Protests grow as
'Democracy Now!' threatened
by Pacifica Radio management
By
Gary Wilson
Pacifica
Radio management is targeting Amy Goodman and the nationally broadcast
"Democracy Now!" program that she co-hosts with journalist Juan Gonzalez.
Goodman has been threatened with being fired if she doesn't make changes
demanded by Pacifica management. This is only the most recent move in a long
series of actions taken by a management set to throttle the only progressive
radio network in the United
States.
Several
internal documents leaked in the last week of October show that the aim of
Pacifica management's threats to Amy Goodman is political censorship of
"Democracy Now!". Pacifica's board of directors is dominated by officials with
close ties to the top powers in the Democratic Party.
Pacifica
management particularly objects to the coverage being given to political
prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal and police brutality in general, as well as the
"excessive coverage" of the struggles in East Timor and the plight of political
prisoner Lori Berenson in Peru.
Though
not indicated in the leaked documents, many supporters of Goodman believe that
management also objects to the program's election coverage, which is unfavorable
to Al Gore as well as George Bush and favorable to Ralph Nader. Goodman was
given a written reprimand for interviewing Nader on the floor of the Republican
Convention in Philadelphia. Nader had been brought into the convention by MSNBC.
The "Democracy Now!" crew was then denied press credentials at the Democratic
Convention--presumably to prevent them from interviewing Nader if he showed up
there as
well.
A
recent addition to the Pacifica board of directors is John Murdock, a corporate
attorney from the law firm of Epstein Becker & Green, which specializes in
helping clients "maintain a union-free workplace." Murdock's law firm now
represents Pacifica management and he is rewriting the bylaws of the Pacifica
Foundation to make them fit the board's new
agenda.
Pacifica
management's new agenda can also be seen in its blockage of national coverage of
Fidel Castro's recent speech at Riverside Church in New York. Pacifica's
national management in Washington attempted to put restrictions on the planned
nationwide broadcast by all Pacifica stations and to impose its own host for the
show. Local station WBAI refused to go along.
The
Washington management then blocked the national broadcast, and Castro's speech
was heard only in New York. WBAI is the home station for Amy Goodman, Juan
Gonzalez and "Democracy
Now!".
According
to leaked documents, Pacifica management has ordered Goodman to make drastic
changes in her awarding-winning program or face "disciplinary actions up to and
including termination." That management would threaten Goodman may surprise many
Pacifica supporters because "Democracy Now!" is not only award-winning, it is
the most popular show on Pacifica nationwide.
One
of the changes demanded by management is that Goodman provide a list by Friday
of the next week's shows. This is clearly meant to give management a means to
censor the shows. It is also designed to redefine the show, which has built its
popularity on its up-to-the minute alternative insight into current news,
including breaking news. No news show like it, for example ABC-TV's "Nightline,"
decides its schedule a week in advance.
Management
can't stomach Mumia
coverage
A
leaked letter to the Pacifica board written Oct. 18 by Goodman reveals the dirty
inside threats and comments made by management, showing the political motives
behind these
actions:
"On
Sept. 14 [Pacifica Program Director] Steve Yasko called me to a meeting with
Pacifica General Managers. KPFK Manager Mark Schubb expressed his repeated
criticism that audiences don't want to hear graphic details of police brutality
before breakfast, or, as he said last year, 'before I have my coffee.'
"He
criticized our coverage of Mumia Abu-Jamal, East Timor and questioned why I
asked Spike Lee about his affiliation with Nike. Pacifica's Chief Financial
Officer weighed in with her criticism of American prisoner Lori Berenson in Peru
(we had just aired an exclusive interview with her that received widespread
national press). After the meeting, Yasko took me into the hotel lobby and
shouted, 'I am your boss! I am your
boss!'"
The
documents show that Pacifica management has been taking hostile actions against
"Democracy Now!" for the last year. Goodman has made many attempts to negotiate
with management, but Pacifica management is not interested in negotiating. It
has only ultimatums: "I am your boss" is the negotiating message.
Goodman
was finally forced to file a grievance through the union, the American
Federation of Television and Radio Artists, charging Pacifica's management with
"harassment, gender harassment and censorship," along with other violations of
the union
contract.
Pacifica
restructuring
Since
the early 1990s, national Pacifica management has taken on a plan to make deep
structural and programming changes that have moved the Pacifica Radio network
away from its original, progressive community-based focus. Many of the changes
are geared to make Pacifica more like National Public Radio, the
corporate-backed "alternative" radio network that has become so conservative
that some have started to call it the "National Republican
Radio."
Last
year, Pacifica management flew from Washington to Berkeley, Calif., to impose a
gag order on the local affiliate, KPFA. The Washington management had the police
come in and arrest staffers so that they could impose their own programming.
Then they ordered the station occupied by security goons at a cost of $10,000 a
day.
The
big protests in Berkeley over this action made many people aware for the first
time of what is happening at
Pacifica.
Hundreds
of people in five cities across the U.S. on Oct. 25 protested the threats made
to Goodman. More actions are being planned. Readers wanting more information on
the struggle at Pacifica can find it on the Web at www.savepacifica.net.
This article is copyright under a Creative Commons License.
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