It's a sad day in the small and alternative press world. Clamor Magazine is no more.
What I liked best about Clamor is that it gave young writers and activists a chance to write for am established print publication, get paid a little, share their thoughts in the public commons, etc. It also got them and their opinions into ProQuest, a mainstream interdisciplinary database widely searched in academic libraries, via its inclusion in Alt-PressWatch.
One thing this got me to thinking about is how much work it takes to run activist projects like Clamor. It would take a lot more time and effort from myself and other Radical Reference volunteers to get our project to where I would like it to be, but I don't know where that time and energy would come from. I admire Jen Angel, Jason Kucsma, and Clamor's other publishers and editors for what they accomplished with the magazine and what they will continue to accomplish with other projects like the Allied Media Conference and the Symposium on Media Literacy in Education. (School media specialists and academic instruction librarians should really consider attending the latter. It's really worthwhile, and inexpensive, too!)
Anyway, how do we find or make the time for these labors of love, especially if we have full-time jobs or live in stupid-expensive cities? I would love to work full time on Radical Reference and volunteer at the ABC No Rio Zine Library, but at this point in my life I don't want to do without a sure paycheck and health insurance. That's another reason we need better health care in this country! If I weren't worried about health insurance and being able to afford old age, I could make much greater contributions to the world (by not having to work full-time).
That is truly sad news! I
That is truly sad news! I looked forward to my clamor arriving in the mailbox, devouring it, leaving it around my house and office for others to pick up and peruse, and going back to it again and again for reviews, articles, and yes even ads for small and alt businesses. Jen, Jason and all of the other committed clamor workers should be proud of the work that they've done over the years to inform us, make us laugh and cry, and energize us. Clamor will be sorely missed.
--Do you know where your towel is?
That is sad (even more sad
That is sad (even more sad than the fact that I haven't looked at RadRef blogs in months). I've only ever seen a few issues of Clamor, but they were all good.
As for how we do these things--I wish I knew (and I live out where the living is cheap, even though I do still have to work full time). And how anybody affords to put out a print publication these days is beyond me. But I think it's probably worth concentrating on what we can do: think of all the questions that wouldn't get answered if RadRef didn't exist at all.