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Pacifica
Struggle - National
Level
First
Step: Inform Yourself
History
of Pacifica
Lawsuits Against Pacifica
Media Coverage of the Pacifica Struggle
Critical Documents about Pacifica
Other Sites About Pacifica
No
time for that now? Here's how to Take
Action!
HISTORY
OF PACIFICA
Pacifica
Radio: Rise of an Alternative Network
Read historian and former KPFA newsman Matthew Lasar's history,
and get to the root of the current Pacifica crisis. Beginning with
the formative experiences of Pacifica's founding members -- the
pacifist movement of the 1930's and the Conscientious Objector camps
of World War II -- Lasar leads you through half a century of often-tumultuous
Pacifica Radio history, concluding with an analysis of the KPFA
events of 1999.
LAWSUITS
AGAINST PACIFICA
Three
Pending Lawsuits against the Pacifica Foundation
Read brief summaries of the three lawsuits, the parties involved
and relief requested, prepared by Scott Fleming of the National
Lawyers' Guild:
LAB
Members' Lawsuit -- David Adelson
and other members of four Pacifica station Local Advisory Boards
vs. the Foundation.
Dig Deeper: Read
the depositions.
Listeners'
Lawsuit -- Carol Spooner and other Pacifica listeners from
all five stations (on behalf of the CA Attorney General) vs. the
Foundation.
Dig Deeper: Visit
Carol Spooner's lawsuit page.
Board
Members' Lawsuit -- Board Members Robert Robinson and Rabbi
Aaron Kriegel vs. the Foundation and its Executive Committee.
Chronology
of Illegal Board Actions
Read a chronology of many of the allegedly illegal Pacifica Board
actions over the last three years.
MEDIA
COVERAGE OF THE PACIFICA STRUGGLE
Z
Magazine on Pacifica
Visit the magazine's Pacifica Crisis page and find many articles
from the last two years of Z publications. Highlights include:
Gloves
Off! by editor Michael Albert (February,
2001)
Resolving
the Pacifica Crisis by editor Michael Albert (updated January
17, 2001)
Censorship
as a Pacifica Management Tool by Edward S. Herman (November
2, 2000)
Resistance
to a Tightening Grip of Censorship by Norman Solomon (October,
2000)
Inside
Pacifica: KPFK LAB Member Goes Public by David Adelson, now
plaintiff in LAB lawsuit (June 1997 issue)
The
Nation on Pacifica
Read articles and editorials on the Pacifica crisis published in
The Nation over the past two years. Highlights include:
WBAI:
The Coup on Wall Street Guest Column by
Mumia Abu-Jamal (February 15, 2001; website only)
Pacifica:
A Way Out Opinion by Robert W. McChesny (February 12, 2001)
For
Democracy Now! Editorial (November 13, 2000)
What's
Going on at Pacifica Special Report by John Dinges (May 1, 2000)
Whose
Pacifica? Selected Editorial by Marc Cooper (May 10, 1999);
Letters
in response
FAIR
on Pacifica
Read press releases, action alerts and
updates about the Pacifica crisis from the media watch group Fairness
and Accuracy in Reporting. Highlights include:
Prominent
Progressives Support Pacifica Dissenters FAIR Statement, signed
by more than 80 "prominent progressives" (February 6, 2001)
Award-winning
Reporter Resigns On-air...Calls for Campaign to Oust Network Leadership
FAIR Press Release (January 31, 2001)
Lockout
at WBAI FAIR Action Alert (December 26, 2000)
Pacifica
Management Moves to Undermine WBAI's Independence FAIR Media
Advisory (December 1, 2000)
Democracy
Now! in Danger FAIR Action Alert (October 19, 2000)
In
Support of PNN Strikers Letter by Pacifica Exec. Dir. from Producer
of Counterspin (January 31, 2000)
Selling
off Pacifica? FAIR Extra! Update (October, 1999)
Pacifica
Accountability And Sawaya Decision FAIR Statement (April 15,
1999)
The
Village Voice on Pacifica
Notice that the Voice has only
published three articles mentioning WBAI or Pacifica since the coup
and all three appeared in the same issue:
Morning
Sedition: WBAI Fights Management's Move to Turn the Station into
NPR Lite Opinion by Bharati Sadasivam (January 17-23, 2001)
Fish
Rots from the Head Opinion by Cynthia Cotts (January 17-23,
2001)
WBAI:
Supporters Take Their Fight to the Streets Rally announcement
by Wista Jeanne Johnson (January 17-23, 2001)
CounterPunch
on Pacifica
Learn from four 1999 Counterpunch
exposes how Pacifica has stripped KPFT of its programming diversity
and how the Board has significantly increased its power over the
future direction of the Network.
Race
and Power at Pacifica by former KPFT programming and news director
Rafael Renteria (July 8, 1999)
The
Pacifica Power Grab & The Capturing of Pacifica two articles
by Alexander Cockburn & Jeffrey St. Clair (1999)
The
Neutering of Pacifica by Cockburn & St. Clair (January 15-31,
1999)
Media
Alliance on Pacifica
Read press releases and articles produced
by the 22-year-old Bay Area training and resource center for media
workers, community organizations, and political activists. Highlights
include:
KPFA
Radio Activists Disrupt Legal Seminar by Epstein, Becker and Green
Law Firm Press release by Andrea Buffa (February 1, 2001)
KPFA
Radio Activists Arrested in San Francisco Law Firm Press release
by Tracy Rosenberg (January 23, 2001)
National
Progressive Media: Who's Left? Feature by Andrea Buffa (January/February
2001)
The
"News Dissector" on Amy Goodman
Read Danny Schechter's lukewarm review of Amy Goodman's journalism
and principles, written soon after Pacifica's October, 2000, attempts
to alter the content of Democracy Now! Schechter looks at
Goodman's work in the context of Pacifica broadcast history and
concludes that, despite the criticism that she failed to speak out
in 1999 when KPFA was under attack, we must join together to defend
her against Pacifica management's attacks.
From
Principles to Principle: the Fight for Free Speech Radio
Read former KPFK programmer and staff union shop steward Lyn
Gerry's in-depth analysis of Pacifica events of 1999-2000 from the
Alternative Press Review, Spring 2000.
A
Labor Perspective on Pacifica
Read Lyn Gerry's insider view of Pacifica union-busting tactics
from the early 1980's through the later 1990's.
Pacifica's
Digital Divide: At What Price the Satellite?
Read the transcript of Dan Coughlin's speech at a San Francisco
Pacifica teach-in April 30, 2000. Coughlin places the Pacifica crisis
in the context of current media and broadcasting trends.
Free
Speech Radio News
Listen to programs in the archives or find out if there is an affiliate
station near you. Striking PNN Reporters maintain that Pacifica
News has censored legitimate and important news stories. Forty of
them, spread over 14 states and 4 continents, are producing an alternative.
No gag rule here!
CRITICAL
DOCUMENTS
Epstein,
Becker and Green Threaten Lawsuit for "Trademark Dilution"
Read the letter EB & G sent to Patty Heffley, owner of the website
WBAI.net on February 12, 2001.
Then read her
response. Read the EB & G letter
sent to the Friends of Free Speech Radio, owners of the site www.savepacifica.net,
on February 15, 2001. Then read their
response.
Pacifica
Foundation By-Laws, Proposed, Current and Past
Compare sections of Pacifica Board member John Murdock's proposed
revision of the Foundation's By-laws (2001) with the corresponding
sections of current (1999) and previous versions of the By-laws
(1997, 1991).
Pacifica
Foundation Articles of Incorporation
Read the closest thing to the "original mission" of the Pacifica
Foundation in written form. This version of the Articles is as filed
by Lewis Hill, H. Don Kirschner, Homer Sisson, William Triest and
John Waldron for the purposes of incorporating Pacifica as a California
non-profit in 1946, but also includes a history of various amendments
to the text through 1976.
The
Theory of Listener-Sponsored Radio
Read the theory behind Lewis Hill's 1945 founding of KPFA, as formulated
by Hill in 1951. The italicized introduction that usually accompanies
this piece contains an error; Hill did not "[serve] as Pacifica's
head until he died in 1957." He was fired by the Committee of Directors
of KPFA in 1952, amid staff discontent with his management style,
and only returned in October of 1954, once he had gathered enough
staff support to drive out the faction that had ousted him.
Juan
Gonzalez' Resignation Letter
Read former Democracy Now! cohost Juan Gonzalez' resignation
letter, submitted to Pacifica Radio management and the Pacifica
Board of Directors on January 31, 2001.
The
KPFK Gag Rule
Read a facsimile of the KPFK General Manager Mark Schubb's February,
1996, gag rule for all producers and board operators. The gag rule
remains in effect.
OTHER
SITES ABOUT PACIFICA
Alliance
for Progressive Radio's Free WPFW site
Learn about the Alliance for Progressive Radio, a Washington D.C.
citizen group attempting to democratize Pacifica station WPFW and
end censorship at the station. Read their mission
statement and connect with members on their open Message
Board.
Coalition
for a Democratic Pacifica (Berkeley)
Keep up with Bay Area listeners' attempts to democratize KPFA, through
listener LAB elections and other means.
Coalition
for a Democratic Pacifica, NY (WBAI.net)
Visit the website so important in the struggle for democratization
of WBAI and Pacifica that the Board of Directors have paid their
corporate lawyers (with listener contributions, of course) to threaten
a lawsuit against its host, Patty Hefley, for "trademark dilution."
Free
Pacifica
Visit former KPFK programmer and shop steward Lyn Gerry's site for
up-to-date information, background, and an extensive archives documenting
all aspects of the Pacifica struggle nationwide.
New
Pacifica eGroup
A discussion list for participants in workgroups, nationally, who
are forging a new Pacifica.
Friendly
warnings: Membership is open to all, but
active participants may not take kindly to messages straying from
the list's main focus -- organizing and strategy for building a
new Pacifica. The list generates an average of 75 to 100 messages
daily. You may find this volume of information overwhelming, even
in "digest" format.
North
Bay for KPFA!
Connect with Sonoma County/North Bay KPFA listeners and KPFA community
affinity groups.
Pacifica
Network News Reporters' Strike
Keep up to date on developments in the PNN Reporters' strike, ongoing
since on January 31, 2000. Read strikers' demands and a chronology
of their struggle.
San
Francisco Bay Area Action Site
Learn about protests and demonstrations being planned and read reports
of recent actions in the KPFA listening area.
Save
Pacifica
Visit a clearinghouse of information about the Pacifica struggle
nationwide: news, action alerts, lawsuit updates and more.
Pacifica
Radio's Official Website
Check in periodically to confirm that, yes, the folks in charge
are still too cowardly to so much as mention -- let alone state
a position on -- the lawsuits, the WBAI coup, gag rule, proposed
by-law changes, and on and on.
Follow
developments on three Pacifica stations via streaming audio:
KPFA
in Berkeley, CA (Program
Schedule)
WPFW
in Washington, DC (Program
Schedule)
WBAI
in New York, NY (Program
Schedule, pre-Coup)
Next Step:
Take Action!
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