ABOUT CLAMOR MAGAZINE
Clamor Magazine was conceptualized in 1999 by Jason Kucsma and Jennifer Engel. The two were interested in creating an independent magazine that exemplified the enthusiasm, ingenuity, and questioning spirit they had found so abundant in the zine community (an amateur underground network of print media makers who publish out of a strong desire for self expression and the exchange of ideas rather than being motivated by the desire to turn print media into capital). The magazine published its first issue in February 1999, immediately secured a nationwide distribution deal with Big Top Newsstand Services in San Francisco, and was picked up by EBSCO to be carried in public and academic libraries nationwide.
Clamor Magazine is currently archived by ProQuest as part of the Alt-Press Watch “Diversity Database” offerings. Alt-Press Watch “showcases unique, independent voices from some of our nation’s most respected and cited grassroots newspapers, magazines, and journals” and currently provides full-text access to articles from Clamor Magazine from 2001 to the present. While this is a level of preservation not afforded to many small press publications (ProQuest’s site claims just over 170 titles out of literally thousands of small press magazines are archived in the Alt-Press Watch database), accessibility to this collection is limited to individuals who are connected to an institution licensed to access the Alt-Press Watch database. Moreover, the collection provides full-text access to articles, but does not capture the photographs, illustrations, or design of the magazine — a critically missing element to understanding the visual presentation of a magazine that has featured the illustrations and photography of hundreds of independent artists and designers in its short history.
Clamor Magazine was born into a rich tradition of alternative media in 1999, and the Clamor Archive Project (CAP) is intended to preserve the history of this project for current and future media makers, scholars, and lifelong learners interested in the trajectory of this alternative media project. CAP will also serve as a model for peer publications to replicate (or be incorporated into CAP) to further the work of this digital collection project. By examining the history of this magazine in years to come, users (media makers, scholars, activists, lifelong learners and the like) will be able to learn much from the successes and failures of this magazine as well as other peer publications.
For more information about Clamor, please visit the website.