Report on the Battle for Pacifica Radio |
| by Paul Sheehan |
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An important and historical battle is taking place that all leftist and progressives must engage in order to keep free speech from being set back forty years. That battle is around Pacifica Radio. It is currently undergoing and an assault by a group of board members that want to sell off the network to corporations. In order to do this the network has purged large numbers of Black and Latino employees and volunteers. It has been derailing progressive programming and those employees who have stood up to these corporate raiders have been harassed and fired. The harassment has been, racial, sexist and age orientated. Cameras have been installed through out the stations, employees have had their personal property searched by station managers and Amy Goodman of the show Democracy Now has been assaulted by a station manager who was then promoted to National Program Director by the network. I could go on about the transgressions against the listeners and the employees but what really needs to be addressed is the importance of Pacifica Radio. If your are reading this article, then you know that Pacifica has covered at some time, and more often than not, an idea or ideas that you support. A small holdout group of programmers refused to jump on the bandwagon when the Pentagon and Twin Towers got hit. They chose about the facts that the U.S. government kills Iraqi children every day with sanctions and that our government has committed war crime violations all over the world in the last decade. They have had guests on of prominence rebutting the U.S. position. They in a nutshell refused to let the warmongers go unchallenged. STOP! and think, tens of thousands of people listen to the radio to and from work every day. It reaches more people than any Internet page will. Also when using the Internet you must know what you are looking for and where to find it. When you consider that someone can change the channel and hear something different than they have ever heard before you can see the potential of Pacifica and the importance of saving it from the corporate raiders. The most recent assault that has taken place was an election held by the corporate controlled board to keep the board stacked. As they were electing these new members they were letting them vote so each time a new person was elected and confirmed it was one more vote against the other choices of the dissident members. The Government and courts don't give a shit about what is taking place at Pacifica only you can help change what is going on. Please visit the sites listed below to find out more information than I could ever give you on what is taking place and how to contact the board members and ask them to resign. Please help save free speech.
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