Wow. That was really all I could say when the credits started rolling on Josh Fox’s Gasland, a documentary that’s been making the rounds for the past few months about the perils of hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as “fracking.” The Park Center for Independent Media brought Fox and the film to Ithaca College on Tuesday, Nov. 3, and I was blown away by the powerful message and exceptional reporting and story-telling involved. I urge everyone to see this masterpiece of a documentary, even if you’ve never had any interest in fracking or the environment in general.

It’s incredible to think that Fox, trained in the theatre arts, produced such winning content and stimulated such intriguing interviews about fracking all over the country. His team then weaves all of it together—from the personal implications for people with drill rigs for backyards, to the fire from the faucets, to the courtroom proceedings regarding the Halliburton loophole. It left me enraged, passionate, upset and fired up.

One thing that surprised me about the film were the clips from mainstream media coverage sampled in Gasland; I was pleasantly surprised that these stories about burning, contaminated water and people getting sick in areas with drills were actually being covered by local news stations. The difference, of course, between them and people like Josh Fox, is that the news programs stopped at simply presenting the illnesses and asking “why.” Fox, meanwhile, has the time, consideration and independence to explore extremely deeply into the story. He gets the full story, makes a real impact, and raises imperative questions about the dangers of fracking and what the public can do to stop the method from becoming more widespread. Cheers to Gasland 2 and to hoping that the original affects significant, tangible change before then.  

We don't typically lump high school students in the same category as the powerful independent bloggers who rule the Internet, but when you consider the two, there's more in common that you may think. In American public schools, the emphasis is on math and science and English and improving test scores, so media production skills, including television, film and journalism, are often left behind. Students and teachers with those passions, therefore, have to maintain an independent spirit, working against typically unsupportive administrations, superbly tight budgets, and a general lack of attention.

Last week, on Oct. 25, Ithaca College's Park School of Communications honored teachers from across the country inspiring this independent spirit with its S'Park Media Mentor Awards, which celebrated four high school teachers and advisers of newspapers, television stations and yearbooks. See all of the S'Park award winners HERE. 

One of the honorees, Dharini Rasiah of Berkeley High School in California, talked about her individual struggles to help her television production students succeed in their passions: telling stories through video. Provided a limited budget, she discussed the reliance on low-grade cameras and a limited amount of class time. 

Despite the difficulties facing these teachers, the independent spirit is important to sustain. I loved that IC honored the people already doing that, encouraging them not to abandon that mission.