Wed, 21 Mar 2001 Dear Friends and NAHJ Members: I received last night a copy of a remarkable letter that has been widely circulated by Patricia Guadalupe, the news director of the Pacifica radio network's evening news program. Patricia is a fellow member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and we have known each other for several years. She says in the letter that she is "appalled and outraged" that the NAHJ agreed to co-sponsor a March 23rd public forum in Los Angeles to air different views on the current crisis at Pacifica, a forum to which I and several other people have been invited to speak. Patricia claims that NAHJ is providing "a cloak of legitimacy" to a group that is "pushing its own illegitimate agenda," a group which, according to her, is spreading "propaganda," "slanders" and "lies" about non-existent "censorship" at Pacifica. Patricia is especially furious that the listener boycott I and thousands of others have been advocating against the Pacifica Network for the past six weeks is jeopardizing the livelihood of many people of color who work for Pacifica Radio, including herself. She urges others to pressure NAHJ to withdraw its sponsorship of "this ridiculous endeavor." Her letter, unfortunately, only demonstrates the seriousness of the problems at Pacifica. Reading it reminded me instantly of an old Spanish saying: no se puede tapar el cielo con la mano (You can't hide the sky with your hand). If the conflicts at this network, the only independent, listener-sponsored radio network in the country, are so unimportant, if they are merely "personnel issues" why have they been the subject during the past few months of repeated articles in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Newsday, Time magazine, the Houston Chronicle, New York Daily News, The Nation, In These Times, The Village Voice and scores of other publications? Why have they been covered everywhere except at the Pacifica evening news show that Patricia directs? Why have they resulted in three fierce legal suits in the California courts, including one that has the backing of California state attorney general? Why have dozens of staff members and listeners at several Pacifica stations been fired, arrested or banned from the stations for opposing the policies of the Pacifica Board? Why have major figures such as actor Danny Glover, MIT Professor Noam Chomsky, author Alice Walker, Ralph Nader and many others spoken out against the Pacifica Board? Make no mistake about it. The battle at Pacifica raises critical issues about the state of free speech, the future of community radio, and the mass media vis-a-vis the people. That is the only reason I agreed to become involved in this conflict. For Patricia and those above her at Pacifica to try to sabotage an airing of these isues, and to lobby other groups against participating speaks volume about the kind of journalism they practice. Where are the facts? Where is the investigation? Where is the defense of your conclusions? Did all those years at Hispanic Link, under the supervision of that great mentor of young Hispanic journalists, Charlie Ericksen, teach you nothing, Patricia? By co-sponsoring a forum, NAHJ is merely fomenting debate, not choosing sides, and the KPFK Local Advisory Board, the duly-constituted listener group that monitors the Los Angeles station, has every right to initiate such a forum. As early as March 1, that advisory board invited Pacifica's national executive director to participate or send a representative. So far the request has not been honored, nor have more than half a dozen other requests to Pacifica executives. But the invitations are still open. As for this allegation that the boycott I advocateis endangering the jobs of minority journalists -- where was Patricia's concern for minority journalists like Valerie van Isler, Bernard White, Sharan Harper, Janice K. Bryant, Robert Knight, all of whom have been fired or banned from Pacifica's WBAI in the past two months? Where was the concern when KPFK in Los Angeles eliminated Spanish-language programming and cut back programming around Latino is sues in a city that is 40% Hispanic? Where was the concern about Pacifica's KPFT in Houston becoming a largely a country music station and eliminating Spanish-language programming in a city that is two-thirds black and Latino? Better yet, why doesn't Patricia come to Los Angeles herself and explain the "facts" as she knows them. I'm sure the KPFK Local Advisory Board will pay her air fare. Perhaps I'm being too hard on Patricia. After all, she wasn't around in the 1950s and the 1960s when courageous peace activists and American radicals had to sacrifice and sweat and battle right-wing forces in this country just to give birth to a network like Pacifica and to keep it alive. Maybe she believes she's working at some hippie rag-doll version of NPR, for she clealy doesn't comprehend how angry some Pacifica listeners can become when you try to hijack their network. Angry enough to stop giving money. Angry enough to mount protests outside the Pacifica stations and the offices of board members. All of which they have a perfect right to do. But the veteran journalists of NAHJ and the progressive movement of Los Angeles should know better. You should not sidetracked by a young, perhaps well-intentioned woman who is mostly worried about losing her own job; nor should you be fooled by more seasoned operators, such as KPFK station manager Mark Schubb, or veteran host Marc Cooper, who are too busy lobbying others privately against the Los Angeles forum to write any letters. If Schubb really wanted to expose the "lies" of our campaign, he could simply agree to participate in the forum himself, publicize it on his radio station and urge all the listeners who love the way KPFK operates to turn out. That way they could show us dissidents -- and the Los Angeles press -- how isolated and alone we are. But Schubb and Cooper would rather try to convince you all not to sponsor a debate. They would prefer no one talked about what is going on. Well, I urge you to reject this transparent ploy. Furthermore, I recommend that NAHJ sponsor a panel on the Pacifica crisis at its upcoming national conference in Phoenix. Let a neutral journalism professor or some other party organize it. Invite Patricia to speak and/or board chairman David Acosta and whoever else they can muster to defend the current Pacifica board -- if our boycott hasn't forced them all to resign by then. On our side, we do not fear open debate. We do not fear the listeners. We do not hide behind nonsensical allusions to "personnel" matters. We want to preserve a radio network with the principles of free speech and democratic accountability to listeners on which it was founded. Such ridiculous dreamers we dare to be. Sincerely, Juan Gonzalez Mailing Address: The Pacifica Campaign 51 MacDougal St., #80 NY, NY 10012 Tel: (646) 230-9588 www.pacificacampaign.org [EMAIL PROTECTED] ************************************************************************************************ Patricia Guadalupe's letter DEAR FRIENDS: The National Association of Hispanic Journalists is sponsoring a panel in Los Angeles on March 23 that purports to discuss free speech, the First Amendment and the media. Panelists include several people who falsely accuse a progressive radio network of censorship, for declining -- as is their perogative -- to discuss personnel issues on the airwaves. One of these panelists is New York Daily News columnist Juan González, an NAHJ founder who recently quit as co-anchor of a Pacifica program, citing these ridiculous censorship claims. Unfortunately, González and many others have been able to say whatever they want on the air without any repercussions whatsoever. They have even been able to -- in my view -- slander network board members, also without any repercussions. They have, in effect, been able to do the type of things that would not be tolerated in your or most other organizations, including The New York Daily News. And when some have been taken off for discussing personnel and internal issues, they cry censorship. Joe Torres of the NAHJ says the group was invited to participate, and that whatever may be happening at the network is typical of the type of controversial issues that the NAHJ has been involved with in the past. This is not about a controversy. This is about helping to perpetuate a LIE a propaganda campaign! I am appalled and outraged that the NAHJ would sign on to something without double checking for accuracy. I am appalled that neither I nor anyone else within the organization was contacted for further information before the NAHJ lent its name to this panel. Let's not be fooled. The real purpose of asking the NAHJ to sponsor this panel is to give a cloak of legitimacy to a group that through flagrant lying and misrepresentation of the facts is pushing its own illegitimate agenda. When Juan González quit on the air, he urged listeners during a crucial fund drive to refuse to send funds to any of the stations, a truly galling act that shows that while he continues to collect a pay check from the Daily News he chooses to jeopardize the livelihood of many people of color who work for Pacifica Radio, including one of only two Hispanic women IN THE ENTIRE COUNTRY in English-language public radio management. This type of economic boycott of a UNIONIZED workplace is not only unfair but quite ironic coming from someone who markets himself as a Latino activist and noted writer. The panel was to be moderated by Ramona Ripston, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California. I understand that Ms. Ripston and the ACLU have pulled out. You should also be aware that a former president of the Washington chapter of the Asian American Journalists Association also considers this an affront to all journalists of color and is conducting a similar email campaign among AAJA and SPJ (Society of Professional Journalists) members. The true intentions of this "free speech and first Amendment" panel are very clear. The name has morphed into: "Pacifica Crisis: Dissident Voices From Inside and Out." The NAHJ is listed as a co-sponsor. I'm not making this up. It's at: www.pacfolio.org Don't be fooled!!!! I urge you to contact the NAHJ and ask them to withdraw support and stop lending their name and reputation to this ridiculous endeavor. Patricia Guadalupe - NAHJ member National News Director Pacifica Radio ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-~> Make good on the promise you made at graduation to keep in touch. 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