The Republican National Convention and events surrounding it was the big news of the week here in the Twin Cities. While shooting photos for The Uptake and Pitchfork Media, HowWasTheShow writer and photographer Jon Behm took this photo of Zach de la Rocha of Rage Against the Machine as he led the crowd in an a capella rendition of “Killing in the Name Of” on the State Capitol lawn on Tuesday. Rage performed the song through a bullhorn in front of the stage after authorities would not let them play because their name was not on the performance permit.
Rage was in town early for a scheduled show at the Target Center Wednesday, and following their impromptu rendition of their song, they and part of their would-be audience briefly joined up with a march sponsored by The Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign while some in the crowd continued to chant the RATM lyric “Fuck you I won’t do what you tell me.” (The urban dictionary has called that line the “greatest song lyric of all time.”)
The national media touched only marginally on the protests surrounding the RNC in the Twin Cities, while the local media provided more coverage. The indy media, however, spouted off about it almost incessantly. All told the Uptake produced over 100 RNC-related videos, and those following the events on Twitter – a bit of a bullhorn itself for anyone who chose to pay attention - were bombarded with #RNC08 tweets 24/7. It was almost too much. After more than five days of constant ambient awareness, and without having set foot once in St. Paul where most though not all of the protests were taking place, Friday found me exhausted and glad the RNC was over.
HowWasTheShow would like to give a shout out to the Citizen Journalists of the Twin Cities, especially our friends at the Uptake. I don’t use the term friends loosely in this case, as many of the people who helped them with coverage this week really are some of our dearest friends.
As the intensity of media coverage around the RNC dies down, I hope the spirit of Citizen Journalism continues to inspire people to get the word out on sometimes overlooked stories and make sure important events get the attention they deserve. And I hope that what was clearly taken to a new level this past week will continue to foster professionalism in the independent media. Clearly there are things we are all still learning, and sometimes adjustments can be painful. But nonetheless, here’s to a tough job well done.
For more on Day 2 of the RNC convention, check out this video from the Uptake:
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