Undercurrents is an alternative video news network which began with the UK distribution of videotapes shot by volunteers. It has since expanded to include a web presence, media training for volunteers, and a film festival, BeyondTV. Undercurrents is an alternative news agency which came into being in 1994 with a VHS videocassette of news which the founders (Jamie Hartzell, Paul O'Connor, Zoe Broughton, and Thomas Harding) felt were not being addressed by the mainstream media. One of the issues covered was the introduction of the Criminal Justice Bill, whose varied measures included attempts to curtail large gatherings both of travelers and raves and make direct action protest a criminal offence. A second video compilation was released before the end of the year. Bands such as the Levellers included Undercurrents references on their CD sleeves. Radiohead have donated funds and comedian Mark Thomas allowed undercurrents to produce and distribute his first DVD to raise funds. Undercurrents was amongst the first groups which coined the phrase 'video activism'- the use of camcorders for social change. A co-founder, Thomas Harding, wrote The Video Activist Handbook published by Pluto Press. Undercurrents now distribute films via DVD and in 2009 they launched visionOntv - a peer-to-peer TV channel over the internet. More information...
According to PR-model, undercurrents.org is ranked 1,229,430th in multilingual Wikipedia, in particular this website is ranked 689,529th in English Wikipedia.
The website is placed before t5.fi and after groundstability.com in the BestRef global ranking of the most important sources of Wikipedia.
