What is folk media?

Folk Media, as we use the term, is any sort of art or communication created by an individual, a small business, nonprofit, or an informal group, created outside of the influence of big media companies or other large institutions. A folk media-maker can be rich or poor, liberal or conservative, young or old -- there is no ideological or demographic prerequisites to engage in folk media.

Folk media-makers are independent media-makers. They can be illustrators, journalists, talk show hosts, dancers, videobloggers, sculptors, novelists, drummers, etc., so long as they're not letting big media companies or other powerful interests call the shots over what they create or how it's distributed. The creations of folk media-makers make our mediascape much richer, the artistic frontier more vibrant, and our public dialogue far more diverse, open, and free.

Although a great many folk media-makers are amateurs at creating media, folk media also very much includes work produced by professionals who are already honed and seasoned in their media crafts, so long as they produce it independently of "Big Media." In fact, such experienced media professionals are essential for the establishment of an independent media industry, as they will be the ones to set the standards of excellence that the others will strive to match.

Although the web is allowing it to become a force to be reckoned with, folk media is not new. Indeed, the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution was crafted in part to specifically protect and encourage folk media-makers like Tom Paine and other pamphleteers whose writings helped inspire the birth of this nation. America was born from folk media, and in this age when almost all traditional media outlets are owned and controlled by one of only a half dozen giant companies, the Folk Media Society operates on the premise that the American People yearn for a return to our roots in the form of an independent media renaissance.

 

 

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