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Pacifica
Struggle - National Level
First
Step: Inform Yourself!
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.
MEDIA
ON PACIFICA
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
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)
FAIR
on Pacifica
Read press releases, action alerts and updates about the Pacifica
crisis from a progressive media watchdog, 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)
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)
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 places Goodman's
work in the context of Pacifica history and concludes that, despite
her vocal critics in Berkeley, we must join together to defend her
against Pacifica management's attacks.
A
Labor Perspective on Pacifica
Read former KPFK Shop Steward Lyn Gerry's insider view of Pacifica
union-busting tactics from the early 1980's through the later 1990's.
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
Pacifica
Foundation By-Laws, Proposed, Current and Past
Compare specific sections of Pacifica Board member John Murdock's
proposed revision of the Pacifica Foundation By-laws (2001) with
the corresponding sections of current (1999) and previous versions
of the By-laws (1997, 1991).
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
PACIFICA SITES
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.
Coalition
for a Democratic Pacifica (Berkeley)
Keep up with Bay Area listeners' attempts to democratize KPFA, through
listener LAB elections and other means.
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!
Collective
Action
The
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.
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.
Individual
Action
Tell
Other Pacifica Board Members to Vote Murdock Down!
Download the petition, get 20 people to sign it, and send it back
to the organizer, Kristen Harknett. NY dissident Board Member Leslie
Cagan has agreed to deliver completed petitions to Murdock and the
rest of the Board at their March 3, 2001, meeting in Houston. Deadline
to have your petition delivered by Cagan is February 28, but
don't let that deter you from completing petitions after that date.
It is likely the by-law changes will not even be introduced at the
March meeting.
Support
the Lawsuits Against the Pacifica Board
Your donation to the umbrella fund below is tax-deductible and will
be divided equally among the three lawsuits (Listeners, LAB Members,
and Board Members). For more information contact Carol Spooner,
wildrose@pon.net. Make checks
payable to:
"Free
Pacifica Legal Action/Vanguard Foundation"
c/o The Vanguard Public Foundation
383 Rhode Island Street, Suite 301
San Francisco, CA 94103
Support
the Free Speech Radio News Fund
Your donation will help striking Pacifica News Network reporters
produce Free Speech Radio. For more information contact pnnstrikers@igc.org.
Make checks payable to "Friends of Free Speech Radio" and mail to:
Freelancers
Strike Fund
c/o Friends of Free Speech Radio
905 Parker Street
Berkeley, CA 94710
Support
the Pacifica Campaign
Pledge to former Democracy Now! cohost Juan Gonzalez' newly-formed
campaign to drive current Pacifica Board members to resign, through
a nationwide Pacifica pledgedrive boycott, high-profile actions
and other tactics. Sign up to receive email notifications and volunteer
to help in any way you are able. Hotline for campaign actions and
updates: 800-797-6229. Office phone number, NY: 646-230-9588. Tax-deductible
contributions for more than $100 should be made payable to:
"Institute
for Media Analysis-Pacifica Campaign"
51 MacDougal Street, #80
New York, NY 10012
Checks
for less than $100 should be made payable to "Pacifica Campaign"
and sent to the same address.
Tell
Pacifica How You Feel
Use this number and address list to send a letter to, call or email
Pacifica Executive Director Bessie Wash and Pacifica Board Members.
And
of Course...
Talk
to friends, family and coworkers and tell them -- if they don't
already know! -- what is happening to Pacifica and why they should
care as deeply as you do.
Write
to, call or email your elected representatives, locally and nationally.
Ask
any organizations you work for or with which you have connections,
to sign onto existing statements or write their own and send it
to the Pacifica Board Members.
Wear
a button, make a sign, put a bumper sticker on your car.
Keep
up the fight!
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