WANTED: On Site Rainbow Press Crew SALARY: Good Karma

The following document, written by the press crew, was presented at the 2008 New Mexico Thanksgiving Council by two wonderful elders; it received positive response. It's been slightly modified. Please scroll to the bottom to see jobs to be filled for this year. They'll be done by many people to prevent burnout.

Rainbow press crew: Goals for the Future and What’s Up

What is the Rainbow press crew?

The Rainbow press crew is a group of passionate volunteers who have committed time and energy to keeping our family safe in a new way. Its goal is to eliminate police harassment at peaceful Rainbow gatherings by getting mainstream media cameras there before the harassment and attacks occur. It is hoped that the presence of these types of cameras will deter the police from behaving inappropriately. When the next incident happens, we need the world to see it. This harassment needs to be prevented by entering reports of these attacks into the court of public opinion once and for all.

The press crew started because the tactic of increased and persistent police harassment succeeds to completely squelch events. An example is the New York Critical Mass Bike Ride. Like Rainbow, it's a recurring nonviolent event that focuses on exercising our right to peaceably assemble on public land. In 2004, upwards of 5,000 were in attendance. Then a steady police harassment campaign began which deterred people's interests in coming out, and in three years, by 2007, attendance dropped to mere dozens. Some think this may also happen to Rainbow being that we're 3/4ths down in numbers.

The press crew was launched after the tasering of Family members at gatherings followed by the FS's recent purchase of 700 Tasers ( http://www.docuticker.com/?p=18223 ) and their subsequent poor training ( http://www.fs.fed.us/im/directives/fsm/5300/5380.doc ) ( http://www.fs.fed.us/im/directives/fsh/5309.11/5309.11_50.doc ) on the use of these deadly weapons. Just last year the FS informed the Family that they would be outfitted with them at the WY Gathering.

What we do at gathering time

•On site volunteers jot down a report/summary of the day’s events, type it up and print 7 copies

•Info sends signed up after-dinner runners to pick up the copies, bring them to the road and divvy them out into cars already leaving the gathering

•Copies sent to town are called in to the voice mail of an off site volunteer that night

•Off site volunteers transform this report into a good press release and send it to media contacts

•Off site volunteers make follow up calls to media outlets (a common practice expected by the media), stressing that the most accurate story is “at the gathering” and “we can't speak for Rainbow”

•At the gathering a media check-in/parking area is established and tours of the site are offered at noon each day. Tour guides are entertaining and inform gatherers that cameras are coming into the area. These media escorts also have radios to be notified as to when to bring the cameras to an incident

We'd like the media to see all the great stuff going on at the gathering. We want them to see the beautiful children, hear the singing, smell the smells of the kitchens, and feel the good intentions.

What we did

We collected videos, documents, quotes, etc. for the press. We manifested a list of 163 media outlets (both mainstream and alternative) and a website. We set up a phone line and got a printer and driver DVDs on site. We sent out press releases and followed up with phone calls to all of the TV stations on the list. Reports came in from folks who'd left the gathering, and more press releases went out.

We were mentioned ( http://www.pinedaleroundup.com/V2_news_articles.php?heading=0&page=&story_id=719 ) in a Pinedale, WY newspaper. Dr. Niman (who wrote the book, People of the Rainbow) referenced ( http://artvoice.com/issues/v7n29/getting_a_grip ) and linked to one of our press releases in an article he wrote about the Kid Village incident which was published in Artvoice, a Buffalo, NY newspaper. And a Denver, CO cable TV program ( http://blip.tv/search?q=Rainbow+press+crew&x=0&y=0 ) called Common Sense did a show interviewing Rainbow guests that aired over a dozen times to an audience of over 60,000.

Many folks committed to volunteering with the press crew. Those who followed through did a great job, and many are back on board (we're still waiting to hear back from some) to help protect the New Mexico ('09) national from attack. Those who didn't follow through consisted of on site volunteers.

What didn't happen

At the WY Gathering last year there was no media check-in area and reports didn’t go out from the land, even though there was cell service on site behind front gate. No calls were made to the waiting, off site volunteers until bad stuff happened. By then it was too late to get the mainstream cameras in to help protect the Family. Some folks didn't take it seriously. One opinion about sending reports out before an attack was, “making daily phone calls when little is happening is useless.”

This inaction was mostly due to folks plugging in the way they usually do to ensure the survival of that particular gathering. That same 'ole, same ole' is proving detrimental to our mere existence. How are we investing so that future gatherings will still happen and will be safe two years from now?

What we need to happen

There is a water crew, there is a parking crew, and now there is a press crew. The off site crew is established. The media list keeps growing.

The Family needs on site volunteers, now more than ever, if for no other reason than to prevent the following quote from becoming a reality next month in NM. Regarding the Kid Village Incident at the WY Gathering, top LEO John Twiss said, “When you're throwing a rock at somebody's head, you're potentially looking at hurting somebody seriously or killing them. Our officers certainly could have been looking at using deadly force, but they didn't.” -Billings Gazette, July 8, 2008. ( http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2008/07/08/news/wyoming/31-rainbowfamily.txt ) This statement is outright spooky, but it's also a chilling example of how the FS sends lies to the press about our behavior, so it makes sense for us to send reports to the press about their behavior.

Also, a court document ( http://www.free-assembly.org/gather...rk/us-v-wirtshafter/hrg-transcript-5jy07/view ) was sent to the press crew which transcribes the head of the ICT Gene Smithson who swore under oath when questioned that “Every year we are – we are going to be recertified in it (crowd control),” and added, “every officer on the team had” received re-certifying training credits in crowd control dispersal while they were at the Arkansas '07 Gathering. Therefore they probably believe that training on us is just one of their job duties so it must be totally OK to do.

Should we take it to court? Been there. Even when we win, the FS keeps doing whatever it wants. And we only have three lawyers, and they already work year round on helping the Family.

Finally, our own cameras are not enough. Last May, a Philly cop riot ( http://nyc.indymedia.org/en/2008/05/97248.shtml ) captured by TV news cameras resulted in the immediate firing of at least five officers within two weeks of the incident. That's instant accountability vs. stagnant YouTube videos and pending court cases.

The only cog left to turn this machine is finding on site volunteers who'll do their part so that the off site volunteers may provide the press with consistent, enticing, credible and professional press releases to balance out what the FS is feeding them. Be a small part of our big crew!

AWESOME ONSITE PRESS CREW POSITIONS TO BE FILLED

*Gatherers of On Site Volunteers via signs, announcements at dinner, etc.

*Coordinators of After-Dinner Runners via sign-up sheet kept by Info workers

*Many After-Dinner Runners to take turns finding responsible drivers/callers on the road heading out (a good job for folks new to Rainbow)

*Accurate Info Collectors and Daily Summary Writers

*Typists and Printer-outers of 7 copies a day

*Tour Guides/TV Camera Media Escorts...borrow radios until we can buy them for you!

*Road campers excited to have part of their camp serve as the Media Check-In/Parking Area

If you are considering helping and can commit, please contact <rpcrew09 at gmail.com>

The salary is good karma. Here's our first call out from last year and some FAQs ( http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Alt/alt.gathering.rainbow/2008-07/msg00005.html ). And here's a website ( http://mobilebroadcastnews.ning.com/profile/presscrew ) of sorts, mostly for press to view old press releases from (it's being migrated over to a new site soon and eventually with a new graphic); hear one of our favorite songs there!

Please forward