Videoaction: Your Guide To the New Social Justice

Have camcorder, will protest. That seems to be the motto of a growing number of grassroots activists who are putting their camcorders to more use than simply recording baby Julie smashing her face into the birthday cake. This intriguing guide offers several examples of video activism, from recording illegal plant emissions to offering continuing evidence that the Exxon company did a shoddy job of cleaning up Prince William Sound. In addition, the program also offers guerrilla tips for the activist: "never give anyone your master tape," tape over the blinking red light so that people can't see when you are recording, and always be "truthful, brief, and civil." The manual that comes with the video is an excellent compendium of names and addresses on the federal, state, and local level that would be useful to the video activist in trying to get his or her message out. Recommended. (R. Pitman)