Subject to Change

Before the Internet, camcorders, and hundred-channel cable- systems--predating the Information Superhighway and talk of cyber-democracy--there was guerilla television. Part of the larger alternative media tide which swept the country in the late sixties, guerilla television emerged when the arrival of lightweight, affordable consumer video equipment made it possible for ordinary people to make their own television. Fueled both by outrage at the day's events and bythe writings of people like Marshall McLuhan, Tom Wolfe, and Hunter S. Thompson, the movement gained a manifesto in 1971, when Michael Shamberg and the raindance Corp. published Guerilla Television. Asframed in this quixotic text, the goal of the video guerilla was nothing less than a reshaping of the structure of information in America.In Subject to Change, Deidre Boyle tells the fascinating story of the first TV generation's dream of remaking television and their frustrated attempts at democratizing the medium. Interweaving the narratives of three very different video collectives from the 1970s--TVTV, Broadside TV, and University Community Video--Boyle offersa thought-provoking account of an earlier electronic utopianism, one with significant implications for today's debates over free speech, public discourse, and the information explosion.

“"This book has a place in every library dealing with popular culture."--Journal of Popular Culture”

"An archival treasure and a lively read....Boyle writes with both compassion and crystal-clear insight. This revolution was not about just technology...it was also about people....Boyle has caught this all beautifully."--Choice"A fascinating and sometimes amusing history of the early video pioneers that offers astute analysis of why their utopian dreams were doomed to fail....Boyle's talents as a media historian stem from her ability to blend rich detail with a broader social, economic, and policy context....Everyone who cares about the politics of television will find Subject to Change a gripping and relevant lesson from the past."--The Independent"Guerrilla television was a brief, remarkable phenomenon. In its carefully-documented attention to detail, Subject to Change is an important addition to our understanding of a period of social ferment, and of the history of television."--Pat Aufderheide, Women's Review of Books"In the 1970s, during the astonishing rise of video as an independent medium of expression, Deirdre Boyle was there as a gung-ho participant. In the 1990s she is still there, now as a clear-eyed, amazingly meticulous chronicler of a turbulent period of media history."--Erik Barnouw, author, Media MarathonSubject to Change is destined to change the subject of documentary history. Boyle astutely navigates the virtually unmined, volatile territory of guerrilla television: new technologies, media collectives, organizational in-fighting, funding struggles, network deals, the counterculture, the new left, cable access, budgets, community media, actual productions, editing debates, and the cast of major and minor players. textual and social analysis ofguerrilla video. Her book unfolds a riveting story of the paradox of hope and pessimism latent in all new technologies."--Patricia R. Zimmermann, author, Reel Families: A Social History of Amateur Film"Deirdre Boyle's Subject to Change brings to life the dynamic history of the video collectives of the late 1960s and 1970s and their democratic vision of an engaged and activist television. The book is an important addition to our understanding of the complex world of the media arts in the late twentieth century, a history that is particularly relevant as we address and debate the economy and technologies of the Information Superhighway."--John G.Hanhardt, Senior Curator, Film and Media Arts, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum"Deirdre Boyle has done a bang-up job of recapturing the spirit and fervor of the radical TV of the 70s. Where's the radical TV of the 90s? Here's hoping this lively tale of video anarchists will help ignite it."--Allen Rucker, television writer/producer and founding member of TVTV"Boyle's account is well written and well balanced."--The Journal of American History

Deirdre Boyle is core faculty in the Graduate Media Studies Program at New School University. A video historian, media critic, consultant, and psychotherapist, she is the author of Subject to Change: Guerilla Television Revisited.

Before the Internet, camcorders, and hundred-channel cable- systems--predating the Information Superhighway and talk of cyber-democracy--there was guerilla television. Part of the larger alternative media tide which swept the country in the late sixties, guerilla television emerged when the arrival of lightweight, affordable consumer video equipment made it possible for ordinary people to make their own television. Fueled both by outrage at the day's events and by the writings of people like Marshall McLuhan, Tom Wolfe, and Hunter S. Thompson, the movement gained a manifesto in 1971, when Michael Shamberg and the raindance Corp. published Guerilla Television. As framed in this quixotic text, the goal of the video guerilla was nothing less than a reshaping of the structure of information in America.In Subject to Change, Deidre Boyle tells the fascinating story of the first TV generation's dream of remaking television and their frustrated attempts at democratizing the medium. Interweaving the narratives of three very different video collectives from the 1970s--TVTV, Broadside TV, and University Community Video--Boyle offers a thought-provoking account of an earlier electronic utopianism, one with significant implications for today's debates over free speech, public discourse, and the information explosion.

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