“Rebel Reporting” Review

Rebel Reporting cover

FOLLOWING IS A REVIEW THAT I WROTE RECENTLY FOR THE RECENTLY PUBLISHED, “REBEL REPORTING,” ABOUT JOURNALIST AND ACTIVIST JOHN ROSS. YOU MAY FIND IT INTERESTING:

“Rebel Reporting” took me back to the place where I began working my craft: Mexico and Central America, during what I refer to as, “The Golden Days of Journalism,” when the craft still was about information as opposed to entertainment, and when the men and women who practiced the craft believed that information can make a difference.

Edited by Cristalyne Bell and Norman Stockwell, “Rebel Reporting” is a collection of lectures to independent journalists by John Ross, whose life and work embody that tenet.

“The first thing you need to know is that you do not have a career in
journalism,” Ross advises in one of those lectures. “Forget about your career. You have an obligation—to tell the story of those who entrust you with theirs, to tell the truth about the way the world works.”

Ross’ presentations follow the course of history, and the issues that he covered along the way. His words ground us. They remind us how the world has changed. They warn us. They advise us how to respond.

“Globalization,” he says, “homogenizes us into one faceless mass of consumers, slaves to the market…Rebel reporters confront and expose the corporate globalization of the planet, the globalization of greed.”

In a world addicted to conflict, Ross reminds us of the difference between “war correspondence” and “anti-war correspondence.”

He says, “Refugee camps are excellent places from which to do anti-war correspondence. Everyone has a story to tell. Refugees know about these wars firsthand. Probably better than anyone outside of the dead. They have survived.”

And he issues a warning, especially to those of us who cover conflict, of complicity in perpetuating conflict:

“We love war.
We recoil at its horrors
But always find the words
To speak the unspeakable.
We are its whores.
Peace makes us feel
As if we have no place anymore
In a world that demands
Cruelty and credibility
All in the same breath and byte.
We file our stories
In a universe
That does not flinch.”

“Rebel Reporting” sounds the alarm on the ills that infect our societies today, including the slow-motion coup of democracy by corporate and special interests, the decimation of the middle class, the criminalization of peaceful dissent, the militarization of police forces to crush that dissent, to name just a few.

“It’s the fourth world war,” he says, “and our only weapons are our words.”

On recompense, Ross offers the following, somewhat of a caveat to journalism students like my own:

“The coin of our realm is passion. While corporate journalists bask in the bland neutrality of their vaunted ‘objectivity,’ dabbling in a language drained of all outrage for fear of damaging their career track, rebel reporters, who know only too well they have no careers but rather a responsibility, are paid off in passion – passion for language, passion for telling the story with passion, passion for struggle and change, for sharing spirit, solidarity.”

Thank you, John Ross, for taking me back to where I began, and to where we all should begin again.

– Bill Gentile
American University
Washington, DC
December 2015

 


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Sunset in Nindiri

07.Sunset

NINDIRI, Nicaragua 13 December 2015 — After my Backpack Video Journalism Workshop, I stayed on an additional to enjoy and to reminisce. It was worth it.

(Photo by Bill Gentile)


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Backpack Nica Next Generation

06.Group

MANAGUA, Nicaragua, 12 December 2015 — This is the newest generation of Nicaragua’s Backpack Video Journalists. They’ve completed my four-day workshop, titled, “Training the Trainers.” They are ready, not only to practice our craft, but also to pass it on the the next generation.

Good luck and stay safe.

— Bill Gentile


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Backpack Video in the Dark

05.In the dark

MANAGUA, Nicaragua, 12 December 2015 — On the last day of our Backpack Video Journalism Workshop, we lost power because of maintenance work on the electrical system at the venue where the event was held. Despite numerous challenges during the four-day event, every one of the participants managed to produce a respectable video. I’m so very proud of them all. In this photo, participants screen their final projects on their laptops — before the computers run out of power.

(Photo by Bill Gentile)


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Training the Trainers in Nicaragua

01.First Day

MANAGUA, Nicaragua, 8 December 2015 — Participants of my Backpack Video Journalism Workshop watch one of the films I presented on this, the first day of a four-day event in the Nicaraguan capital. I titled this workshop, “Training the Trainers,” and designed it to instruct the current generation of journalists to practice the visual storytelling language — and to pass the craft down to the next generation of visual storytellers. The event was hosted by the U.S. Embassy in Managua.

(Photo by Bill Gentile)


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The End of the Beginning

main group shot

ACCRA, Ghana, 27 November 2015 — Our Backpack Video Journalism Workshop marked the end of the beginning of a new style of development reporting in Ghana. This is a group shot on the final day of the event.

This is our Ghana Team, minus SAA, who is behind her camera making this photo! To your right is Sara Stealy, the Press Attache at the U.S. Embassy that funded the workshop. To your left is Ama Boateng, of the African Centre for Development Reporting (ACEDEV), which sponsored the five-day event.

I look forward to keeping in touch with all of my new friends and colleagues at the ACEDEV, as they use technology and their newly acquired skills to report on the important issues of our time. Good luck to all.


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Backpack Video to Ghana Market

01.Della

ACCRA, Ghana, 25 November 2015 — I spent part of the day at a market in Accra, with participants in my Backpack Video Journalism Workshop. In the red and green dress, Della Russel ClassPee shoots video on one of the busy pathways that crisscross this hot and bustling market. Another participant, Senyuiedzorm Awusi Adadevoh, shoots a fabric shop whose business is threatened by cheap, Chinese copies. These “informal” markets are much the same around the world. Many people struggling for economic survival in the countryside come to the cities and sell whatever they can. It’s a tough place to work, and outsiders making pictures of the laborers here are sometimes not completely welcomed, as you can see from the stares that Kwamee Kwame gets as he shoots some still photos.
(Photos by Bill Gentile)

02.SA shooting

03.Kwamee shoots

04.group


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Upriver

female pilot cu

BOBONAZA RIVER, Ecuador, 29 June 2015 — On the journey to the indigenous region of Sarayaku deep in the Ecuadoran Amazon, I took a five-hour canoe ride down the Bobonaza River. I saw dozens of canoes, run mostly by male “pilotos” and “punteros” (pilots and pointers.) A female pilot was somewhat of a rarity. This woman and her passengers were fighting their way upriver, quite an ordeal when the river is low for lack of rain.

Sarayaku is an autonomous region of this South American country. There, Kichwa Indians for decades have resisted the advances of the Ecuadorian government and foreign corporations to allow oil drilling and “development” in their homeland. This is why both the inhabitants of the region as well as the Ecuadorian government consider it the “epicenter” of resistance.

The trip to Sarayaku is especially timely because of the Vatican’s recent encyclical defending the environment and the poor. Pope Francis on Sunday 5 July landed in Ecuador on the first stage of a three-country visit to South America, bringing with him the Vatican’s message of concern for society’s most defenseless and the world they live in.

The journey to Sarayaku came at the tail end of a three-week trip to the region. I was on assignment for American University’s (AU) Center for Latin American and Latino Studies (CLALS), and charged with producing a short film on religion and the environment. I’ll keep you up-to-date on the post-production as it unfolds.

Because I anticipated some difficult conditions in the jungle, I trimmed down the gear and shot the film with an iPhone 6+, equipped with the FiLMiC Pro app, and directional as well as wireless microphones, which I used interchangeably. I had to buy some other gadgets, as well, and I’ll discuss that in later posts, so stick with me as I review the material.

(Photo by Bill Gentile)


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The Epicenter of Resistance

In the beginning copy

CANELOS, Ecuador, 29 June 2015 — This is how my journey to the epicenter of indigenous resistance to oil drilling in the Ecuadorian Amazon began — a five-hour canoe ride down the Bobonaza River in Ecuador’s “Oriente” region, rich in oil and other natural resources. I traveled to Sarayaku, an autonomous region of this South American country. There, Kichwa Indians for decades have resisted the advances of the Ecuadorian government and foreign corporations to allow oil drilling and “development” in their homeland. This is why both the inhabitants of the region as well as the Ecuadorian government consider it the “epicenter” of resistance.

The trip to Sarayaku is especially timely because of the Vatican’s recent encyclical defending the environment and the poor. Pope Francis on Sunday 5 July landed in Ecuador on the first stage of a three-country visit to South America, bringing with him the Vatican’s message of concern for society’s most defenseless and the world they live in.

The journey to Sarayaku came at the tail end of a three-week trip to the region. I was on assignment for American University’s (AU) Center for Latin American and Latino Studies (CLALS), and charged with producing a short film on religion and the environment. I’ll keep you up-to-date on the post-production as it unfolds.

Because I anticipated some difficult conditions in the jungle, I trimmed down the gear and shot the film with an iPhone 6+, equipped with the FiLMiC Pro app, and directional as well as wireless microphones, which I used interchangeably. I had to buy some other gadgets, as well, and I’ll discuss that in later posts, so stick with me as I review the material.

In addition to the technical issues, the Amazon presents challenges unique to itself. These include heavy rains, muddy pathways, questionable food and water supplies, plus spiders, scorpions, serpents and poisonous, stinging ants.

(Photo by Bill Gentile)

 


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“Afghan Dreams” Packs House

01.crowd ws

WASHINGTON, DC, 10 April 2015 — The screening on 8 April of “Afghan Dreams” turned out to be an event that was something beyond “special.” So many of you contributed to what one of the attendants called, “an inspiring and compelling documentary (event) about empowering women in Afghanistan. A wonderful story of perseverance, commitment and overcoming cultural and political barriers to become role models to younger women in Afghanistan. Actually getting to interact and speak with three of the girls on Skype followed by an interesting and insightful panel completely topped it off. Congratulations to all the team of ‘Afghan Dreams,’ so happy and proud to witness it.”

One of the most exciting components of the evening was the Skype session with three of our characters, all young women, who were featured in the film. They were thrilled to join the conversation. Events like these are what documentary filmmakers live for. It is our deepest form of gratification. It is part of what we aim to achieve: to impact the lives of others in a positive way.

I’m including some of the memorable images of the evening.

– Bill Gentile

 

02.panel ms

03.panel ms

04. Esther with guys

05.Skype and moderator

06.panel

07.dean intro

08. Skype with students

 


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