03:30PM CAMDEN, New Jersey -- Two members of the Philadelphia Independent Media Center collective were asked to leave the Tweeter Center grounds today, where the Lollapalooza Festival was taking place, when a representative of the Clear Channel Corporation informed them that the organizers of the Lollapalooza Festival (wholly ticketed, promoted, and produced by Clear Channel) did not approve of their anti-Clear Channel educational information and satirical banner. Both members of the Philly IMC had been invited to table at the festival. After being asked to remove their Clear Channel banner and to stop distributing anti-Clear Channel materials by Lollapalooza representative Claudette Silver, the collective members decided to pack up their things and leave, rather than dilute their message.

The collective members, Mike Rosenberg and Hannah Sassaman, both of West Philadelphia, were invited to distribute their information and answer questions as part of the 'Axis of Justice' tent. Rosenberg, who is the current chair of the Green Party of Philadelphia, and Sassaman, who is an activist with the Prometheus Radio Project, arrived at the tent at ten in the morning on this hot Sunday in July. After chatting with fellow tablers in the Axis of Justice tent -- including Refuse and Resist, Not In Our Name, the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, and Act-Up Philadelphia, they began distributing a diverse selection of educational literature. Copies of the New York City IMC newspaper, 'The Indypendent', shared space with announcements for Prometheus' upcoming barnraisings -- events where radio geeks from around the world gather together to build low power FM radio stations. A large selection of such material shared space with another centerpiece of Prometheus' campaign work -- educational materials and calls to action about what Prometheus considers to be the largest corporate offender in the consolidated media landscape -- the Clear Channel corporation itself.

A flyer decorated with a drawing of Texas, the home state of the Clear Channel Corporation, and an oilwell spouting burning radio waves proved to be the most popular choice for concert attendees visiting the Axis of Justice booth. Lollapalooza representative Claudette Silver unfolded a copy of this flyer as she asked the IMC members to remove their information from their table.

The banner in question is a beautifully printed spoof of the Clear Channel corporate logo and slogan, changed to say 'Cheap Channel... how many times have we breached you today?' The colorful, professional banner, on display next to the Philadelphia Independent Media Center plexiglass sign, drew many concert attendees to the table, eageer to find out more about independent media choices in their hometowns.

Rosenberg and Sassaman, when faced with the choice of removing the flyers and banner or leaving the festival, chose to leave rather than dilute their message for the comfort of the festival organizers and sponsors.

"Clear Channel lost out big today," said Hannah Sassaman. "They would have been saying something much stronger about their organization's strength and resillience if they let voices of dissent speak freely inside their concert venue. Do they have something to hide? Oh, yeah, their ugly record of layoffs, bad radio, and corporatespeak masquerading as diversity."

Fellow tablers and organizers at the Axis of Justice booth expressed solidarity with the IMC members as they gathered their information. Many took copies of the flyers in question, and expressed a desire to argue or fight back with the Clear Channel venue host, although Rosenberg and Sassaman stressed that they were choosing to abide by the request of Ms. Silver and stop distributing the flyers themselves, and that they had no qualms with the Axis of Justice organization or Audioslave.

Axis of Justice, a non-profit political organization formed by Tom Morello of Audioslave and a constant feature of the entire tour, writes on its official website that it's 'puropse is to bring together musicians, fans of music, and grassroots political organizations to fight for social justice together.' They 'aim to build a bridge between fans of music around the world and local political organizations to effectively organize around issues of peace, human rights, and economic justice.'

Lollapalooza is half-owned by the founder of the festival, Perry Farrell of Jane's Addiction, and half-owned by the industry mainstay William Morris Agency. The tour is exclusively ticketed, promoted, advertised, and hosted by Clear Channel Entertainment.

Clear Channel Entertainment, according to its website, claims it is "a leading producer and marketer of live entertainment events. Clear Channel Entertainment currently owns, operates and/or exclusively books approximately 135 live entertainment venues, including more than 100 in North American and 30 in Europe. In 2001, more than 66 million people attended approximately 26,000 events." Clear Channel also owns over 1200 radio stations across the United States, by far the largest number in this country. To learn more about Clear Channel, and how you can fight corporate media consolidation in your town, go to cheapchannelradio.com or prometheusradio.org.