2000 Democratic National Convention Protest Activity - Birth of Indymedia

Birth of Indymedia

The 2000 DNC brought about the birth of the Los Angeles media center for Indymedia.org or Independent Media Center. IMC.

It became the fastest independent media collective to go from inspiration, after the police brutality on Protesters and Indie journalists at the November 1999 World Trade Organization WTO summit in Seattle, to having live satellite transmission capabilities and a bona-fide, official entity.

A multiethnic technical group composed of indie Hollywood filmmakers, MAPA members worked for several months in the technical planning and deployment of a media center.

Indymedia leased the Patriotic Hall, convering the entire building to a giant media studio within 24 h of taking possession of the premises on August 12. It was outfitted with film production equipment like diesel power generators, power distribution networks, and stage lighting within a few months.

The entire lobby became a public forum with several podiums and large-screen televisions while technical and production crews managed the live media in several upper floors.

Dozens of field reporters, like bees, delivered media to a triage stage and moved on to editing crews composed of teen-age nerds to Hollywood indie filmmakers.

Political and media luminaries were present: Amy Goodman broadcast her daily radio show Democracy Now This event marked also the Beginning of TV/Sat broadcast of Democracy now utilizing the Indymedia Studio—and other social activists like Arianna Huffington Gore Vidal, Christopher Hitchens, several (independent Parties) political candidates, Peter Camejo, Kucinich, pundits, activists, etc.

This independent media content was broadcast through DishNetwork and DirectTV via Freespeech TV available on both Satellite Television providers. On Monday Aug 14, The LAPD aided by the Calif Highway patrol (State Police) were sent to shut down the studio. However, there were no laws in violation, and Indymedia had a valid lease from the County.

Other than the dislike from the police that regular citizens had now the capabilities to broadcast media content as easily as mainstream corporate media but in a free-speech, independent fashion, the LAPD had no choice but to release the building to the tenants. The following day, Indymedia, in true collective spirit, resumed media broadcast activities, thanks to the quick intervention of the National Lawyers Guild which actually oversaw the entire DNC activities in order to provided eye-witness accounts to ensure the prevention of police abuse, brutality and to ensure a democratic process. and the fact that Arianna continuously ridiculed the actions of the LAPD and the bogus claims of reports of bombs in the premises.

National Lawyers Guild members identified themselves with bright green, fluorescent, ball-caps emblazoned with their name and carrying legal pads. Progressive supporters like Ben and Jerry ice cream,(a sister company of Breyers) provided thousands of dollars in free product to the indymedia project with a continuously-resupplied truck in the Patriotic Hall parking lot. This history-making event became known as the DNC-2000 "Shadow Convention"