The 1960s and ’70s signal watershed decades for the growth of alternative media in the West. The emergence of offset printing during the ’60s allowed hundreds, if not thousands, of publications to bloom since it only required a typewriter, some glue, a few volunteers, and a vision. Pirate radio stations also proliferated across the United States, Europe, and Latin America during this time.
Perhaps nothing captured the excitement and utopian possibilities of the youth revolt like the video revolution. Although it required a costly initial down payment of roughly $1,500-2,000, the Sony Port Pak hand-held camera allowed collectives and individuals relatively cheap and immediate media-making capabilities compared to film. Tapes were cheap to purchase and could be recorded over again and again. As the technology advanced during the early ’70s, videographers would immediately playback their recordings to the very people taped, allowing a degree of trust and transparency to develop between those in front of and behind the camera.