Pacifica alert

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>]

FAIR-L
Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting
Media analysis, critiques and news reports

ACTION ALERT:
"DEMOCRACY NOW!" IN DANGER:

Pacifica management turns against free speech

October 19, 2000

According to a leaked October 18 memo from "Democracy Now!" host Amy
Goodman to the Pacifica Radio network's Board of Directors, Pacifica
presented Goodman with a new set of "rules" on October 16 which drastically
curtail her freedom to decide what stories to cover and how, and even
attempt to restrict her free speech rights. (The memo was not given to FAIR
by Goodman or any other member of the "Democracy Now!" staff.)

"Democracy Now!," produced at New York City Pacifica station WBAI, is
Pacifica's most popular and influential show. Hosted by award-winning
journalists Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez, the daily newsmagazine is on the
cutting edge of American journalism, bringing the public stories and voices
too often shut out of mainstream media and standing out, as the show's
motto declares, as "the exception to the rulers."

Over the last year, the national management of Pacifica has become
increasingly hostile to the crew of the show "Democracy Now!", and in
particular to Goodman. Goodman's leaked memo reveals that after fruitless
attempts at good-faith negotiations, Goodman has been forced to file formal
grievances against Pacifica's management charging "harassment, gender
harassment and censorship," along with other violations of her union contract.

In a violation of Goodman's freedom of speech, Pacifica's new "rules"
threaten to fire her if she does not clear any and all speaking engagements
with Pacifica management. In addition, the network threatens to fire
Goodman if she does not provide Pacifica Program Director Steve Yasko each
Friday with "a list of possible shows the following week" and "determine
the topics of at least three shows the preceding week."

"Essentially, these rules make it impossible for Goodman to continue to
produce the hard-hitting, breaking news stories 'Democracy Now!' is famous
for," says FAIR senior analyst Steve Rendall. "It seems clear that Pacifica
is trying to force Amy out of her job."

Background: The Crisis at Pacifica

Most Pacifica listeners first became aware of the growing conflict within
the network when in March 1999, Pacifica fired Nicole Sawaya, station
manager of Berkeley station KPFA; a few days later, veteran reporter Larry
Bensky was also fired from KPFA for discussing on-air his concerns about
the network's autocratic management. In the wake of the firings, as many as
2,000 listeners took to the streets of Berkeley to protest the actions of
Pacifica's management and demand greater accountability to the community.

As a media watch group dedicated to promoting greater diversity in the
press, FAIR has followed with distress the deepening crisis at the
country's first listener-supported community radio network. Over the last
year and a half, Pacifica's management has increasingly orchestrated
censorship-- including of FAIR's own radio show, CounterSpin-- retaliatory
personnel moves and the disenfranchisement of listeners and local advisory
boards in order to impose its often regressive decisions on the network.

The latest moves against "Democracy Now!" are a sad indication that
Pacifica's management is making a final break with the progressive core
values laid out by Pacifica founder Lew Hill.

Save "Democracy Now!"

"'Democracy Now!' is quite simply one of the most important shows on the
radio today," says FAIR's Rendall. "Goodman's journalism is exemplary.
Pacifica has rewarded her for years of dedicated work with threats, daily
harassment and intimidation."

Goodman is a 1998 recipient (with "Democracy Now!" correspondent Jeremy
Scahill) of the George Polk Award for the radio documentary "Drilling and
Killing: Chevron and Nigeria's Military Dictatorship." She has also won
numerous awards for the radio documentary "Massacre: The Story of East
Timor" (co-produced with journalist Allan Nairn), including the Robert F.
Kennedy Prize for International Reporting, the Alfred I. DuPont-Columbia
Silver Baton, the Armstrong Award and the Radio/Television News Directors
Award.

Pacifica's actions against "Democracy Now!" come at a time when the show
has been doing a remarkable amount of groundbreaking work. During the
protests at the Democratic and Republican national conventions, the show's
2000 election project, "Breaking With Convention: Power Protest and the
Presidency," was simulcast live via satellite on community radio and public
access TV stations across the country. This unprecedented collaboration
generated the largest expansion of audience in Pacifica's history.

In addition, "Democracy Now!" has recently broken major stories on a host
of issues, including Chevron's role in Nigeria, the Lori Berenson case and
East Timor, to name a few. Pacifica's response? According to Goodman's
memo, in a September 14 meeting with Pacifica's General Managers, KPFK's
Mark Schubb explained to Goodman that her style of reporting was
inappropriate because listeners "don't want to hear graphic details of
police brutality before breakfast."

ACTION: Please contact Pacifica's National Board and demand that it
withdraw its new "rules" for "Democracy Now!", cease harassing Goodman and
give her their full support in continuing her ground-breaking journalism.

Please remember that some individuals on the Board support Goodman's work;
your letters will be most effective if they encourage undecided Board
members to take a strong stand in support of the show.

In addition, FAIR and the San Francisco-based Media Alliance are urging
Pacifica listeners across the country to attend protests outside their
local Pacifica stations in support of "Democracy Now!" Details will be
forthcoming at: http://www.mediademocracynow.org .

CONTACT:
You can cut and past this list of email addresses into the "To" heading of
your letter-- your email program may require semicolons in between
addresses rather than commas. Fuller contact info is below:
FALCON1591@xxxxxxx, lynnchad@xxxxxxx, mfberry@xxxxxxxxxxxxx,
cpadga@xxxxxxx, junemakela@xxxxxxx, fmillspa@xxxxxxx,  rfarrell@xxxxxxxxxx,
kford@xxxxxxxx,  jmurdock@xxxxxxxxxx, mpalmer@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx,
KvPPhD@xxxxxxx, wendell_i_johns@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, acdarius@xxxxxxx,
prbram@xxxxxxx, HARAV1@xxxxxxx, tomasmoran@xxxxxxx, robrobin@xxxxxxxxx,
LeslieCagan@xxxxxxx, BethLyons@xxxxxxx, VChamber@xxxxxxxxxx, fair@xxxxxxxx

***

FURTHER INFORMATION:
For more on FAIR's role in and analyses of the Pacifica crisis, see:
http://www.fair.org/activism/pacifica-history.html

For a full history of the turmoil at Pacifica, see Save Pacifica's
chronology at: http://www.savepacifica.net/sofar.html .

To stay up to date on upcoming Pacifica protests, see:
http://www.mediademocracynow.org

***

Pacifica National Board
Bessie Wash, Pacifica executive director
phone: (toll free) 888-770-4944 x348, FALCON1591@xxxxxxx

David Acosta, chair
Phone: (713) 926-4604, FAX: (713) 921-2780, cpadga@xxxxxxx

Ken Ford, vice chair
Phone: (202) 822-0228, FAX: (202) 822-0369, kford@xxxxxxxx

Lynn Chadwick, former executive director, now "consultant"
lynnchad@xxxxxxx

Dr. Mary Frances Berry, former chair, now Board member
Phone: (202) 337-0382, FAX: (202) 376-7558, mfberry@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

June Makela, at-large member
Phone: (212) 673-9225 or (212) 768-1831, Fax (212) 673-9225,
junemakela@xxxxxxx

Frank Millspaugh, WBAI
Phone: (212) 741-0839, FAX: (212) 924-7409, fmillspa@xxxxxxx

Bob Farrell - KPFK
Phone: (323) 299-3800 X 255, FAX: (323) 299-3896, rfarrell@xxxxxxxxxx

Lee, Bertram M
Phone: (202)965-6223, 965-6224

John M. Murdock
Phone: 202-861-0900, FAX: 202-296-2882, jmurdock@xxxxxxxxxx

Michael Palmer, KPFT
Phone: (713) 840-6646 or (713) 960-8583, FAX: 713-960-8583,

mpalmer@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Karolyn Van Putten, at large member
Phone: (415) 771-1160, KvPPhD@xxxxxxx

Wendell L. Johns, WPFK
Phone: (202) 752-8193, wendell_i_johns@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Andrea Cisco, WBAI
acdarius@xxxxxxx

Pete Bramson, KPFA
prbram@xxxxxxx

Rabbi Aaron Kriegel, KPFK
HARAV1@xxxxxxx

Tomas Moran, KPFA
tomasmoran@xxxxxxx

Rob Robinson, WPFW
robrobin@xxxxxxxxx

Leslie Cagan, WBAI
LeslieCagan@xxxxxxx

Beth Lyons, WBAI
BethLyons@xxxxxxx

Valerie Chambers, KPFT
VChamber@xxxxxxxxxx

----------

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Louis Proyect
Marxism mailing list: http://www.marxmail.org