🍄 Freedom is the Power to Say No

Press freedom is under attack, and not just recently. It has been on decline for decades, according to the World Press Freedom Index, which ranks 180 countries every year.

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Throughout human history there are courageous individuals who risk everything for their beliefs. 

A visit with Stephen Dunifer, 2006

Hello, we’re Alice and we are always in a state of wander. Founded on April 11, 1993 as a Free Speech voice challenging the regulatory structure and power of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Free Radio Berkeley was broadcasting 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 104.1 FM with 50 watts of power as the alternative voice for the greater Berkeley/Oakland area. 

In 2006, we drove to what looked like Santa’s workshop (if Santa was into scrap metal and discarded electronics) to meet Stephen Dunifer, an American radio engineer and author who founded Free Radio Berkeley. Our interview got off to a quick start with Dunifer telling us the title of a new book he was writing that would tell the saga of the free radio movement, it would be called: Kiss My Bill of Rights…“We’re definitely going to tell them what they can do…and, we don’t call ourselves pirate radio either. Some people get caught up in romantic notions of pirates. In my opinion the real pirates are the corporations.” Noted. 

To quote Stephen Dunifer quoting Bob Dylan, 

“If you’re going to live outside the law,                                      

you’ve got to be honest.”

The following is an excerpt from our interview with Dunifer…

The FCC, the corporate broadcasters refer to us as pirates, but I consider it a pejorative term in that sense because they’re implying we’re stealing something that doesn’t belong to us, we’re skulking around in the dark committing acts of felony and other lascivious, licentious acts or whatever they have in their minds. In fact, what we’re doing here really is protecting free speech activity–the airwaves. Worst case you could consider us a repo-team for the airwaves. That is, we’re essentially repossessing property that’s been illegally taken and particularly, you can get your car repossessed when you don’t make the payments. Well, the corporations don’t make a single payment to we-the-people for the use of a public resource. So, they’re not even paying us at least some compensation for this atrocious stuff they’re cranking out on airwaves that belong to all of us. I think we’re within our legitimate right to repossess the airwaves from them.

Pretty much from the start of the project we’ve always been involved in the manufacturing and design of transmitters, doing the training and education workshops. Very early on we were approached by people from Mexico and Haiti and other places to help them set up radio stations in their communities and to aid in their struggles. And that’s what we’re really doing, up to this date right now. We have these four-day radio camps during the summer months and during those 4-day camps we teach people how to build these units. Basically, everything you need to know to set up a small radio station. The whole point of what we’re trying to do is transfer as much of the skill and knowledge to other people. TUPA is our project for the Americas; stands for Transmitters Uniting the Peoples of the Americas. 

Freedom of speech belongs to those who own the transmitters. 

One of the best aspects when we were doing Free-Radio Berkeley, it was a 24/7 full-on, community radio station. We had over, close to 90 volunteer programmers and the real concept was an electronic living room, so to speak. I suppose the feeling we tried to get was that you’re not there by yourself, you’re actually in this extended living room with other people listening to what was going on, whatever the programming was. You felt more like you were sitting on a couch and somebody was saying, what do you think about this?  It was a conversation rather than just some sort of formulaic response, formulaic programming. People really need this sense of community, a sense of being with other people. 

Thanks for the your contribution to free speech Stephen!

What else we are wondering

🧠 A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace by John Perry Barlow. Recording of John Perry Barlow reading his "A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace" produced by Q Department. 

🧠 From our 2006 interview with Reid Hoffman, founder of LinkedIN, who shared his prescient thoughts on the growing impact social media:

There’s a lot of positive things about millions of publishers enabling people’s voices bringing transparency…I give credit to Neil Postman who wrote a book called “Amusing Ourselves To Death, Public Discourse in the Age of Television." I love the book and I love the first two pages which is comparing George Orwell and Aldous Huxley. His whole thesis is maybe Orwell wasn’t right, maybe Huxley was. Orwell said the state’s going to control you through absence of information, through pain. Huxley said you’re going to be controlled through pleasure and through the inundation of information. My basic worry about possible dystopia on the internet is a little bit like why you have 500 or 1,000 channels, it’s like people stop listening to anything that doesn’t confirm their current belief. They only listen to things that meet their appetites.

CREDIT: Demos

🧠 Through cutting-edge policy research, inspiring litigation and deep relationships with grassroots organizations, Demos champions solutions that will create a democracy and economy rooted in racial equity.

🧠 UNESCO World Press Freedom Day 2023, Shaping a Future of Rights, Freedom of expression as a driver for all other human rights:"World Press Freedom Day 2023 provides an opportunity to emphasize the role of freedom of expression and media freedom as enablers of all other human rights, and to underscore the indivisible, interdependent and interrelated nature of all human rights.”

🧠 Reporters Without Borders (RSF) defends the right of every human being to have access to free and reliable information. This right is essential to know, understand, form an opinion and take action on vital issues in full awareness, both individually and collectively.

🧠 The Youth Press Agency (YPA) believes in the power of independent of journalism and educommunication as a tool for social transformation and human rights’ advocacy. YPA is a news portal made for and to teenagers and young people from Brazil and around the world.

🧠 Youth Journalism International connects student writers, artists and photographers with peers around the globe, teaches journalism, fosters cross-cultural understanding, and promotes and defends a free youth press.

🧠 The Society of Professional Journalists has named the top 10 urgent threats to freedom of information in the U.S. in 2023. 

🧠 Thirty years ago, UN General Assembly proclaimed May 3 to be World Press Freedom Day . World Press Freedom Day 2023 focuses on “Information as a Public Good.” This subject emphasizes how crucial it is to guarantee everyone access to trustworthy, impartial, and accurate information. It is more crucial than ever to spread awareness of the significance of high-quality journalism and the press’s responsibility in holding those in authority responsible in an era of misinformation and false news.

🧠 Starts With Us is a new civic movement, backed by 100+ iconic leaders, launches multi-pronged program to turn curiosity, empathy, and courage into daily habits.

🧠 📘 If you came of age in the United States, you may know who Judy Blume is. If you don’t, New Jersey is making sure you do—naming a rest stop on the Garden State Parkway after her as a stand against banning books. This effort was organized by Books We Read, committed to intellectual freedom, and the fight against censorship.

🧠 Fake news is considered free speech, according to the European Data Protection Supervisor, and fighting misinformation is almost impossible because “the sheer mass of fake news spread over social media cannot be handled manually.” But artificial intelligence may play a part in unmasking fake news—no matter how it's generated. This power will come primarily through the nascent growth of large language models.

🧠 🎵 Freemuse: Defending Artistic Freedom. Freedom of expression, which encompasses artistic freedom, is a fundamental right protected by international law, as is the right to be part of peaceful actions towards change. Musicians and audiences alike should be free to enjoy and take part in music, and all forms of creative expression, without fear of repercussion. Members of the music community from across genres and working in all aspects of its production stand up in support of others under attack.

🧠 The Committee to Protect Journalists is an independent, nonprofit organization that promotes press freedom worldwide. Sending our support to Russia detained Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich.

🧠 Ironically, closed: The Newseum was an American museum at 555 Pennsylvania Avenue NW dedicated to news and journalism that promoted free expression and the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, while tracing the evolution of communication.

Craving more?

📘 Alice in Futureland books
👁‍🗨 Electronic Civil Disobedience with Stephen Dunifer, from our archives

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