ABSTRACT
The new journalism of the electronic media is bit formless, still groping for a distinct role, but it is providing an alternative. That could not have been said a few years ago. Then, the structure of broadcasting seemed almost impenetrable except to the wealthy. Now, however, the growth of cable television allows diversity in broadcasting that was once un imaginable. Cable was devised by television servicemen in small towns and rural areas where TV reception was weak or nonexistent. Members of the counterculture often deplore the tools of advanced technology–especially computers and electronic gadgets–but they are embracing cable technology. A more practical formula was sketched by Michael Shamberg in Guerrilla Television, a book that is a kind of Whole Earth Catalog compendium of information about tools, networking, economic support systems, cybernetic strategies and services, media buses–even video festivals. Guerrilla Television strikes at the structure of network television by showing how low-cost portable videotape cameras, video cassettes, and cable television.
