Jim Devine wrote:
>I haven't checked out the econometric methodology, but I think the whole
>corporate media vs. government-monopoly media dichotomy is deeply flawed.
Speaking of media and big business, the Save Pacifica campaign has just
achieved a significant breakthrough:
----
Date: Tue, 15 May 2001 22:01:16 -0400
Subject: Pacifica Board Officer Resigns
From: Juan Gonzalez <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: Juan Gonzalez <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Dear Friends,
Michael Palmer, treasurer of the Pacifica Foundation, has resigned.
Palmer, a vice-president in the Houston, Texas, office of CB Richard Ellis,
a commercial real estate firm, was one of the key figures in the group of
Pacifica directors who illegally changed the Foundation's by-laws to reduce
democratic accountability to listeners and who sought to stamp out
dissident voices and free speech among staff. He is also the board member
who proposed in a 1999 e-mail to former chairwoman Mary Frances Berry the
sale of KPFA and/or WBAI.
The resignation comes just a few days after members of the Pacifica
Campaign in Los Angeles visited the corporate headquarters of CB Richard
Ellis and spoke with a top assistant to the Chief Executive Officer of the
company about Palmer's role in Pacifica. We also mentioned to the CEO the
upcoming national day of action against CB Richard Ellis, slated for May 24.
After that meeting, we were informed that the office was flooded with calls
and e-mails. Yesterday, Denis Moynihan of the Pacifica Campaign, spoke with
Palmer by telephone, reminding him that the Pacifica reform movement was
preparing protests at CB Richard Ellis offices around the country.
(Previously, the Pacifica Campaign and other groups had picketing CB
Richard Ellis offices in Houston and Long Island, NY.)
Clearly, Palmer decided that his continued presence on the Pacifica Board
in the face of such widespread listener opposition was no longer tenable.
We applaud his decision and wish him well in his future endeavors. At the
same time, we reject his contention in his resignation letter that he was
being hounded by a violent "blackmail" movement. Ours is a peaceful
movement to restore Pacifica to its original mission.
While Palmer's resignation is an important victory, there are still several
other members on the board who stubbornly cling to power. We urge them to
listen to reason and to the pleas of thousands of listeners. All those
responsible for the anti-labor policies, the censorship, the climate of
fear and hostility in the network, must now step aside. It is time for new
leadership, one committed to Pacifica's historic mission and one
democratically accountable to staff, listeners and community.
Meanwhile, he listener boycott moves into high gear this week. On May 18,
the five-day a week Free Speech Radio News will begin broadcasting. This
will be financed in part by the generous donations many of you have made to
the Pacifica Campaign. Already, 17 community radio stations have agreed to
drop the Pacifica Network News (PNN) and to replace it with Free Speech
Radio News. Verna Avery-Brown, the former PNN anchor, will now be the
anchor of Free Speech Radio News.
Our movement is growing. We urge Pacifica Chairman David Acosta, Vice Chair
Ken Ford, John Murdock and others on the board to do the right thing --
resign now! The Pacifica Campaign will not rest until ALL the hijackers
have resigned from the National Board.
Please be sure and join actively in the boycott movement and protests
outside the Pacifica stations. Let us redouble our efforts. And don't give
a penny to Pacifica until the rest of the board has resigned.
In struggle,
Juan
**********************************************
Mailing Address:
The Pacifica Campaign
51 MacDougal St., #80
New York, NY 10012
Tel: (646) 230-9588
http://www.pacificacampaign.org
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Louis Proyect
Marxism mailing list: http://www.marxmail.org
