MEDIA ADVISORY: DRAGLINE

APPALACHIA WATCH

On the Ground Reporting Project in the Heart of West Virginia

January 5, 2010

MEDIA ADVISORY

CONTACT:
Antrim Caskey 304 854 7788
Mike Roselle 304 854 7372

ROCK CREEK, WV — Dragline, a devastating 74-page photojournalistic exposé of mountaintop removal coal mining, the radical form of coal mining destroying Appalachia, will soon be released by Appalachia Watch – a journalism advocacy project – and Climate Ground Zero – a pressure campaign to stop mountaintop removal coal mining.

Dragline captures the essence of this remarkable campaign – it’s an inside look at the vitality and commitment of a small group of people – considering the scope and consequences of the problem,” said Caskey, creator of Dragline.

Dragline is a photographic prosecution of mountaintop removal and an inside look at the best grass roots campaign today in the nation, period. Climate Ground Zero. The forty-six color photographs – inspire and break hearts – are punctuated with excerpts from Caskey’s reporting, which began in May 2005 while on assignment for the New York City-based newspaper, the Indypendent. Since then, Caskey has made more than 20 independent reporting trips to West Virginia, before finally moving to Rock Creek, in September, 2008, to work and live in the field full-time.

Over the past year, Caskey has documented the direct action campaign against mountaintop removal as the embedded photojournalist with Climate Ground Zero, based in Rock Creek (Raleigh County), West Virginia. In December, 2009, Caskey completed her Masters of Art in Photojournalism and Documentary Photography (MAPJD) coursework at the London College of Communication, with Distinction. Caskey hopes to expand her journalism advocacy project to include the Rock Creek School of Photography, a field project to advance and foster long form documentary photography, investigative journalism, and the printed page.

Caskey’s work has been published in a wide variety of news magazines and newspapers including the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Indian Express, the Smithsonian magazine, Orion magazine, and Le Point.

Dragline will be released on January 26, 2010. Although preview copies will be released earlier. All by mail only. Dragline will be released in an initial run of 6000. Dragline will not be released electronically.

####

APPALACHIA WATCH  p.o. box 71 Rock Creek, West Virginia 25174    www.appalachiawatch.org   (304) 854 7788

Rock Creek Top Ten

Top Ten Rock Creek Stories of the year.


Will Wickham and Glen Collins use U-Locks around their necks to lock
down to big yellow machinery on Kayford Mountain, May 23, 2009.
photograph by antrim caskey

10.  Climate Ground Zero
staff increases from four people to over forty full time volunteers, then Ivan
shows up and our food budget doubles.

9.  We kicked Marcel’s
horse out of dilapidated Number Four House and did a complete makeover. Then
Guin moved in and now we miss the horse.

8. We get a goat to eat all of the poison ivy. Goat eats everything
but the poison ivy.

7. We get a new sign for the Ford Addition Road on Route
Three. Charleston newspaper publishes detailed directions to our houses.  House and
new sign get paintballed.

6. Seeds of Peace kitchen is replaced by Everybody’s Kitchen’s
famous kitchen bus. Food stays just as good but there is no coffee in the morning. We
miss Grumbles.

5. Of the forty people living here on Rock Creek, Dr. Bob is
the only one who hasn’t been arrested yet. He is our cook, carpenter,
accountant and dentist. We don’t have a dental plan, but we do have a dentist.

4. Sergeant Smith and Lt. Bowers crash big party on the Ford
Addition and order us, then beg us to tell Nick and Laura, two tree sitters in
their second day of shutting down blasting on the Edwhite mountain top removal
mine, to come down.  Support crew
delivered the sitters warm squash soup in their trees, but forgot to mention it.
They came down voluntarily on the seventh day, suffering from sleep deprivation
due to constant harassment by Massey employees.

3. Ford Addition’s Rock Creek grill chosen to cook the half
of pig donated by a neighbor to Larry Gibson’s annual Fourth of July
Celebration of the Mountains. The other half was donated to the Massey coal
miners who live just down the road. Their BBQ must not have been as good as
ours because a different miner came over to Larry’s for a hot dog, and is now a
You Tube celebrity.

2. Two young women bump into some strip miners as they make
their way up and out onto the three hundred foot boom where they shut the
dragline down for half a day. Lt. Bowers had to go up and arrest them. Then they get
charged with battery.  Isn’t this a crazy town?
1. Climate Ground Zero, against all odds, survived the last
year of the first decade of the twenty First Century. Not only that, the
campaign to end mountain top removal has grown into a full blown movement.
Climate Ground Zero has been cited as one of the top news makers of the year by
several media outlets. In West Virginia, Rock Creek has become the symbol of
resistance, and Coal River Mountain is where we draw the line.  We are looking
forward to keeping up the
struggle over the next year and want to thank everybody for their support over
the last one. We hope to see you here on Rock Creek.

FOUR CLIMATE GROUND ZERO ACTIVISTS REMAIN JAILED ON TRUMPED UP CHARGES

CLIMATE GROUND ZERO

P.O. BOX 166 ROCK CREEK, WEST VIRGINIA 25174

(304) 854 7372 climategroundzero.net

PRESS RELEASE

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

FOUR CLIMATE GROUND ZERO ACTIVISTS REMAIN JAILED

ON TRUMPED UP CHARGES

At 3:47 pm Tuesday, December 29, four Climate Ground Zero activists were arrested for trespass at their homes in Rock Creek, West Virginia.

Mathew Louis-Rosenberg, Jacqueline Quimby, Kimberly Ellis and James McGuinness were taken to the Southern Regional Jail by West Virginia State Trooper Lt. Bowers. The charges stem from an October 10th demonstration at Walker CAT’s headquarters, which challenged Walker’s pro-coal advertising campaign. Gabe Schwartzman,19, and David German, 18, were arrested by City of Belle Police and cited for trespassing on a structure or conveyance. The two had unfurled a banner which read, “Yes, Coal is Killing West Virginia’s Communities.”

As of noon Wednesday, the four activists remain in police custody in the Southern Regional Jail in Beaver, WV. They have yet to see a magistrate and have not been informed of their charges, other than trespassing, which, if proven, would result in a maximum one hundred dollar fine.

“This is outrageous behavior on the part of the Kanawha County prosecutors.” said Climate Ground Zero activist Mike Roselle.

“These four people are guilty of nothing. They were simply present during a
demonstration last October and none of them were ever informed at any time that they were trespassing. Usually in this type of case they simply write you a ticket or mail you a summons. To drag them out of their homes and refuse to allow any bail violates their most basic constitutional right to due process.”

###

More information as the situation develops. For more
information, call Mike Roselle, Climate Ground Zero 304 854 7372.