The Los Angeles Free Press , also called the " Freep ", is often cited as the first, and certainly was the largest, of the underground newspapers of the 1960s. The Freep was founded in 1964 by Art Kunkin , who served as its publisher until 1971 and continued on as its editor-in-chief through June 1973. The paper closed in 1978. It was unsuccessfully revived a number of times afterward.
59-490: From its inception, the L.A. Free Press saw itself as an advocate of personal freedom. The paper was notable for its radical politics when, in the mid-1960s, such views rarely saw print. The Freep wrote about and was often directly involved in the major historic issues of the 1960s and 1970s, and with the people who shaped them, including the Chicago Seven , Timothy Leary , Allen Ginsberg , and Abbie Hoffman . Both
118-693: A B.F.A. in Intermedia/Cyberarts. Herron School of Art and Design , Indiana University , Purdue University , Indianapolis, has a M.F.A. Program with Photography and Intermedia degrees. The University of Oregon offers a Master of Music degree in Intermedia Music Technology . The Pacific Northwest College of Art offers a B.F.A. in Intermedia. In the United Kingdom , Edinburgh College of Art (within
177-476: A Picasso is readily classifiable as a painted ornament. Similarly, by invading the land between collage and photography , the German John Heartfield produced what are probably the greatest graphics of our century ... With characteristic modesty, Dick Higgins often noted that Samuel Taylor Coleridge had first used the term. In 1968, Hans Breder founded the first university program in
236-401: A book publishing firm. There were 150 employees and annual revenues of two million dollars. In spite of its apparent ascension, however, the business was awash in red ink. The paper had begun to rely more and more heavily on sex ads for its revenues, and fell into debt after Kunkin bought two expensive Mergenthaler printing presses. In November 1969, Free Press reporter Jerry Applebaum and
295-645: A catalyst for social change . The paper took a stand against the Iraq War . The basis of the paper's beliefs was that names and locations may have changed but the issues concerning personal rights and the action of an unjust war were the same as during the Vietnam War era. Later, the Free Press gave Tom Hayden a lifetime achievement award for his efforts as an activist , both in his private life and during his 18 years in politics. Steven M. Finger became
354-537: A degree of notoriety in and out of the underground with its coverage of the Charles Manson case. Like its rival counterculture publication Rolling Stone , the Free Press initially supported Manson in its coverage of the infamous murder case , contending that it was a case of the conservative-minded authorities framing "some poor hippie guru ". The Free Press put Manson on the cover for three consecutive weeks in early 1970, and Manson himself later wrote
413-651: A founding member of the Eagles , sold copies of the paper on the street, making about five dollars a day. In 1966, the Free Press became one of the five founding members of the Underground Press Syndicate , what eventually became a network of 600 community, student, and alternative newspapers throughout the United States. Jerry Farber 's inflammatory essay about the status of students at California State University , " The Student as Nigger ,"
472-489: A fund-raising event for KPFK. This first issue was entitled The Faire Free Press , with the " Los Angeles Free Press " logo appearing on an inside page. While the outside pages were a spoof of the Faire's Renaissance theme, featuring cute stories like one about a "ban the crossbow " demonstration, the inside contained legitimate underground community news and reviews. Five thousand copies were printed, of which 1,200 sold at
531-475: A genuine example of counter-culture journalism, they'd be well-advised to drop that sub, replacing it with the WEEKLY NEWS ($ 8 p.a. from 5401 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90029). Should any doubts arise re this admittedly severe Freep put-down — even admitting that Bukowski 's " Notes of a Dirty Old Man " remain and that columns by Nader, Sandoval , and Stone often make good reading — consider
590-478: A group of staffers, including Alex Apostolides, left en masse after disagreements with Kunkin, to found their own paper, called Tuesday's Child . Shortly thereafter, after Kunkin failed to make an employee tax payment in 1970, the paper was seized by the Internal Revenue Service and temporarily shut down. At this point, much of the newspaper's remaining staff and then-editor Brian Kirby left
649-436: A political context to 1783. The Encyclopædia Britannica records the first political usage of 'radical' as ascribed to Charles James Fox , a British Whig Party parliamentarian who in 1797 proposed a 'radical reform' of the electoral system to provide universal manhood suffrage , thereby idiomatically establishing the term ' Radicals ' as a label denoting supporters of the reformation of British Parliament. Throughout
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#1732772797680708-558: A price of 25 cents. After the Faire ended, Kunkin circulated a brochure to potential investors and found enough backing to start putting out the paper on a regular weekly basis in July 1964. Early issues of the Los Angeles Free Press was produced mostly by unpaid volunteers. In the beginning, many of them were the same people who volunteered at KPFK. For its first two years, the paper operated out of free office space in
767-499: A prosaic, unimaginative hack named Jerry Goldberg, who obviously and completely toadies to his profit-obsessed bosses, New Way Enterprises. Yet there's a redeeming aspect to this otherwise grim scene, for Kunkin didn't just stagger whimperingly away. instead, with much of the original Freep staff, he began a new sheet, the LOS ANGELES WEEKLY NEWS, which carries TV-listings rather than massage-parlor promos, continues
826-479: A pull-out, rip-off middle-section of sexist classifieds and now featuring quasi-"acceptable" syndicated columns by Jay Robert Nash , Chuck Stone , Nicholas von Hoffman , and Ralph Nader , the tabloid's become a money-grubbing, almost colorless rival to the L.A. Times . Moreover, the publishers dismissed founder-editor Art Kunkin, who however "freaky" and mercuric — is a guy who can write and who's definitely got what might be termed "alternative soul." His replacement:
885-515: A weekly column for the paper from jail. (Later, Ed Sanders covered the Manson trial for the Free Press , the articles from which forming the basis for his book The Family .) By this time, the Los Angeles Free Press was seemingly at its zenith, with Kunkin controlling a small publishing empire, including three Free Press bookstores in Los Angeles, a typesetting plant, a printing company, and
944-645: A weekly in Los Angeles that would be like the Village Voice in New York." By the spring of 1964, Kunkin had a political commentary radio show on Los Angeles' non-commercial, listener-sponsored radio station KPFK (the second of five stations in the Pacifica Foundation network). The Free Press initially appeared as a one-shot eight-page tabloid , dated May 23, 1964, sold at the annual Los Angeles Renaissance Pleasure Faire and May Market ,
1003-423: Is a view that some fundamental change is required of the status quo . For an array of anti-capitalist forms, this manifests in anti-establishment reactions to modern neoliberal regimes. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy describes the radical concept of ideology to be that: This view reflects "a consensus among radicals of all stripes on the role of law as a dissembling force to safeguard
1062-428: Is an art theory term coined in the mid-1960s by Fluxus artist Dick Higgins to describe the strategies of interdisciplinarity that occur within artworks existing between artistic genres. It was also used by John Brockman to refer to works in expanded cinema that were associated with Jonas Mekas ' Film-Makers’ Cinematheque. Gene Youngblood also described intermedia, beginning in his Intermedia column for
1121-467: Is given degrees of credit for the ending of the War. The paper grew with the movement, and at its peak was selling over 100,000 copies, with national distribution. As the paper gained influence, it suffered pushback from the authorities and intimidation by those determined to defend the status quo. Free Press reporters were arrested for covering demonstrations. The paper's offices were bombed three times, with
1180-587: The Los Angeles Times . The paper also pioneered the emerging field of underground comics . Before becoming an underground comix star, Gilbert Shelton worked for the Freep ; his The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers strip started appearing as a regular feature in 1970. Ron Cobb 's underground political cartoons were a regular feature; in November 1969, he created an ecology symbol — a combination of
1239-533: The Free Press in 1970. Other notable contributors: Native New Yorker Art Kunkin , at the time of the founding of the Los Angeles Free Press , was a 36-year-old unemployed tool and die maker . He was a former organizer for the Socialist Workers Party (SWP), where he had served as business manager of the SWP paper, The Militant . As he told in the Los Angeles Times in 1966, "I wanted to do
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#17327727976801298-416: The Free Press to "reflect [its] original community orientation." Following Kunkin, several others in succession took on the role of chief editor. At this point, the paper's editorial and production staff comprised 15 people, with a freelance pool of 25 contributors. Executive editor Penelope Grenoble — who also served as chief editor in 1974–1975 — also wrote a weekly book column. LGBT activist Jeanne Córdova
1357-530: The Free Press , Kunkin started another competing paper called the Los Angeles Weekly News , with much the same tone as the original Free Press — and many original contributors, including Harlan Ellison , Ron Cobb , and Gilbert Shelton 's The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers strip. The LA Weekly News didn't last, however, going out of business after only three or four issues. The paper's new owners, New Way Enterprises, decided to overhaul
1416-406: The Freep 's muckraking tradition, and runs Cobb cartoons, "The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers," Harlan Ellison's "Hornbook" (a column of consistently grabby, bravura writing), and fine book/disc/theater/film reviews. So the old Freep is "dead" but lately reborn as the alive-and-scrapping WEEKLY NEWS. The "message" here for libraries is that if they've been dutifully subscribing to the Free Press as
1475-414: The Freep. This experiment didn't last long, however, as the paper was sold once again in July 1976 to H.A.J., Inc., and a former adult movie performer with no editorial experience came on as chief editor. The Free Press survived until the late 1970s, when it was purchased by Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt , who found it unprofitable and soon shut it down. The paper's final publisher/editor
1534-403: The Los Angeles Free Press beginning in 1967 as a part of a global network of multiple media that was expanding consciousness . Youngblood gathered and expanded upon intermedia ideas from this series of columns in his 1970 book Expanded Cinema , with an introduction by Buckminster Fuller . Over the years, intermedia has been used almost interchangeably with multi-media and more recently with
1593-527: The Los Angeles Free Press is featured in Paul Schrader 's 1979 film, Hardcore , where George C. Scott 's Jake Van Dorn character places an advertisement of himself as a porn producer in order to find his missing daughter. The Los Angeles Free Press archives are in the holdings of California State University, Dominguez Hills ' Leo F. Cain Library and Gerth Archives. It can be put succinctly:
1652-491: The November elections , Kunkin resurrected the Free Press . The revival was short-lived." In 2005, Kunkin spearheaded a successful revival of the Los Angeles Free Press , albeit with an entirely new staff. On 13 September 2005, the premier issue of the revived Freep was published and distributed — the revived publication's slogan was "We're Back. The True alternative to the corporate-controlled media." The print version
1711-541: The Radical-Socialist movement with a focus on proletarian solidarity. With the rise of Marxism , the notion of radical politics shifted away from reformism and became more associated with revolutionary politics. In United States politics , the term is used pejoratively among conservatives and moderates to denote political extremism , with the 19th-century Cyclopaedia of Political Science describing it as "characterized less by its principles than by
1770-492: The publisher of The Los Angeles Free Press in late 2006/early 2007. Finger also owned and managed AP&G, the paper's marketing arm. The revived Los Angeles Free Press went out of business in 2007, although Finger kept the website LosAngelesFreePress.com active, with archives of past editions available to view for historical reference and/or research. Art Kunkin died in Joshua Tree, California on April 30, 2019, at
1829-630: The 19th century, the concept of radical politics broadened into a variety of political notions and doctrines. Party politics in England began to favour moderate positions, marginalising other movements into more politically aggressive factions. As open advocacy of republicanism was illegal in France following the Napoleonic Wars , Radicals emerged under similar reformist ideals as their British counterparts, though they later branched out to form
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1888-658: The Intermedia program at Arizona State University and the Intermedia M.F.A. at the University of Maine , founded and directed by Fluxus scholar and author Owen Smith. Additionally, the Roski School of Fine Arts at the University of Southern California features Intermedia as an area of emphasis in their B.A. and B.F.A. programs. The University of Maryland, Baltimore County offers an M.F.A. in Intermedia and Digital Art . Concordia University in Montreal , QC offers
1947-480: The United States to offer an M.F.A. in intermedia. The Intermedia Area at The University of Iowa graduated artists such as Ana Mendieta and Charles Ray . In addition, the program developed a substantial visiting artist tradition, bringing artists such as Dick Higgins , Vito Acconci , Allan Kaprow , Karen Finley , Robert Wilson , Eric Andersen and others to work directly with Intermedia students. Two other prominent University programs that focus on intermedia are
2006-403: The age of 91. In 2020, Steven M. Finger and photographer Zach Lowry once again attempted to revive a print edition of the Los Angeles Free Press ; by late 2022 that effort had also shut down. The 1968 comedy film I Love You, Alice B. Toklas features Peter Sellers as a straight-laced lawyer who changes his ways and becomes a hippie, hawking copies of the Free Press . The final issue of
2065-521: The basement of a Sunset Boulevard coffee house called The Fifth Estate, which was an informal headquarters for the hippies who gathered and later rioted on the Sunset Strip in 1966. The paper grew slowly at first; in October 1966 Kunkin informed a reporter for the L.A. Times that the Free Press had 9,000 readers and was operating on a shoestring. Harlan Ellison and Lawrence Lipton were
2124-485: The categories of digital media , technoetics , electronic media and post-conceptualism . The areas such as those between drawing and poetry , or between painting and theatre could be described as intermedia. With repeated occurrences, these new genres between genres could develop their own names (e.g. visual poetry , performance art ); historically, an example is haiga , which combined brush painting and haiku into one composition. Dick Higgins described
2183-536: The famous and the infamous would open up to the Los Angeles Free Press , from Bob Dylan to the Black Panthers to Jim Morrison to Iceberg Slim . The paper regularly reported on and against police brutality , covering topics such as the death of journalist Ruben Salazar , and even publishing the names of undercover drug enforcement operatives. As Greg Williams of the Gerth Archives said, "It
2242-720: The further fact that New Way's rag candidly proclaims that "National and international news is provided by the Capitol Hill News Service and the London Express ," while the WEEKLY NEWS proudly announces its membership in the Alternative Press Syndicate , Liberation News Service , Zodiac News Service , New York News Service , and Intergalactic World Brain . Yea, by their syndicate & news-service plug-ins ye shall know them... Radical politics Radical politics denotes
2301-487: The intent to transform or replace the fundamental principles of a society or political system , often through social change , structural change , revolution or radical reform . The process of adopting radical views is termed radicalisation . The word radical derives from the Latin radix ("root") and Late Latin rādīcālis ("of or pertaining to the root, radical"). Historically, political use of
2360-538: The letters "E" and "O" taken from the words "Environment" and "Organism", respectively — and published it in the Freep , and then placed it in the public domain . Look magazine incorporated the symbol into a flag in their April 21, 1970, issue — it became known as the Ecology Flag . Bobby London 's Dirty Duck comic strip ran in the Freep early in the spring of 1971, running underneath Shelton's Fat Freddy's Cat strip. From 1967 to 1970, Gene Youngblood
2419-526: The loan was foreclosed, and Miller became the new owner of the paper. He, in turn, sold the paper to Troy Boal and Don Partrick of San Diego , who formed New Way Enterprises, Ltd. to publish the Free Press . Kunkin stayed on as editor until he was fired in August 1973. At this point, contributors and columnists included Jay Robert Nash , Chuck Stone , Nicholas von Hoffman , Ralph Nader , Charles Bukowski , Alicia Sandoval , and I. F. Stone . After he lost
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2478-664: The manner of their application". During the 20th century, radical politicians took power in many countries across the world. Such radical leaders included Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin in Russia, Mao Zedong in China, Adolf Hitler in Germany, as well as more mainstream radicals such as Ronald Reagan in the United States and Margaret Thatcher in the United Kingdom. The common feature to all radical political forms
2537-400: The old Los Angeles Free Press , pioneer "underground" rag and one-time vehicle for such alternative spirits, agitators, and wonder-workers as Ed Badajos , Ron Cobb , Earl Ofari , Anne Draper , Tim Leary , Allen Ginsberg , Harlan Ellison , Liza Williams , Ed Sanders , Jerry Rubin , and Paul Krassner , is DEAD. To clarify: it's still published weekly. But it ain't the same. Swollen with
2596-468: The paper after 1970. Author Charles Bukowski 's Open City column " Notes of a Dirty Old Man " was taken on by the Los Angeles Free Press beginning in 1969, when the competing L.A. underground paper Open City folded. Bukowski's column continued on until at least 1973. William S. Burroughs , who briefly dabbled with Scientology , and wrote extensively about it during the late 1960s, eventually abandoned it and publicly eschewed it in an editorial for
2655-501: The paper and began another competing newspaper, called The Staff . The split in the staff began a downward spiral for the Free Press . Kunkin borrowed $ 60,000, putting up the paper's name and logo as collateral. The note was cosigned by Marvin Miller, a major Los Angeles County sex industry publisher who both advertised in the paper and allowed Kunkin to use his presses after he lost his original printers. In 1971, Kunkin defaulted and
2714-418: The paper's first regular columnists. Because of free speech rules, newspaper publishers could buy vending machines , mount them on street corners chained to posts, and sell their issues directly to the public. Don Campbell, a Free Press editor, bought three vending machines for $ 125 and stocked them with papers. With the proceeds, he bought three more machines. Pat Woolley, later to operate Sawyer Press and
2773-546: The police neglecting to investigate the crimes. At another point the FBI "convinced" the paper's printer to refuse their business. And, after the Free Press published the names and addresses of narcotic agents, publisher Kunkin and Free Press writer Jerry Applebaum were taken to court by the Attorney General of California , fined $ 10,000 and "convicted of receiving stolen property — that is, information." (The conviction
2832-462: The syndicate that handled Ron Cobb , took the papers around to her head shop clients and sold them by hand to drivers cruising the Sunset Strip . People were willing to pay 25 cents for the Free Press , even though readers could get mainstream dailies such as the Los Angeles Times for ten cents back then. The cry at the corner was "Don't be a Creep, Buy a Freep!" Randy Meisner , later
2891-493: The tendency of what he thought was the most interesting and best in the new art to cross boundaries of recognized media or even to fuse the boundaries of art with media that had not previously been considered for art forms, including computers. Part of the reason that Duchamp 's objects are fascinating while Picasso 's voice is fading is that the Duchamp pieces are truly between media, between sculpture and something else, while
2950-458: The term referred exclusively to a form of progressive electoral reformism , known as Radicalism , that had developed in Europe during the 18th and 19th centuries. However, the denotation has changed since its 18th century coinage to comprehend the entire political spectrum , though retaining the connotation of "change at the root". The Oxford English Dictionary traces usage of 'radical' in
3009-604: The unjust relations of the status quo." This radical critique of ideology is especially prominent within post-leftism . In addressing specific issues, some radical politics may completely forgo any overarching ideological plan. Astrid Bötticher identifies several differences between radicalism and extremism , among them in goals (idealistic vs. restorative , emancipatory vs. anti-democratic), morals (particular vs. universal), approach towards diversity (acceptance vs. disdain), and use of violence (pragmatic and selective vs. legitimate and acceptable). Intermedia Intermedia
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#17327727976803068-615: Was Jay Levin , later the founder of LA Weekly . The Free Press 's last issue was dated April 3, 1978. In 1989, a Los Angeles County resident by the name of José B. Viloria, Jr., M.D., registered the Los Angeles Free Press as a California Stock Corporation with the Secretary of State of California , listing the company's principal address in San Dimas . The permit expired, however, in 1992, and it does not appear that anything resulted from this venture. "In 1998, spurned on by
3127-400: Was Human Rights Editor of the Free Press from 1973 to 1976. During this period, the paper won two Los Angeles Press Club Awards for Investigative Reporting. Eventually, however, the Los Angeles Free Press became little more than a wraparound for sex ads and massage parlors . In the summer of 1976 the publishers separated out the sex section and sold it as a stand-alone publication called
3186-657: Was an associate editor and columnist for the Free Press , where he wrote the " Intermedia " column. Jerry Hopkins wrote the popular "Making It" column for the paper in the late 1960s. Harlan Ellison 's column on television, "The Glass Teat," ran from 1968 to 1970, examining television's impact on the politics and culture of the time, including its presentations of sex, politics, race, the Vietnam War, and violence. These pieces were later collected in two books, The Glass Teat ( Ace Books , 1970) and The Other Glass Teat ( Ace Books , 1971). Ellison contributed other columns to
3245-424: Was distributed without warning at nearly 100 locations within L.A. — as well as in New York, Washington, D.C., and Atlanta. The new Free Press embodied many of the same independent ideals and beliefs of the original paper. It covered politics , health (including natural and/or holistic ), spirituality , literature , media , food , and community issues. The Los Angeles Free Press was always intended to be
3304-468: Was later overturned on appeal.) One of the Los Angeles Free Press 's greatest strengths was its music coverage. Among the writers whose bylines appeared were music editor John Carpenter, Tim Devine , Jerry Hopkins , Harvey Kubernik , John Mendelsohn , Anne Moore, Tom Nolan, Steven Rosen, Greg Shaw , John Sinclair , Chris Van Ness, Bill Wasserzieher , and the trio of Pete Johnson, Richard Cromelin, and Don Snowden — all three of whom also wrote for
3363-536: Was published in the Free Press in 1967; thanks to the Underground Press Syndicate, it was subsequently reprinted in over 500 underground papers and was published in book form in 1969. In the summer of 1967, the Free Press published a special issue devoted solely to coverage of the 1967 Century City demonstration , otherwise known as the "1967 Century City police riots", including photos and testimony from witnesses. The Free Press attained
3422-399: Was published in the original five-column format with the "screamer" headlines of old. It included both current and vintage content in both the articles and ads. The look of the paper was true to its original format. The new version of the Freep was embodied with a constant online presence and with separate sites for politics and music, as well as "pop-ups" of print editions — as when it
3481-577: Was the first publication to start presenting points of view that the L.A. Times wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole. They not only had their own political slant, but they also supported the Black community, the Chicano community, and the LGBTQ community in a variety of ways." Because of its coverage of the Vietnam War and how it became a touchstone for the anti-war movement , the Los Angeles Free Press
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