wider range of issues —something beforernCongress one day, something before cityrncouncil the next. And they just don’trnhave the bulk of the coast-to-coast programs.rnThey have less to lose from coveringrnsomething risk- or obscure or fromrntaking a controversial stand.rnThere are, of course, good syndicatedrnshows. Most talk stations mix local andrnnational shows. Many mix mainstreamrnand radical opinions: with all those hoursrnof the day to fill, all-talk stations are morernlikely to schedule something… well, different.rnThere are a lot of folks with thingsrnto say, some of whom are even willing tornpay for the airtime.rnBeyond the A.M.-F.M. universe,rnshortwave radio carries everything fromrnthe crypto-Nazi fulminations of TomrnValentine to the leftist programs of thernCosta Rica-based Radio For Peace International.rnAnd then there’s micro radio:rnunlicensed stations of less than 100rnwatts, transmitfing everything from sermonsrnto socialism to ska. The micrornmovement makes room for everyonernwho’s been excluded from the mainstreamrnmedia monopoly. So on onernhand, in Apache Juncdon, Arizona, yournhave KISS 89 FM, a station that may bernillegal but nonetheless belongs to the localrnchamber of commerce, covers localrnpolitics, and broadcasts church servicesrnand high school sports. At the samerntime, you’ve got stations like RadiornMutin’ in Philadelphia, an outlet that,rnto quote from its mission statement,rn”is rabidly non-hierarchical, decisivelyrnanti-authoritarian, avidly pro-feminist,rnstaunchly anti-racist, and resolutely antihomophobic.”rnWhat do two such differentrnstations have in common? Both haverngotten word from the FCC in recentrnmonths, telling them to go off the air—orrnelse.rnlechie t)pes have been talking up thernidea of Web radio, of using RealAudiornsoftware to broadcast over the Internet.rnSuch stations would not need to be licensed,rnand thousands of them could existrnside-by-side. With current technology,rnit costs a lot to do this, and veryrnfew —no more than 50 or so —peoplerncan tune in at once. The futuristsrnpromise that this will soon change, oncernthe programmers have perfected “multicasting”rnsoftware. And in this case, thernfuturists are probably right.rnBut some stations are already usingrnthe Net, not to broadcast to a mass audiencernbut to share shows. The A-Infos RadiornProject has set up a website throughrnwhich micro stations, legal communityrnstations, and independent producers canrnupload and download news reports, fulllengthrndocumentaries, and other programs.rnIt’s cheaper than satellites andrnfaster than the mail, and vou don’t needrna computer to listen to it.rnVideo. If the unofficial slogan of thernold media is “trust us,” the unofficialrnslogan of the new is “caveat emptor.”rnNowhere is this more true than in thernbooming world of low-budget independentrnvideo, a much-neglected worldrndominated by paranoids, pornographersrn(the medium’s true pioneers, for betterrnor worse), and enervating lecturers. It’srnlike public-access TV without the productionrnvalues.rnYou can’t help but admire these filmmakers’rnspunk, putting together littlernmovies at impossibly low budgets. Andrnwith a few exceptions, you can’t help butrnbe appalled at the low quality of thosernspunky filmmakers’ products. Witnessrnsuch trash as Linda Thompson’s widelyrndistributed videos on the Waco holocaust,rnvideos that did much to spark outragernover the government’s conduct butrnalso muddied the water with inaccuraterncharges about disinformation plots andrnfire-throwing tanks.rnBut don’t write off video yet. Therntechnolog}’ is getting cheaper, the knowhowrnis spreading farther, and when itrnworks, it’s very powerful. And, oncernmore, the Internet may make things easier.rnIf the commercial powers-that-be everrndeliver the video-on-demand servicesrnthey have been promising us, there willrnbe little to stop independent filmmakersrnand videographers from turning thatrntechnology to their own ends, bypassingrndistribution costs by sending theirrnmovies directi}’ to Net-surfers.rnPrint media. Let’s not forget the printedrnword. It’s not just there on computerrnscreens. It’s on good old-fashionedrnpages, xeroxed and stapled and stackedrnin bars, stores, restaurants. I refer, ofrncourse, to zincs, those irregular (in everyrnsense) periodicals devoted to everythingrnfrom anarcho-syndicalism to breakfastrncereals to the Rapture.rnThe mass media have discovered thernzine world, and are promoting a sanitized,rndomesticated version of zinedomrnin its Style sections and Sunday supplements.rnOther independent print mediarnhave not received quite as much attention.rnThe fax network, for example, existsrnin the hazy territory between the zinernand the telephone tree. The chapbookrncan be a mass-market affair, but morernand more poetry collections are essentiallyrnone-shot zincs. And the flier is onernof the oldest media in the world, and stillrnamong the most potent: there’s no betterrnway to advertise a local concert, lecture,rndemonstration, or sublease than by postingrna hundred little wall posters aroundrntown. (It is also one of the most censoredrnmedia, usually informally—certain fliersrnsimply disappear more quickly than othersrn—and sometimes not. Not long ago,rnSeattle actually tried to ban public postering.)rnBut these are not new media. Somehow,rnwe’ve landed back in the world ofrnwall posters and cafes, the meshwork ofrnconversations and rumors that’s as old asrnsociet)’ itself But there’s a difference.rnFift’ years ago, it looked like the massrnmedia might overwhelm that humanrnworld. Now the human world threatensrnto overwhelm the mass media, invadingrnthe airwaves and computer screens thatrnwere once reserved for the elite. It’srnreached the point where the news andrnculture industries have started marketingrntheir wares as “independent” even whenrnthey’re not. Record companies startrnsmall subsidiaries, packaging their releasesrnto look like those of an indie label.rnBig-budget movies advertise themselvesrnas “independent films.” Mainstreamrnmagazines ape zine styles.rnNone of which stills the flood of ttulyrnindependent work, of fine alternativernnews, analysis, and art. And if there hasrnalso been an explosion of smut, paranoia,rnand drivel, so be it: at least it’s our smut,rnparanoia, and drivel. This populismrncomes unvarnished.rnJesse Walker writes from Washington,rnD.C.rnECONOMICSrnWiping Out thernMiddle Classrnby Bob DjurdjevicrnDawn is 25. Marty is 27. Dawnrnworks as a preschool teacher at arnlocal private Christian school. Marty is arnlaborer at a retail distribution center.rnMAY 1998/47rnrnrn