------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the Nov. 9, 2000 issue of Workers World newspaper ------------------------- 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. - END - (Copyleft Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but changing it is not allowed. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org) ------------------ This message is sent to you because you are subscribed to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. To unsubscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To switch to the DIGEST mode, E-mail to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Send administrative queries to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
