Freeman's been producing media since creating a class magazine in fourth grade. He's worked in print, as Cofounder, Distributor, Writer and Photographer for a color glossy family magazine. He was a radio DJ, talk show host, and Producer at WBRS-FM, and continues to produce for several Boston area programs. His photography has been printed in Peacework and Utne magazines. A movie and video maker from way back, he is returning to video production at CCTV, Cambridge.
Since 2000, he's been reporting on politics and dissent, from the Quebec G8 summit to several marches in Washington, and dozens of events around Boston.
In 2002, Freeman was assaulted and falsely charged by MBTA Police for recording the attack, in public, with a hand held microphone. He is the first Reporter ever convicted of Felony Wiretapping under a new and ultimately illegal interpretation of state law recently established in the case of The Commonwealth V. Hyde.
the Colorado College
At the Colorado College, Jeff was sound tech for a campus rock band. He studied Music History, World Music, Opera, Piano, Acoustics, and Electronic Music with prepared piano Artist Steven Scott. (discography) Jeff served on the Electronic Music Studio Staff, assisting students in their assignments.
Below is the EMS Synthi-100, an analog synthesizer on which he recorded several projects. Jeff also hacked around on the legendary Synclavier, an early digital machine Frank Zappa used on Jazz From Hell. A one-inch, eight channel Scully, a 1/2" half-track Ampex and a Vocoder rounded out the studio. Jeff volunteered as a techie at the college's KRCC-FM, an NPR affiliate.
WBRS-FM
Returning to the east coast in 1989, Jeff worked as a Cambridge cable TV installer, and hosted three radio shows per week on WBRS-FM at Brandeis university. For three years, Jeff was Producer of a block of talk shows called Quality Time, he DJ'd an improv slot, and a children's program.
At WBRS, Jeff learned about live radio production, live performance and news, as he developed or inherited a philosophy of media which became his way of living. To serve society by seeking and amplifying the voices that corporate media ignore or misrepresent.
American Media Problem Discovered (!)
It was through dabbling in news reporting that Freeman came to understand the disparity between events, and the media experience most of us are forced to substitute for the event.
The american media problem crystalized before his eyes at a local court hearing. "There I was, trying to cover a story happening at the Waltham court house. I was the only Reporter there from a Waltham station. All these evil corporation drones were lurking in their million dollar media trucks. First of all, they totally missed the story, whitewashing the real action. But what blew my mind...what yanked me completely from the corporate media matrix was the rude arrogance of a tv cameraman who was shooting an activist's statement. He told the guy, 'you can stop talking now, because I'm done.' as if the real live people there didn't exist!" Jeff was not able to video the court proceedings because the judge effectively ordered a 'media pool.' This means one crew would shoot the video, and sell the footage to the other network jackals. The rich BS media were thrown the meat, actual community was left outside of their own court!