In article <krCR6.7931$[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, "James Graf" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Alex Constantine: > > This was inevitable. I don't know about events on the West Coast, but the > problems at WBAI began in the 80s. It was then that the station, heavily > infiltrated, corrupted itself by conspiring with the monsters of 75 > Morton > Street (New York State Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental > Disabilities) to cover up the existence of thought-reading technology and > its use as a torture weapon (see Part 2 > http://www.angelfire.com/nj/jhgraf/anid2.html of "A Nation in Denial" on > my > web site). > > If you want to know about the events of those days, ask Joyce White > http://www.angelfire.com/nj/jhgraf/fint.html#JW . She knows everything, > but > probably won't tell. > > James Henry Graf > Unacknowledged Prisoner of Conscience ("confined to a village") > and "non-person" trapped in "Virtual America," "A Nation In Denial." > James Henry Graf's Angelfire Home: > http://www.angelfire.com/nj/jhgraf > JH Graf's Human Rights Forum (Delphi): > http://www.delphi.com/jhgraf/start > > > "Alex Constantine" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message > news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]... > THE SMOKING GUN: > GOVERNMENT INVOLVEMENT IN POLITICAL CENSORSHIP OF PACIFICA RADIO > _________________________________________________ > > "I was also told by the executive director to tone down the news > coverage. > CPB wanted me to tone down the news coverage, to be more "balanced" as > they > put it. Especially this was at the time > of the war against Yugoslavia, and they didn't want to hear, as the > present > management of Pacifica used to tell me, "about 'our boys' dropping bombs > and > killing babies in Iraq. We don't want to > hear about that on our airwaves. We don't want to hear about the police > brutality." > > - Former Pacifica News Director Dan Coughlin speaking in Berkeley, CA > 3/25/01 > > _________________________________________________ > > > Below is an excerpt from a transcript of a presentation given 3/25/01 by > former Pacifica Network News director Dan Coughlin in Berkeley, CA. This > important testimomy proves conclusively that Pacifica, as well as > community and public radio in general, are the targets of a government > operation to silence critical journalism through the funding mechanism > of > the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.. > > _________________________________________________ > > > "...I'm particularly pleased to be here with Dennis [Bernstein] for this > event for Flashpoints, because Flashpoints is the kind of journalism > that > we've practiced for many years at Pacifica, the kind > of journalism that is under severe attack. Wake Up Call, the morning > show in > New York, hosted by Bernard White and Amy Goodman, which you will hear a > little bit about, has > been purged. > > Dozens, I would say about fifteen people participated in that program > over > the course of the week. They've all been fired and banned, including > Robert > Knight, including Amy > Goodman and including Bernard White. They've been subjected to a > scurrilous > and vicious campaign of defamation on the air, where for instance Amy is > openly called: a "racist", > a "liar", "unprofessional", "responsible for the firing of Bernard and > Sharan", a "bitch." And that her contribution to Pacifica is > "defecation." > This is the subject of discourse in the > newspapers in New York, that she "vomits" on the air. And this is the > kind > of statements that Pacifica management, that supposedly wants to > "professionalize the network, is busy > making. > > Because what is in fact happening, as we know, as we've experienced here > in > KPFA, as we've experienced in PNN, as we've experienced at Democracy > Now!, > as we've > experienced at WBAI, is nothing but a political purge targeting the most > successful, the most relevant, and the most politicized programmers, > producers and activists in the > network. And that is what is happening. > > So we have to understand that this "debate" about audience building, and > about diversity has nothing to do with reality in the network, as we > know > here at KPFA. The two, obviously > the two most successful radio stations in the network, KPFA and WBAI, > are > the ones that are being attacked and destroyed. Because this Pacifica > management, this Pacifica > management can only do one thing. And that is to go to war against us. > That's all they know how to do. There's not been one programming > initiative > over the past few years. > There's not been one administrative initiative of any kind. The > organization > is in complete disarray. > > We were just down in KPFK. They don't have a news director. They don't > have > a program director, they don't have a development director because they > keep > power to themselves > and they can't share it because people don't agree with them. And this > is > what's happening to the network; it's being destroyed and a political > purge > is happening. > > And this is happening for a number of different reasons, and one of the > reasons that I want to touch on this afternoon, briefly, is to tell you > a > little story about my tenure as news > director. And I was news director during the height of the KPFA crisis > and I > thank the hundreds of people who called me during that time to inform me > about what was going on. > [audience laughter] And send me e- mails, as Lynn Chadwick and the > Pacifica > Board used to talk about, used to refer to it as the "great Northern > California e-mail machine." > [audience laughter] Which is absolutely true. I still have the e-mails. > > A couple of things that happened which are pretty interesting. I think > one > was in June, end of June in '99, after a Pacifica Board meeting. And > Lynn > Chadwick came to me, and she > said, "Oh, Dan, it's really great, we're meeting, Mary and I are meeting > with Kevin Close." > > And I thought, wow, that's interesting, you're having lunch with Kevin > Close. Kevin Close is the boss of National Public Radio. And he comes > from > Voice of America, from Radio > Free Europe in fact. He was responsible for...he was a journalist with > the > Washington Post, went over to Radio Free Europe, was responsible for the > shift of Radio Free Europe > from Munich to Prague, part of the eastward expansion of NATO and the > eastward expansion really, of US imperialism. And he, from Radio Free > Europe, became head of NPR. > And they were meeting with him to discuss the KPFA crisis. > > A little while later, Lynn then said to me, "Well, we met with "Uncle > Bob," > as she used to call Bob Coonrod, the head of CPB. And Bob Coonrod also > comes > from VOA, and he was > in charge of things like Radio Marti. And she said to me, "Dan, you know > it > was really interesting...we had this meeting with Uncle Bob, and you > know > what? He promised to give > us some money to see us through the KPFA thing." (To defeat the KPFA > struggle) And she said, "You know, all these years we've been asking CPB > for > money and they say they > never have any. And here you are, now, they're ready to give us money!" > > And whether this is true or not, whether CPB in fact ended up giving > money > to Pacifica, fact is that Bob Coonrod, according to Lynn, told her that > and > she interpreted that obviously > as political support. > > I was also told by the executive director to tone down the news > coverage. > CPB wanted me to tone down the news coverage, to be more "balanced" as > they > put it. Especially this > was at the time of the war against Yugoslavia, and they didn't want to > hear, > as the present management of Pacifica used to tell me, "about 'our boys' > dropping bombs and killing > babies in Iraq. We don't want to hear about that on our airwaves. We > don't > want to hear about the police brutality." > > Whenever we used to do a piece on Mumia Abu Jamal, they'd joke, " Oh Dan > why > don't you just get a, and Amy, why don't you guys get a direct ISDN line > to > Mumia's cell. Wouldn't > that be easier for you?" The belittling, the pressure, the demands, the > repression, about what we're covering and why at Pacifica National > Programming is very serious and this is > why we have to take Dennis' words very seriously. That what is happening > here is political repression in the network. And we, many of us who have > been in the network for several > years, feel this quite directly. And it's not hidden. It's told to us > openly. > > We are faced with a drastic situation in Pacifica. It is the eleventh > hour. > We have seen the KPFA crisis, we have seen the crisis at PNN. And by the > way, let me say just one thing > about the crisis at PNN since I was the National News director. The > stringer's strike has been one of the most important struggles that has > occurred in the Pacifica battles over > the last two years. We've seem more than 40 stringers from around the > world > stop their work, organize themselves, and refuse to contribute to PNN > until > editorial integrity and > journalistic integrity is respected. > > Stringers...[applause] And they've put out a newscast to 42 community > radio > stations cross the country every week. It's a remarkable feat. And they > spread the struggle, and they > circulated the struggle all across the country. And so wherever you go > now > to talk about Pacifica, people know about it, because they hear it on > that > Free Speech Radio newscast. > > But stringers are notoriously difficult to organize. Stringers...we've > all > been stringers, many of us...we're independent, we're fierce, we're our > own > minds. Some of us speak many > different languages. We go seek the truth in Indonesia, or in Nigeria, > or > wherever the struggle is, we go and take a look. Stringers have been so > independent that even the CIA > couldn't organize stringers in the in the 1950's. [Audience laughter] > > You know, you read about it in Graham Greene novels. You couldn't > organize > stringers. They hated stringers. Stringers, these stringers, came under > attack by PNN news staff, by > the AFTRA unit of Pacifica. "Oh, you're striking against a real union > and > you guys don't know what you're doing. We're the unionized workers." > > But stringers, in fact...the term "stringers" comes from a string. Where > journalists, news reporters used to string together their news reports > for a > telegraph wire, and that would > determine how much pay they would get. And that was based on printers. > Because printers, to see how much type you used to lay out, would take a > facsimile of the type they print > out and put it up on a string, and then as many pages as you collected, > you > would measure the width and that's what you would be paid, along with > some > kind of piece rate. > > And it's very interesting because the printers have always been at the > forefront of free speech, going back to the Gutenberg bible in the 15th > Century and the struggle against > ecclesiastical authority, the struggle against dictatorships, against > colonialism. Ben Franklin was a printer. So, here we have a struggle for > free speech that is rooted in trade > unionism, remember printers were the first trade unionists, and in free > speech. And they are routinely derided by Pacifica management, when they > represent the most deeply > rooted sentiments in our society and in the world. And that is the > struggle > for free speech and we should support, continue our support, we should > applaud Friends of Free > Speech Radio for supporting the stringers' strike, and that noble fight > for > free speech. > > [Applause] > > But as I was saying, we have a drastic situation at Pacifica. KPFA, PNN, > Democracy Now!, and now this horrific, horrific coup at WBAI involving > armed > guards, firings and > bannings, new surveillance equipment being put in, the use of the NYPD, > arrests, gag orders - the usual story. And we have to sit down and > really > think about what we're doing as > a movement, and how we're going to win this struggle, because we can't > keep > going around putting out these fires. > > They go from one place to the next place. And, know they're going to > come > back to KPFA. It's only a matter of time. And they're going to be much > more > clever about how they do it, > just how they were clever about what happened at WBAI by doing an > internal > palace coup, which is what they did at PNN. We have to figure out a > strategy that's going to defeat > these people. And we think, at the Pacifica Campaign, that our strategy > is > simple and it'll be effective. And, it's based on one simple goal: that > the > Pacifica Board, the corporate > clique that is now in charge of the Pacifica Board, has to resign now. > [cheers] They have to resign now! > > And we're going to remind them of that. And we want to remind them of > that > in pickets at their homes, talking to their business partners, putting > pressure on them. And of course in > a non-violent, anti-racist, anti-sexist way. We're totally clear about > that, > even though Pacifica labels...claims that we're racist, violent and > sexist, > as they put in their press releases. > But want to turn up the heat against the individual board members. > > Groups around the country are adopting a Board member. [applause and > laughter from audience] And we would like to see, in San Francisco Bay > Area, > [raucous laughter from > audience] there's one person I think in the Bay Area you can perhaps > persuade, persuade, that she should resign now. She has abrogated the > trust > placed in her as a steward of > this great treasure, the Pacifica Radio network and she needs to resign > now. > > The second aspect, and this I don't need to tell you about, you know how > to > do that...I didn't say anybody, but I heard from the crowd, they were > saying > "Carolyn Van Putten." And > she has proved to be a very negative force on the Board. She has > supported > the Christmas Coup at WBAI, supported, the firings and bannings of > workers > around the system, > supported the gagging of free speech and she needs to resign. She needs > to > take responsibility. It's a simple thing. It's not complicated. Anybody > looking at what's happening in > the network can realize the chaos and mismanagement that exists! These > people have to take responsibility for their actions, which they > singularly > refuse to do. It's unbelievable! > They need to resign now! > > It's a simple issue. But we need to maybe help them to come to that > conclusion. But the way that we can do that, apart from pressuring them > and > lobbying them, is, we do have to > turn up the heat against them individually, but we have to cut off the > water. We have to cut off the water, we have to stop the funds from > going > into Pacifica, because they, every > three months, [applause] every three months they get three more million > dollars. And they come back to us to USE IT TO KILL US! > > To fire us at seven in the morning and to drag us out of bed and to tell > us > we've been fired. It's got to stop! And the way to make it stop is to > hold > them accountable for the money > that they're spending. And it is something that listeners can do. All of > us > can do it. > > It's a giant national referendum. We can all participate in it. If the > Board > doesn't like the boycott, then fine, hold a national vote of the > listeners. > But let's put it to the vote! [applause] > > But in the meantime, let's cut off the water to this Pacifica Board so > they > can't continue these policies. I'm outta here. Thanks you very much. > Please > go to the website of the > Pacifica campaign, pacificacampaign.org, and cut off the heat and cut > off > the water. > _________________________________________________________________ > Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com > >
