Fifteen Years of Radical Citizen Media

In September of 2005, I attended my first peace march, and afterwards launched what has become RadicalCitizenMedia.com to document progressive social movements and citizen engagement. 15 years later, it has almost 50,000 photos, 3400 videos with over 4 million views, and 4500 subscribers. And YouTube still won't monetize me, LOL! https://www.radicalcitizenmedia.com

Words Pictures Music

I hung my first shingle on the Internet in 1997, when I started my freelance writing business. Since then, my work has expanded to include editing, photography, videography, website design and content, and, most recently, social media.

As well, photography, painting, and poetry consume much of my non-working time. In an effort to bring everything I do together, I started a personal website called My Name Is Paula a couple of years later. However, it did not take long for my work to be scattered all over the Internet on various different website.

Over the years my skills have developed, yet the two main websites I was using to promote myself and my work appeared almost stagnant. I would update the content of course, the but the designs were out of date and difficult to update. Changing times bring, well, changes. So, last week I decided to purchase a new domain and Wordpress my way to a brand new website combining everything still relevant. Behold: Words Pictures Music

Words, pictures, and music pretty well sum up who I am and what I do. Although I tend to loathe the term "branding" as it applies to a person (as opposed to a corporation), a rebranding was definitely in order. There is also a blog at the site, but it will only deal with work and creative projects. My social commentaries will remain here.

Raise My Voice Becomes Radical Citizen Media

In September of 2005 I attended a peace march. I brought a camera and took pictures. I posted those pictures online. This behaviour became a habit.

People looked at the photos. They looked a lot. So much, in fact, that the server I posted them on, crashed.

As a result, I purchased a domain and hosting plan. The website was called RaiseMyVoice.com and became a portal to the photos and videos I shot at rallies and events concerning human rights, social justice, the environment, women's issues, poverty, and a host of other topics, mostly from progressive and left of centre viewpoints.

After a while, the website became one of the largest historical archives of citizen engagement in Edmonton at such events. RaiseMyVoice.com needed to be updated more and more frequently, and required more categories, better organization, and a cleaner look.

This week, RaiseMyVoice.com got the overhaul it needed. It was such an overhaul that I decided to change the website entirely.

With the new look comes a new name: Radical Citizen Media.

There are more events organized by subject matter than ever. More categories. The videos are easier to find. Photo sets lost and broken have been found and fixed. The design is cleaner, navigation is easier, and updates now include embedded photos and videos.

I have been called Edmonton's Indymedia because of my commitment to documenting progressive and left-wing citizen engagement in Edmonton. That commitment is going to be met even better moving forward. Radical Citizen Media is now both a serious part of Edmonton's media scene and valuable historical archive.

A New Home for Edmonton Activist Resources Online

In 2005, I edited a book called the Edmonton Activist Resource and Contact Guide, written by local activist Radical Randy and published by the Edmonton Small Press Association. The Guide was a huge success, selling out regularly wherever it was sold at events or retail at places like Earth's General Store.

I hosted an online version of the Guide at RaiseMyVoice.com. It was updated regularly with new links, resources, and articles. Over the past few years, the site has expanded considerably and it was time for a home of its own and Radical Randy decided to learn how to make a website of his own.

EdmontonActivistResources.org is the result. At the site you will find:

A "Quick and Easy Introduction" section for novices to the economic and political forces dominating our modern world;

Glossary and discussions of terms those new to these areas may not be familiar with;

Short descriptions of the "free trade" treaties and international financial organizations Canada belongs to which have drawn so many protests;

The business organizations, front groups, and corporate-funded "think tanks" that have been instrumental in advancing the neoliberal agenda in Canada;

Short downloadable articles dealing with a wide variety of subjects for a quick overview of these topics

A wide-ranging listing magazines, radio and tv programs, and websites as well as Edmonton Public Library books, dvds, and cds providing alternative information on these public policy matters from that presented by corporate mass media;

Websites and listservs of Edmonton organizations working on social and economic justice, environmental, peace and other issues for those interested in becoming involved;

And, perhaps most importantly, a means for those involved in one part of this work for a better world to network with those working in other areas.

The description above was taken directly off the website.

Although I am definitely biased, the Guide is an excellent resource for anyone interested in learning about social issues and activist movements from a left-wing, often radical, perspective. It is not affiliated with any political party and is produced independently. I am proud to have been a part of it.

Boyle McCauley News Has a Website!

I spend a lot of time in the inner city. One of the major reasons is because I edit Boyle McCauley News, the community newspaper serving the neighbourhoods of Boyle Street and McCauley. The paper is an important source of news and information about the area, presenting many of the positive aspects of life there.

For the past five or so years, BMC News (as it is known for short) has had a presence on the website for the McCauley Community League. About a year's worth of papers were archived in PDF form, so visitors could download the paper to read.

2009 marked the 30th anniversary of the paper, and myself and my staff thought a good way to commemorate this milestone was to properly archive all of the past issues of the paper in microfiche. When we researched that option, we also saw that we could have all of the papers scanned and converted into PDFs that were searchable and could be incorporated into a project such as a website.

We reached the conclusion that a website that was stand-alone and featured an electronic version of current issues as well as a searchable archive was not only desireable, but necessary as a valuable resource not only for the community itself, but for anyone interested in the history of Edmonton's inner city.

After receiving a projects-based grant from Alberta Culture and Community Spirit's Community Initiatives Program, we embarked upon the task of putting the website together. Today, March 1, 2011, the site officially launched at www.bmcnews.org. The site does an incredible job of presenting the newspaper in a format that stays true to the print edition, but has its own unique aspects like the archive. It was developed as a group effort of myself, designer Vikki Wiercinski, programmer Derek Hogue, and the BMC News Board of Directors.

Bringing Edmonton's oldest community newspaper online is something which I have been involved with for a while. I developed and maintain BMC News' presence on Twitter and Facebook. This new website brings the paper completely into the modern age. I am looking forward to the community's feedback as we expand the profile of Edmonton's inner city.