WireTapMag.org

WireTap is the Webby-winning, national news and culture magazine by and for a new generation of progressives. We train emerging journalists to cover overlooked social justice issues and help young activists to articulate their vision and connect it to concrete opportunities for social change. Our online community promotes social justice, inspires action and gives young people a voice in the media.

In addition to providing daily content to over 60,000 monthly visitors, our award-winning journalism and youth commentary is syndicated by our partners over at The Nation, The League of Young Voters, Rock the Vote, BET.com and Current TV among others.

WireTap is also a home to Future5000.com -- the first-ever, comprehensive directory of (almost) all youth-led organizations in the country.

We are a proud member of Generational Alliance and the Media Consortium.

WireTap was founded by AlterNet.org in 1998 and has grown to become an independent magazing that is now a project of the Tides Center.

Read here more on how to submit story ideas to us.

WireTap Staff

Jamilah King is the associate editor of WirTap. Born and raised in San Francisco, her writing focuses on race, politics, music and issues affecting young communities of color. She's worked as an organizer with the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). An avid sports fan, she believes that the Warriors will win a championship -- one day. She received degrees in English and Black Studies from Pitzer College in 2007 and is a graduate of the Movement Activist Apprenticeship Program (MAAP). In addition to Wiretap, her writing has also appeared in Pop and Politics and The Nation.com. Contact her at Jamilah AT wiretapmag DOT org.

Tomas Palermo is Managing Editor of WireTap magazine. As the former editor of XLR8R magazine from 1999 to 2005, Tomas was instrumental in developing it from a free zine into an international publication covering cutting-edge music and youth culture. Tomas earned a B.A. in English and Peace Studies at Loyola Marymount University, was active in the anti-Apartheid movement and hosted radio shows on LA's independent KXLU 88.9 FM where he served as Public Affairs director. Recently, he worked with non-profit youth development agency The DJ Project to produce the Grind & Glory hip-hop talent contest. Currently, Tomas coaches high school distance running in San Francisco. Contact him at Tomas AT wiretapmag DOT org.

Kristina Rizga is the executive editor and publisher of WireTap, project director of Future5000.com, and a member of the editorial board of The Nation magazine. Before WireTap, she worked as an organizer and editor at the Media Alliance, a coalition of progressive reporters working for media reform, and at AlterNet as an associate editor. Kristina's writing has appeared in The Nation, AlterNet.org, YES! Magazine and the San Francisco Bay Guardian, among others. When she is not working, Kristina goes out dancing as much as possible, hosts dinner parties for her friends, reads excessive amount of print magazines, and debates politics and religion with her husband. She moved to the U.S. from Latvia in 1994, and holds a B.A. in History from U.C. Berkeley. Contact her at Kristina AT wiretapmag DOT org.

WireTap is deeply grateful to Mike Stern for volunteering hundreds of hours to design WireTap's website.

Board of Advisors

Andrea Batista Schlesinger is the executive director of the Drum Major Institute, a progressive think-tank, originally founded by an advisor to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. during the civil rights movement. DMI seeks to change policy by conducting research into overlooked, but important social and economic issues, and by offering platforms to amplify the ideas of those who are working for social and economic fairness. Andrea has worked in various capacities to promote educational equity and youth empowerment. She directed a national campaign to engage college students in the discussion on the future of Social Security for the Pew Charitable Trusts, and served as Director of Public Relations of Teach For America before working as the education advisor to Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer. Andrea has been profiled in the New York Times, New Yorker magazine, Latina Magazine and in 'Hear us Now,' an award-winning documentary about her tenure as the student member of the New York City Board of Education.

Biko Baker is the executive director of the League of Young Voters and a long-time contributor to WireTap. Biko served as the Deputy Publicity Coordinator and Young Voter Organizer for the Brown and Black Presidential Forum (a nationally televised presidential debate which aired on msnbc). He was also the lead organizer for Slam Bush, a national rap and poetry battle, which featured hip-hop heavy hitters Chuck D and Wordsworth. He was also a national organizer for the National Hip Hop Political Convention, and an organizer with the Campaign Against Violence. Biko holds a B.A. in Political Science and Africology from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, a M.A. in African American Studies from UCLA, and is working on a Ph.D. in history from UCLA. Biko is also a frequent contributor to The Source.

Samhita Mukhopadhyay is a 30-year-old writer and activist who just moved from San Francisco to upstate NY for self-torture and to write a book. She is an editor of Feministing.com, and the web manager at the Center for Media Justice, an Oakland-based organization that provides media strategy and action for the movement. She has a Bachelors degree in Sociology and Women's Studies from SUNY Albany and a Masters in Women's Studies from San Francisco State (or would have it, if she finished her thesis which is focused on blogging, gender, social networking technology and activism). She has written for New American Media, Wiretap, Colorlines, The Nation and The American Prospect. Samhita's passions include writing, trans-national feminisms, veganism, theories of knowledge production, electronic music and media.

Twilight Greenaway was the editor of WireTap from 2000-2005 and also worked at Current TV. These days she works as the Virtual and Visual Education Manager for the Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture, and writes freelance articles for sources, such as Edible San Francisco, Common Ground and Culinate.com. She also listens to way too many NPR podcasts.

Don Hazen co-founded WireTap, is the Executive Director of the Independent Media Institute and Executive Editor of AlterNet. The former publisher of Mother Jones magazine, he has edited several books, including, Start Making Sense: Turning the Lessons of Election 2004 into Winning Progressive Politics. Don conceived of and organized the two Media & Democracy Congresses that took place in San Francisco and New York City in 1997 and 1998, and has managed political campaigns in New York City for Ruth Messinger and David Dinkins. He holds an MA in counseling from the University of Massachusetts and a BA in politics from Princeton University.

Gavin Leonard is the State Director for Ohio's Center for Progressive Leadership, based in Cincinnati. He is a co-founder, current board member and former executive director of Elementz — a local hip hop-based youth center. Gavin is a frequent contributor to WireTap, and he serves on the boards of the League of Young Voters, Wiretap Magazine, and the All-Ages Movement Project.

Dani McClain is a journalist from Cincinnati, Ohio. In addition to serving on WireTap's Advisory Board, Dani also frequently contributes to the site. Her reporting has appeared most recently in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and The Miami Herald. In addition to freelancing for independent newspapers and alternative weeklies, Dani has taught high school social studies and developed communications campaigns at Drug Policy Alliance and with the League of Pissed-Off Voters. She is a graduate of Columbia's School of Journalism and a former assistant editor at PopandPolitics.com.