>From: "Macdonald Stainsby" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Status: > >January 31, 2000: Pacifica Radio's top free-lance reporters and contributors, >backed by several nationally-recognized, free-speech organizations, today >struck Pacifica's national-news program to protest on-going censorship at the >50-year-old community-radio network. > >"We believe Pacifica management seeks to intimidate and censor those who try >to report on matters that management prefers to keep quiet," said PNN >contributor Aaron Glantz from his base in Berkeley. "Management has not only >failed to stop censoring the news, management has not even bothered to contact >us to respond to our concerns. So we have no choice but to strike," Glantz >added. > >Dozens of journalists from across the Americas, Europe and Asia, many of whom >have won the industry's top awards, will strike for the next three months >unless Mary Frances Berry, who chairs both the U.S. Civil Rights Commission >and the Pacifica Foundation, publicly renounces censorship throughout the >network, and reasserts the editorial independence of Pacifica's local and >national-news divisions. The striking journalists comprise a majority of >active contributors and reporters to Pacifica Network News, PNN, a daily, >half-hour news program that airs on some 70 radio stations nationally. In a >recent two-month period, nearly 70% of Pacifica's stories came from its >stringers. > >The striking reporters delivered a letter one week ago outlining their demands >to Pacifica's entire national board, including chair Mary Frances Berry, via >certified mail, fax and e-mail. To date, there has been no official response >from Pacifica. Several attempts by the reporters to reach Pacifica >management--which has not released its phone number to the public--have been >unsuccessful. > >Since the letter was delivered to management last Monday, additional stringers >have joined the action, and several affiliates are considering a boycott of >Pacifica Network News as an act of solidarity with the striking reporters. > >The strike is supported by the media watchdog group Fairness and Accuracy in >Reporting, Project Censored and the National Association for Freedom of >Expression. "The survival of PNN as a reliable source of information is very >much in doubt," said syndicated media critic Norman Solomon, "this strike may >be the last chance to make PNN something trustworthy." > >Complete story at: http://www.freespeech.org > >_______ >Macdonald Stainsby >----- >Check out the Tao ten point program: http://new.tao.ca > > ><!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> ><HTML><HEAD> ><META content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" http-equiv=Content-Type> ><META content="MSHTML 5.00.2614.3500" name=GENERATOR> ><STYLE></STYLE> ></HEAD> ><BODY bgColor=#ffffff> ><DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> ><P>January 31, 2000: Pacifica Radio's top free-lance reporters and >contributors, >backed by several nationally-recognized, free-speech organizations, today >struck >Pacifica's national-news program to protest on-going censorship at the >50-year-old community-radio network. ><P>"We believe Pacifica management seeks to intimidate and censor those who >try >to report on matters that management prefers to keep quiet," said PNN >contributor Aaron Glantz from his base in Berkeley. "Management has not only >failed to stop censoring the news, management has not even bothered to contact >us to respond to our concerns. So we have no choice but to strike," Glantz >added. ><P>Dozens of journalists from across the Americas, Europe and Asia, many of >whom >have won the industry's top awards, will strike for the next three months >unless >Mary Frances Berry, who chairs both the U.S. Civil Rights Commission and the >Pacifica Foundation, publicly renounces censorship throughout the network, and >reasserts the editorial independence of Pacifica's local and national-news >divisions. The striking journalists comprise a majority of active contributors >and reporters to Pacifica Network News, PNN, a daily, half-hour news program >that airs on some 70 radio stations nationally. In a recent two-month period, >nearly 70% of Pacifica's stories came from its stringers. ><P>The striking reporters delivered a <A >href="http://www.savepacifica.net/strike/letter_to_management.html">letter</A> >one week ago outlining their demands to Pacifica's entire national board, >including chair Mary Frances Berry, via certified mail, fax and e-mail. To >date, >there has been no official response from Pacifica. Several attempts by the >reporters to reach Pacifica management--which has not released its phone >number >to the public--have been unsuccessful. ><P>Since the letter was delivered to management last Monday, additional >stringers have joined the action, and several affiliates are considering a >boycott of Pacifica Network News as an act of solidarity with the striking >reporters. ><P>The strike is supported by the media watchdog group <A >href="http://www.fair.org/press-releases/pacifica-strike.html">Fairness and >Accuracy in Reporting,</A> Project Censored and the <A >href="http://www.savepacifica.net/strike/foe.html">National Association for >Freedom of Expression.</A> "The survival of PNN as a reliable source of >information is very much in doubt," said syndicated media critic Norman >Solomon, >"this strike may be the last chance to make PNN something trustworthy." ></P></FONT></DIV> ><DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Complete story at: http://www.freespeech.org ></FONT></DIV> ><DIV> </DIV> ><DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>_______<BR>Macdonald Stainsby<BR>-----<BR>Check >out the Tao ten point program: <A >href="http://new.tao.ca">http://new.tao.ca</A> <BR></DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML> > > __________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. 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