Media activism like so many things in this world has grown to better fit modern times. Organized protests can come together a lot quicker reaching a much larger audience. Individuals have a place in which they can create and grow a platform. More voices are being heard than ever before.
One such form of media activism is documentaries. Documentaries can be especially powerful given they can create beautiful visuals to build the story of which they are telling. In collaboration with the long format, documentary creators are able to explore and unpack the nuances of which they are speaking about. A documentary called Tending Nature which focuses on indigenous land stewardship, talks about indigenous viewpoint of being intrinsically part of the land and how this perspective cultivates a deep respect for nature. The documentary also dives into the history of California, particularly it’s genocide of indigenous peoples and the toll that carrying around “intergenerational, unresolved historical grief, the loss of land, the loss of language, the loss of community.” takes on people. It is also a story about the continued persistence of life and a non-westernized way of living.
Another, very different, form of media activism is put on by the Yes Men, which was created by Jacques Servin and Igor Vamos. The Yes Men use pranks and rather absurdest means to showcase the truth to the public where normally there would just be lies. In their documentary on Youtube they talked about how in 1999 when George Bush was running for president they created a near identical copy of his own website, with a similar domain name. On their website however they took a few artistic liberties, or rather gave some transparency to his bullshit claims. Bush was rather upset with their site and his campaign team sent a cease and desist letter which the Yes Men then took to the press. This is a rather unique form of media activism that is surprisingly effective. In a Slate Magazine article by Scaachi Koul, Jacques Servin discussed changes that have come in media between the Yes Men’s early years and now saying: “We used to exist in a fairly simple ethical environment where some things were true, some were false. There were rules that might have been unspoken, but there were rules…[now] It’s a lot harder to shock people because everything is fake.”
With Servins comments on my mind it does make me wonder what the most effective form of media activism is in modern society and media. Now with AI the “shock” factor is harder to create. Scaachi Koul, in the same Slate Magazine article, pointed out that now we have so much information at our fingertips that the information can be known but for it to be believed is a whole other beast.
When asked “What media gives you hope personally?” I am uncertain. There is a paradox of feelings between pessimism and hope, a feeling I think is shared with a large portion of society. I am pessimistic because I personally don’t have a clear cut answer to combat the widespread misinformation being produced today. The hope that I feel however, comes from seeing people of my generation show up in such numbers and fight for what is right.
Works Cited
Koul, Scaachi. “What Ever Happened to the Yes Men?” Slate Magazine, Slate, 16 July 2025, https://slate.com/culture/2025/07/donald-trump-political-protest-hoax-revenge-yes-men.html. Accessed 10 July 2026.
“The Yes Men.” YouTube, 2004, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2gpbtovcxo&rco=1. Accessed 10 July 2026.
“Tending Nature – Indigenous Land Stewardship.” PBS SoCal, 2016, https://www.pbssocal.org/shows/tending-nature/special/indigenous-land-stewardship. Accessed 10 July 2026.
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