his last name. But he oversees that entire committee. And, so, he was calling to threaten me on behalf of him coming from, directly from, the Senator. So, this was confirmed to me later. And I’ll tell you what happened after that.

“I, actually, had to go meet with them in the Capitol Building. And it was really intense and an intimidating experience. But, yeah, they called RT America, were threatening to arrest me, threatening to strip me of my press credentials and of the entire office.

“So, once I explained to my boss and producers what exactly happened, they were just like: It doesn’t sound like you did anything wrong. If I were you I would definitely get a lawyer or just meet with him. Because he kept following up saying that he wanted to meet me, so he can hear my side of the story. And I didn’t know how to respond; like, should I get a lawyer involved?

“And, so, finally I just wrote him back. And I said, ‘Alright. I’ll meet with you. So, I had to go to the Capitol Building and meet with this guy, and in a small room, like an interrogation room. And it wasn’t just him. It was the Bureau Chief of Al Jazeera, the Bureau Chief of CNN, Fox News, MSNBC. All these Bureau Chief heads sat at a table and just, basically, confronted me about what had happened and wanted to get my side of the story. They said, you know, ‘Did you sneak Luke [Rudkowski] in?’ Like, ‘How do you get in there?’ And I was just like, ‘No. We were registered independent press. All we did was just go into the metal detector and go into the Capitol Building. I mean no one even checked our, no one even checked. It was like so lax. I mean you remember what happened. We walked in there. We even told the woman at the front desk, we’re here for this press event down the way. And she was like, ‘Just go ahead.’

Luke Rudkowski:  “They weren’t that lax when they found my cookies and water and all the snacks I had in my book bag and made me throw everything out, made me a little bit mad.

“But people also need to know we were registered press inside the Senate Building. We hold different press credentials because, Abby, you have a Senate press pass. I have a different press pass, that I won’t mention or name. But I do have that magic piece of laminated piece of paper, that grants me some access and leeway to get into different places.

“But we were registered for an event inside the Senate Building. Nobody sneaked in. We walked in through security. We were walking towards the event. We saw Rand Paul and we asked him a question. There’s no other way to go around it. We have to ask these guys serious questions. The mainstream media doesn’t do it. And these people came at you with full litigious might, verbal and email jujitsu trying to attack you and scare you and intimidate you for simply asking a question.

“I mean it must’ve been a very scary feeling because I remember you telling me they were very vague in the beginning about what they were gonna do. They threw out all these options, possible jail, possible losing your credentials, possibly hurting the entire RT office. And just because they didn’t pick on me shows you that they were looking for any reason to respond, any reason to try to intimidate and harass and they found a reason. It was because you were working for RT. And that’s the only reason they did this. It wasn’t a threat. It wasn’t nothing. They did it just to intimidate and scare you.”

Abby Martin:  “There was a very scary, it was very, very scary. And I was in contact with you the whole time saying, ‘What should I do? Should I come out with this story? This story is huge. I mean Rand Paul is trying to get me stripped of my press credentials for what happened. I mean that is insane.”

Luke Rudkowski:  “Or fired, or arrested for simply asking him a question.”

Abby Martin:  “Yeah. And I remember telling my boss, ‘Just have them come arrest me. This is outrageous. This is completely unfounded.’ And, as you know, now there was no charge that they could really do. It was totally baseless. It was completely empty threats. It was very underhanded intimidation tactics against journalism. You know, D.C. is just really scary like that.

“I just had no idea that that would happen for what we did. I mean if we went up to Rand Paul and we were just like, ‘Hey, man. We really like you. Thank you for what you do.’ I mean just the fact that we asked him something he didn’t like he ran away like a coward with his head down, didn’t want to answer the questions.

“He was having a public press event in that room and we were there registered. I was there registered. I was registered under Media Roots to ask him questions. I mean that’s why we were there. That’s why he was having a public press event there, which is why they were having a press conference there. And that’s why we went there.

“So, yeah, it was just really intense, really scary, intimidating. And, you know, at this point, I’m just gonna come out with this story ‘cos I think people need to know, who still think that Rand Paul is somehow, you know, has to make deals for him to play the long game, so he can do good things later. No. I mean he’s sold out. Like, he’s a sell-out to the Republican establishment. And he’s underhandedly trying to intimidate journalists who confront him about his selling out.”

Luke Rudkowski:  “This is a U.S. Representative of the people trying to arrest and fire a journalist for asking questions. I mean the story is huge. It’s unprecedented. I never; I mean I’ve worked the Senate beat many times. And I go out to the Senate Building. And I ask all these hard questions to all the senators. And I never experienced or I never went through something that you went through. And it’s pretty insane to have Rand Paul, Mr. Libertarian, himself, use the full might of any rules and regulations, that he could throw at you, throw at you to try to intimidate you.

“But, luckily, knowing you for a while now, I definitely know you will not be intimidated. I know this will only embolden you. And I know you also have new plans and you also have a new show, that you’re gonna be working on. Can you update us on what’s next for you?”

Abby Martin:  “Yeah. It certainly won’t intimidate me. In fact, I would love to see him again. In D.C., there’s politicians running around. It’s absurd.

“I won’t be going into the Capitol Building anymore to do it. But I think they’re everywhere. So, you can find out where these people are and talk to them. But, yeah, I mean I want to also clarify one point. He also, the guy who called RT, said that I can be charged with harassment as well. That was another charge that they were throwing out there, kind of blanketly, without any foundation whatsoever.

“But coming up on RT, actually, I haven’t been anchoring for the last two weeks and I won’t be all of August because I’m preparing to take over the Alyona Show. But I’m not gonna take over her show. I’m gonna make a whole new show undercutting the left/right paradigm, corporate/top-down media establishment where I’m talking about Big Brother Watch, surveillance issues, government expansion. I’m talking about things, that are censored in the mainstream media, that get a back-page story. And also talking about heroes in journalism, like Luke, highlighting grassroots activists, people who are out there doing awesome things, that need to be highlighted and are not given enough exposure, and also highlighting the villains, the corporate CEOs and the politicians, that are doing really messed up stuff, so, kind of putting them on the spotlight. And that’s the idea, for the show right now. So, stay tuned for that.”

Luke Rudkowski: “Well, if you need me to question Rand Paul, I can definitely do it. As a matter of fact, I will do it. But I wanna congratulate you on your new show. I hope people tune in. Check out Abby on Twitter @AbbyMartin.

“You’re an amazing human being. Keep up the great work. And I’m very happy to see you not afraid, not intimidated, emboldened and only strengthened by this attack. It will not stop us. The more you try to stop us, the more we grow, the more unstoppable we become.”

Luke Rudkowski:  “Anything else we didn’t get into that you wanted to get into, Abby?”

Abby Martin:  “Yeah. I mean when the corporate media doesn’t ask these questions, then who else can? And when people say this is ambush journalism, that’s unfounded as well because—people who are like, ‘Oh, how come you couldn’t get in a meeting with him? He said he had a meeting with you.’—they don’t have meetings with people who are not already totally funded by the top-down establishment. I mean that just doesn’t happen. So, sometimes they need to be confronted and about legitimate things. I mean that’s just the way it has to happen.

“And, yeah, just once again, you know, the people who say, ‘Get an appointment! This is ridiculous! Why would he answer you?’ Well, he was happy to talk to Luke before about Bilderberg before he was in the establishment.”

Luke Rudkowski (street footage with Rand Paul):  “For people who don’t know what’s going on, can you tell people who are the Bilderberg group? If you feel comfortable doing so.”

Luke Rudkowski:  “Yeah. He talked about how bad the Bilderberg group is, how they want a world government, how we need an audit of Goldman Sachs. But then when I was talking to him it was just complete silence, which made the video very awkward.”

Luke Rudkowski (street footage with Rand Paul):  “I’m just trying to get answers. And that’s why I’m here talking with you. And that’s why I’m persistent the way I am.  I know you can hear me.”

Abby Martin:  [Laughs]

Luke Rudkowski:  “He didn’t say a single word at all.”

Luke Rudkowski (street footage with Rand Paul):  “I know you’re trying to ignore me. But the video will play for itself. It will be on YouTube.”

Luke Rudkowski:  “Nothing.”

Luke Rudkowski (street footage with Rand Paul):  “We could have explained everything to our audience. They are only gonna have more questions about you, Mr. Rand. And you’re only hurting yourself by not answering the question.”

Luke Rudkowski:  “At all.”

Luke Rudkowski (street footage with Rand Paul):  “Before you became Senator, you talked about the Bilderberg group and auditing Goldman Sachs. But right now you’re supporting Romney. A lot of your supporters are let down. And I’m let down by your reaction, which I think pretty much made the video as popular as it is because of that, because of that awkward kind of silence, that we went through there.

“And I did try many times when I first started covering the Senate and Congress, I’ve tried to get little sit-down interviews and I call them ahead of time. And after 30 failed attempts and 30 failed responses, this is the only way to really get answers. And we’re also gonna be releasing another video this week showing me being very polite to a politician, asking him for an interview, and him just walking away and going in his car and not talking to anyone. So, the only way to really get answers is not from the corporate mainstream media. It’s to go out there and to ask the damn questions. That’s the only way. Don’t ask for permission. Ask for the truth and ask for accountability. That’s the only way you could really do it. And that’s the only way to be independent fully.”

Abby Martin (c. 12:17):  “And these people work for us. These people, we pay their salary. I mean they are public servants to the people. So, if we want answers on why they do shady stuff and are endorsing warmongerers who want to invade Iran and start World War III, I mean, we have the right to do that.”

Luke Rudkowski:  “Yeah. We have at least the right to question them on their abuse of authority and their horrible actions. And the free press, pretty much, is the most important thing in this country. And we don’t have one. And that’s why we’re living in the world we’re living in now.

“And I applaud people like yourself, Abby. And other brave, independent journalists out there who were willing to take the risk, who were willing to face arrest, persecution for just asking the right questions. And I appreciate your guts. And I know you’re gonna continue on an amazing journey. You’ve got a great career ahead of you. And full-speed ahead. Thank you for everything you do.”

Transcript by Felipe Messina for Media Roots and We Are Change

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MEDIA ROOTS — If you’re like me, you don’t always have the cash or time to catch a flick the first time round. “Paul Goodman Changed My Life,” directed by newcomer Jonathan Lee, is a film of heart and soul whose protagonist has been associated with the American New Left. It debuted last October and is now available online.

Paul Goodman captured teenage angst in his famous and influential book for the ’60s generation, Growing Up Absurd. Martin Luther King, Jr. has said, “When Paul Goodman wrote Growing Up Absurd, he electrified the public.”

Lee’s film focused on Goodman’s anarchist tendencies before and after discovering Bakunin and Kropotkin, his writing, and his Oscar Wildean personal drives and desires of being something of a family man and a free-spirited bisexual. Ultimately, although I appreciated the human interest story aspects, the weakness of this documentary seemed to be how it fell into the common trap of alienating the thinker from the thinker’s environment, socioeconomic class, and, thus, from the power structures of the thinker’s day and how the ideals being considered succeeded and/or failed in affecting those power structures—particularly the two-party system, which undergirds daily socioeconomic realities addressed by disparate dissenters. 

As Gore Vidal has long held since at least the ’50s, in the USA we have one party, the party of property, of corporate and banker elite, of the 1%—one party with two wings, both right-wing, one Republican, one Democrat.

Gore Vidal, 1977:  “There is only one party in the United States, the Property Party … and it has two right wings: Republican and Democrat. Republicans are a bit stupider, more rigid, more doctrinaire in their laissez-faire capitalism than the Democrats, who are cuter, prettier, a bit more corrupt — until recently … and more willing than the Republicans to make small adjustments when the poor, the black, the anti-imperialists get out of hand. But, essentially, there is no difference between the two parties.”

“We can’t deny that there’s been every kind of effort to create an insane consensus,” said Paul Goodman, “And whenever you students try to do anything about it, in order to save my kid from being fried, whether what you’re doing is right or wrong, it’s something!”

Although there were fascinating moments when Goodman faced militants on the Left and Right, they weren’t fleshed out. Instead, the film zoomed in on the individual, on the corporeal, almost divorced from objective political reality in its preoccupation with the culture war and the subjective. The film seemed to avoid the more difficult questions and lessons we may draw from the 1960s New Left for today’s sociopolitical landscape, such as parallels with the Occupy Movement and 9/11 Truth.  

From the intro to Growing Up Absurd:

“We see groups of boys and young men disaffected from the dominant society. The young men are angry, and beat. The boys are juvenile delinquents. But these groups are not small and they will grow larger. Certainly, they are suffering. Demonstrably, they are not getting enough out of our wealth and civilisation. It is hard to grow up in a society in which one’s important problems are treated as non-existent. It is impossible to belong to it. It is hard to fight to change it. In this book I shall ask, is the harmonious organisation to which the young are inadequately socialised perhaps against human nature or not worthy of human nature? And therefore there is difficulty in growing up? If this is so, the disaffection of the youth is profound and it will not be finally remedial by better techniques of socialising.”

They say the personal is the political. But we may have countless dreamers on the margins writing beautiful prose and compelling possibilities, yet devoid of political clout, as neocons and neoliberals strip us of our rights bit by bit, even the right or capacity to dream or imagine. To me, the most compelling expositions are those of actions which, not only challenge the imagination of the individual, but directly challenge relevant centres of power. Thus, the opening clips, such as showing Goodman lecturing power players of the industrial-military complex or freely writing ideas considered seditious by the state, were the most salient. 

Paul Goodman spoke at the Causerie at the Military-Industrial in October 1967 during the Stop The Draft week and boldly asserted in “A Message To The Military-Industrial Complex”:

“You are the military industrial of the United States, the most dangerous body of men at present in the world, for you not only implement our disastrous policies, but are an overwhelming lobby for them. And you expand and rigidify the wrong use of brains and resources and labour, so the change becomes difficult.”

“These remarks have certainly been harsh and moralistic. And none of us are saints and ordinarily I would be ashamed to use such a tone.  But you are the manufacturers of napalm, fragmentation bombs, the planes that destroy rice. Your weapons have killed hundreds of thousands in Vietnam. And you will kill other hundreds of thousands in other Vietnams. I’m sure that most of you concede that much of what you do is ugly and harmful at home and abroad. But you would say it is necessary for the American way of life, at home and abroad and, therefore, you cannot do otherwise. Since we believe, however, that that way of life is, itself, unnecessary, ugly, and un-American, I and those people outside, we cannot condone your present operations. They should be wiped off the slate.”

However, my central complaint with this documentary film is the seeming refusal to contextualise the narrative within the political superstructures dominating the political landscape, the refusal to analyse the role of political parties, given their centrality in all of this historical contextualisation—or tacitly giving the false progressivism of the Democrat Party a free pass. Malcolm X never did that, which is probably why he has remained one of the most compelling and enduring of the people’s heroes:

“Anytime you throw your weight behind a political party that controls two-thirds of the government, and that party can’t keep the promise that it made to you during election time, and you’re dumb enough to walk around continuing to identify yourself with that party, you’re not only a chump, but you’re a traitor to your race.”

In the film, Paul Goodman describes the need to move from “formal” or nominal democracy, to substantive democracy in practice, participatory democracy. Yet, the filmmakers seem disinterested in the role of democracy, of voting and the political parties which follow from the voting process. So, audiences lose another opportunity to learn from the mistakes of the past, such as the mistake of supporting the corrupt Democrat Party or the mistake of not working toward a non-dualistic/multiparty system of free and fair democratic elections. Instead, the life of Paul Goodman is alienated from the USA’s state of democracy as engendered by the dualistic two-party system, or dictatorship (depending on your sensibilities). 

Under this lense, we may pine for the ideals yearned by Goodman, but we are not asked to think about them within the context of the USA’s rigged political system monopolised by two corrupt and predominant political parties—the Democrats and the Republicans. Instead, the focus is on the supplicant aspects of dissent, on protests and so forth. Political reality is avoided like the plague, perhaps to protect the entertainment value of the biopic, but despite the distortions produced. Don’t get me wrong; protests are crucial, but so is the need for protesters to understand and articulate the corruption of the Democrat and Republican parties. And crucial, too, is the need to reject the Democrat Party, to break the dualistic trap of the two-party system.

Greenwich Village Peace Center Draft & Military Counseling is one example featured in the film. Like single-issue groups of today, lacking analysis of contemporary political parties, groups seem willing to advise the public on how to avoid the draft, but not on how to avoid corrupt political parties, like the Democrat and Republican parties, which enabled the draft in the first place.

Also featured in Lee’s film are Goodman’s extramarital affairs and his wife’s pain as a result; his decade as a Gestalt psychoanalyst/psychologist; and his pacifist outspokenness; and his pamphlet Drawing the Line against the military draft. Lee also featured Goodman’s differences with radical “militants,” such as SDS, which he said “makes no sense.” Being able to appreciate aspects of the SDS and of Paul Goodman’s work, it’s great to hear and parse opposing points of view.  Nothing is ever good enough. Some are too radical, we say. Others are not radical enough. But the beauty of this narrative of Paul Goodman’s life is the depiction of his Socratic spirit, his ability to publicly dialogue, to debate, and to interact intergenerationally. Also notable was the discussion about those liberals or leftists, which later became conservatives or quasi-fascists, as documented in a photograph taken of Paul Goodman and others at a civil disobedience conference, including a very young Donald Rumsfeld, of all people (provided Rumsfeld wasn’t there as a spy to begin with).

These are my initial thoughts after viewing Lee’s film. Perhaps readers may help articulate a clearer analysis of what alienates us from one another. But in the meantime I recommend this film as worthy of your time, especially, for new generations unaware of Paul Goodman’s contributions to ‘60s progressive, or Leftist, thought and, therefore, to modern progressive thought. May Goodman encourage you to, as one KPFA radio scoundrel in Berkeley likes to say, “Pick up a good book and read it.”

Written by Winston Raskolnikov for Media Roots

Photo by Wikicommons

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MEDIA ROOTS – Greenpeace specializes in environmental advocacy, striving daily to convince humanity to care for its planet. Recognizing Earth’s fragile state, the organization provides tangible solutions and affects positive change. Their tactics include lobbying, grassroots campaigns, and bold non-violent direct action. Greenpeace confronts multiple, interwoven environmental concerns, including climate change, deforestation, ocean degradation, toxic pollution, and nuclear weapons.

Recently, Greenpeace has focused on lobbying Brazilian politicians to accept responsibility for rampant deforestation and environmental injustice. After significant pressure from the organization, the public prosecutor of the Brazilian state of Para levied strict fines on abattoirs and retailers, which were linked to illicit ranches operating within his jurisdiction. These farms were functioning on illegally deforested land, selling cow meat and hide to international corporations like Wal-Mart, Nike, and Toyota. Facing fines totaling over $1 billion, the associated abattoirs and international retailers pledged to conduct future business with only registered, legal ranching establishments.

Sometimes Greenpeace must resort to innovative tactics in order to induce environmentally responsible behavior. Recently, they targeted Nestle’s KitKat bar, which contained palm oil derived from unsustainable sources, through a creatively morose internet campaign. As a result, Greenpeace goaded Nestle into halting purchases from their questionable Indonesian supplier. After pressuring corporate heavyweights like Nike, Wal-Mart, and Kraft, Greenpeace received judicious cooperation against illegal deforestation. Any respite from the pressure on all parties will lead to a resumption of illicit activities, inherent to the exploitative measures of international capitalism.

Despite its encouraging track record, there are plenty of reasons why Greenpeace must continue its lobbying efforts, grassroots tactics, and international campaigns. Primarily, corporate behemoths have only responded to Greenpeace’s requests because they’ve received substantial pressure from some socially-responsible consumers who demand strict environmental standards to be adopted along the corporate supply chain. Unfortunately, the average shopper has no desire to pay the increased prices resulting from expensive environmental standards. In response to the conflict between customer responsibility and consumer frugality, corporations continue to cut corners in favor of profit, potentially resorting to illegal strategies to achieve a more profitable bottom line.

Even if all necessary environmental standards are adhered to, corporations don’t consider the deleterious effect, which their mere presence has on local environments.  For example, timber corporations build roads into isolated habitats in order to extract timber. Yet these roads remain long after the logging companies depart. By connecting cities to forests in this manner, loggers contribute to an expedited drain of other natural resources, leading to the collapse of many fragile ecosystems. With scant concern for sustainable extraction techniques, irresponsible corporate clientele will continue to degrade our global habitat beyond repair, regardless of any demand for environmental justice.

One cannot help but sympathize with Greenpeace and admire their efforts of using creativity and audacity as weapons against our collective disregard of the environment. Al Jazeera World looks at Greenpeace’s humble beginnings and the courage it takes to stand up to those who deliberately ruin our one and only planet.

Christian Sorensen for Media Roots

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Al Jazeera World – Greenpeace: From Hippies to Lobbyists

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Photo by Flickr User Jesus Manzano

MEDIA ROOTS – Since we U.S. citizens all live under a government, which has chosen to engage in perpetual war at great cost, it is important to use every tool available in order to analyze our collective condition.  Heliofant’s recent release, entitled I, Pet Goat II, is a mindblowing short film rife with explanatory symbolism and profound juxtaposition, from which we all may learn.  

The animated film tackles many intertwining, contemporary dilemmas: false flag attacks, rampant consumerism, corporate power, invasive religion, and money’s influence over politics.  On an esoteric level, Heliofant broaches the Illuminati, the Masons, the Orphic Egg, the hammer & sickle, and the Federal Reserve.  For Heliofant’s own breakdown of some of the symbolism, click here.  

Beautifully elucidating the last decade of chaos and human suffering, the moving film leaves many feeling encouraged.  After all, we still have the beauty of personal choice.  Through exercising this choice, we may eventually save ourselves. 

Christian Sorensen for Media Roots

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Heliofant: I, Pet Goat II 

A story about the fire at the heart of suffering. Bringing together dancers, musicians, visual artists and 3d animators, the film takes a critical look at the events of the past decade that have shaped our world.

Original soundtrack “the Stream”, written and performed by Tanuki Project.

Animation is about half keyframe animation and half motion capture. Motion capture recording by Lartech. 

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Photo by Flickr User The Halo Above

This piece of writing about Abby Martin and the foundation of Media Roots was written for a college journalism paper. 

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MEDIA ROOTS – Abby Martin initially had little political awareness growing up in Pleasanton, California.  When she attended college at San Diego State University, she was introduced to U.S. foreign policy priorities through her studies in Spanish, Sociology and Political Science. Since then – and especially after 9/11 – she began to realize something was terribly wrong in the world. As she began researching more about the underlying motivations of the corporate-controlled federal government, she became a prominent anti-war activist against the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.

Her realization of the glaring inconsistencies in the official rendition of the September 11th attacks prompted her to also become active in San Diego’s 9/11 Truth Movement. Through this movement she realized that “media censorship is what prevents pertinent information from reaching the masses, fostering an environment of ignorance and complacency,” according to Martin.

In 2009, Martin joined an independent media outlet entitled “Your Network.” After a year long stint of producing, directing and starring in weekly political exposés, the organization dissolved. However, her passion still thrived. Media Roots was her next brain-child, which fostered the spirit of the old media network while, as Ms. Martin explains, “provided an avenue to share and grow her journalistic endeavors.”

Media Roots has come a long way since its humble grassroots beginning. Writers from around the world are now contributing content that is under reported in the mainstream media. Subjects have expanded to original artist interviews and in-depth commentary through a variety of mediums such as radio, video, and written word. The citizen journalism project reports primarily on corporate and political corruption from outside party lines. Some stories covered include Kyrgystan’s kidnappings of brides, lessons on the elite Bohemian Grove camp-out, and the toxic elements now circulating in the global food production. 

“I typically rely on RSS feeds and Twitter to find videos and articles to cover,” Martin explained when asked about her research regiment. She also has a stark viewpoint when it comes to politicians. “Political personas don’t always match…. What political figure has been entirely honest about his or her intentions? All politicians are actors in a sense. They say what they need to maintain their position in government.”

The site is overseen and run by Martin herself and funds it with no advertizing revenue. She mentions that it can be difficult to keep site contributors motivated with her full-time obligations at RT America. But there are still goals for growing Media Roots, such as an upcoming redesign for the website and constantly generating content for public exposure.

There are many aspiring journalists that can learn from this driven activist-turned-journalist. “Many individuals now have the tools to be a citizen journalist whenever they want. Live-streaming, social-networking, and blogs are all ways one can start to report and remain proactive in communities… to tell the truth from the grassroots level without the corporate spin. Hone in on what you are passionate about, and let that passion flourish.

“Everyone has talents – unique skills to offer the world. With some reflection and discussion, one can find out what those things are and use them as tools for self-expression and to contribute to better society as a whole.”

Currently, Abby Martin sits on the board of Project Censored, the largest research organization in the U.S., and anchors at RT America’s DC bureau.

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Written by Cassandra Kerkman, edited by Oskar Mosco