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From The Desk Of Rebecca Gates: Progressive Media And Inspirational Non-Profits

More than 10 years have passed since Rebecca Gates put out her solo debut, Ruby Series. The former member of the Spinanes mostly shifted her energy to other projects: coordinating and managing exhibitions for museums, lecturing at arts centers, composing music for dance and film, participating in performance pieces and stylizing photos for magazines. She also did some bookkeeping, retreated to Rhode Island and helped friends build a movie theater. But as time and money allowed, she also popped back into studios to put together her follow-up, The Float (12XU). Gates will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our brand new Q&A with her.

Gates: When the majority of media is either corporate owned or stuck in a tired reactive stance that is wearing, I cherish having access to considered and intelligent reporting. ProPublica especially blows my mind. (Twitter, at least for the moment, offers a welcome and useful dose of faceted expertise.) Dominant news narratives are so difficult to escape, I appreciate being able to rely on informed, alternative, grounded perspectives. Long form journalism, not always progressive, is as essential. And I couldn’t even think about self-releasing a record without the great work and caring context offered by culturally focused non-profits.

Some links to check out:
ProPublica
Think Progress
Nation Of Change
Democracy Now
New York Review Of Books
Air-Traffic Control
Future Of Music Coalition
Fractured Atlas
Cash Music

Video after the jump.