-Caveat Lector- ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Sat, 14 Aug 1999 13:40:43 -0700 From: Wade Hudson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: ESPfwd: Save Pacifica, Aug 17 UPDATE: NATIONAL DAY 0F PROTEST TUESDAY AUGUST 17 ******Please spread the word to people you may know in these Pacifica listening areas***** Tuesday August 17, will be a national day of action to defend free speech, stop the sale of any Pacifica station and demand the resignation of the Pacifica management and board members who have misled the organization. We have received confirmations of events in all 5 of Pacifica's signal areas. Please alert your friends and colleagues in these cities to turn out in support. An introductory/background letter for folks who may be new to the effort follows the flyer text below. Coast to Coast Actions To Save Free Speech Radio August 17th Protest Against Pacifica Management & Board Defend free speech and civil rights. No sale of any Pacifica station. The Pacifica leadership must resign. A historic conflict now underway will determine the future of the only progressive radio network in the United States the Pacifica Network. With radio stations in Berkeley, Washington, DC, Los Angeles, Houston, and New York, Pacifica is in a unique position to bring progressive social, political, and cultural programming to millions of people. But, under the direction of Board Chair Dr. Mary Frances Berry and Executive Director Lynn Chadwick, Pacifica has abandoned and betrayed its mission. It has censored journalists at several of its stations, used armed guards to close down KPFA in Berkeley, threatened to sell the Berkeley or New York stations, and eliminated the voices of numerous people of color and political dissidents from its airwaves. Join us to demand free speech at Pacifica and the resignations of Pacificašs leadership. For more information, see www.savepacifica.net or www.radio4all.org/freepacifica. HOUSTON, TEXAS (KPFT 90.1 FM) 5 PM Demonstration KPFT, 419 Lovett Street Contact Houston Peace News, (713) 524-2682 BERKELEY (KPFA 94.1 FM) 5 PM Rally at Federal Building in Oakland File civil rights complaints against Pacifica with the U.S. Civil Rights Commission 1301 Clay Street, Oakland Contact Media Alliance, (415) 546-6334 or Nick Alexander of the KPFA People of Color Coalition, (510) 601-9544 LOS ANGELES (KPFK 90.7 FM) 4 PM Demonstration in front of KPFK 3729 Cahuenga Blvd. West, North Hollywood Contact: Vince Ivory, Pacifica Accountability Committee, (818) 754-2482 [EMAIL PROTECTED] WASHINGTON, DC (WPFW 89.3 FM) 6 PM Teach-in on Pacifica and WPFW: Democratization vs. Censorship One World Studio, 2390 Champlain Street Contact: Sam Husseini, Institute for Public Accuracy, (202) 347-0020, [EMAIL PROTECTED] NEW YORK (WBAI 99.5 FM) 6:30 PM Speak-Out at Washington Square Park 5th Avenue and W. 4th Street Contact: Save Our Station, (212) 465-7562, [EMAIL PROTECTED] Below is the text of an outreach letter for people in other areas who need background information. One of Media Alliance's members suggested that we contact you for support on a critical media issue that has reached a crisis point in the Bay Area and that has direct national implications. The first listener-sponsored radio station in the United States, KPFA in Berkeley, is in danger of being sold off to finance the plans of a run-away national management and board. We need your help to preserve free-speech radio in the United States. As you may be aware, the Pacifica Foundation holds the broadcast licenses for stations in Berkeley, Los Angeles, Houston, New York, and Washington D.C. KPFA is the oldest of these stations and was the first listener-supported station in the world. It provides public affairs and cultural programming that is vital to northern California's diverse communities. On July 13, the Pacifica Foundation management sent armed guards to remove veteran programmer Dennis Bernstein from the station for broadcasting a press conference revealing that the Pacifica leadership is seriously considering selling KPFA. Pacifica management ordered the broadcast studios and the building cleared; made citizen's arrests of station staff, and concerned listeners who had come to protest; and then boarded up the building and shut down local programming for 23 days. They also systematically censored reports of the turmoil at the sister stations in New York, Washington, Los Angeles and Houston and to a lesser extent at the 60 affiliates who subscribe to Pacifica programs Democracy Now and Pacifica National News. After widespread community protests, including 100 arrested in civil disobedience actions and 15,000 demonstrating in the streets, management allowed KPFA staff and volunteers back on the air, but has still refused to give a written statement that the station is not for sale. The Bay Area community won't settle for that. The current crisis is the result of a long-range plan to turn Pacifica into a more mainstream network that would amount to a "second rate NPR." Dozens of organizations and thousands of people across the United States and beyond, have united to demand the resignation of Pacifica's Executive Director and the Pacifica board members who created this crisis. We are also demanding that the Pacifica board democratize and re-establish local control of the stations and stop censoring programming The chair of the Pacifica board is Mary Frances Berry, who is also head of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. She is supported in the current effort by board members such as a Texas real estate entrepreneur, a housing industry lobbyist, and friends and political colleagues who see the station signals as just another asset whose value can be maximized by clever leveraging. Opposition radio is vital to the political and cultural health of our communities. We are looking to you for help. Please support the local actions that are taking place in your community to bring Pacifica back to its original mission and join the national campaign for free speech radio. If your organization would like to endorse the demands, please contact us via the info. below. For more information, see www.savepacifica.net or www.radio4all.org/freepacifica Sincerely, The Media Alliance Staff Media Alliance 814 Mission St. #205 San Francisco CA 94103 [EMAIL PROTECTED] 415-546-6334 General info and updates: call extension 352 Organizations that want to endorse the demands: call extension 315 or 311. Press and media: call extension 309 ************************************** Media Alliance 814 Mission St. #205 San Francisco, CA 94103 (415) 546-6334 *************************************** -- DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substancenot soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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