Pacifica Campaign Crisis Coverage Update In the aftermath of the Twin Towers and Pentagon hijacking attacks, KPFA's investigative news magazine program, Flashpoints, will be producing a three-hour special Saturday. Called "The Drumbeat Toward War," the program will be aired on KPFA at 9:00AM Pacific Time. Click here for the full story

Free Pacifica Movement Responds to Crisis (updated Version) Pacifica Radio's fired, banned, and exiled programmers are providing extraordinary coverage of the cataclysmic events of the past couple of days. From the extended daily newscast of Free Speech Radio News (FSRN), which is now airing on more than 40 community stations nationwide, to the compelling reporting of Democracy Now! PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS A RESEND OF YESTERDAY'S RELEASE WITH ADDITIONAL INFORMATION. Click here for the full story

Free Pacifica Movement Responds to Crisis Pacifica Radio's fired, banned, and exiled programmers are providing extraordinary coverage of the cataclysmic events of the past couple of days. From the extended daily newscast of Free Speech Radio News (FSRN), which is now airing on more than 40 community stations nationwide, to the compelling reporting of Democracy Now! Click here for the full story

Open Letter to the Members of the Pacifica Board regarding Pacifica National Programming Director Steve Yasko On Sept 4, it was revealed that Pacifica Radio Network National Program Director Steve Yasko operates websites--under a pseudonym-- that direct visitors to teenage pornography. On one of the websites which he hosts, Amy Goodman, the host of Pacifica's nationally syndicated public affairs program, Democracy Now! is the top posting in what he calls a "dish book," or online guest book. Ms. Goodman's lawyer has written to the Pacifica National Board about this issue but has received no reply. The lack of response indicates that the Pacifica Foundation has decided to defend Mr. Yasko's behavior. Steve Yasko is Amy Goodman's boss. Click here for the full story

Democracy Now! in Exile/KPFA ongoing coverage of violence online In conjunction with KPFA, Democracy Now! in Exile will be providing ongoing coverage of events related to the violence in the US today, from DCTV, just blocks from where the World Trade Towers stood. Along with broadcasts over KPFA in Berkeley and KFCF in Fresno, online audio and other media can be found at the following sites... Click here for the full story

Pacifica Campaign Cancellations In light of today's cataclysmic events, all Pacifica Campaign demonstrations slated for this week are canceled. The Campaign will be in touch as events unfold. Click here for the full story

Pacifica Campaign Update A major showdown is looming as renegade elements on Pacifica's National Board and Pacifica Executive Director Bessie Wash attempt to unilaterally restack the Board at its proposed Sept 19th telephone meeting. Such an action, in open defiance of the Pacifica listener community, the Pacifica Local Advisory Boards, Pacifica workers, dozens of Pacifica affiliates, and the entire Free Pacifica movement, will constitute a serious escalation of the crisis. It will be the political equivalent of Nixon's bombing of Cambodia. And the Pacifica Campaign, like the anti-war movement in the past, will respond with a vigorous campaign of nationwide protest that will result in the removal of this reckless and unaccountable Pacifica leadership. Click here for the full story

Jesse Jackson Calls For Democracy Now! The Rev. Jesse Jackson and actor/activist Danny Glover have lent their voices to the growing chorus demanding the return of Democracy Now! to Pacifica's airwaves. Enclosed is a press release from the San Francisco-based group, Media Alliance. Click here for the full story

Nobel Laureate Speaks on Pacifica Crisis In recent months, Pacifica management and their supporters have been alleging that Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman fabricated her award-winning coverage of the 1991 Santa Cruz massacre in East Timor. The following is a statement from 1996 Nobel Peace Prize Winner Jose Ramos-Horta on these allegations. Click here for the full story

Where to hear Democracy Now! on-line Listeners of deprived stations have been writing to ask where they can obtain the real live DN! daily. It is now posted as a real audio stream each day on http://www.webactive.com/ Click here for the full story

St. Pete Times Article The small but mighty WMNF has been able to take an active role in an ongoing dispute over a number of issues between former and current employees of Pacifica Radio and its management. WMNF has been airing Pacifica Radio News since the station's inception in 1979. But when WMNF's contract with Pacifica ends next month, the station might not renew it. Click here for the full story

Pacifica Struggle Heats Up On Dec. 22, the executive director of the Pacifica Foundation, Bessie Wash, arrived at WBAI's offices with a locksmith. She installed an interim general manager, Utrice Leid, who went on the air to announce she was in control of the station. She reassured listeners there would be no program changes. Click here for the full story

Backstage article on AFTRA/WBAI The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists has alerted its members to the union's "strong concern for the members' safety" in production of a radio talk show at WBAI studios in lower Manhattan. Kim Roberts, AFTRA's associate national executive director, told Back Stage on Monday that AFTRA had "filed a formal grievance pursuant to the contract grievance procedure" with Pacifica Radio network, producer of the radio talk show "Democracy Now!" While the formal procedure involves going through Pacifica, AFTRA's primary concern is with WBAI employees, who Roberts indicated had been involved in altercations with AFTRA members?the talk-show host and producer?working on "Democracy Now!" The problems occurred on two dates, Aug. 10 and Aug. 13. One of those altercations involved WBAI's general manager, Roberts said. She did not name the host, producer or general manager. WBAI is a Pacifica station. Click here for the full story

Letter from Democracy Now! Staff to Pacifica National Board We have just learned that Pacifica has contracted with an off-site, non-union news service to replace the first segment of Democracy Now! This comes after National Programming Director Stephen Yasko and Executive Director Bessie Wash suspended the Democracy Now! Staff without pay˜-for broadcasting off-site. We left WBAI after two attacks -- one physical, one verbal ˆ yet management repeatedly refused to allow us to broadcast from an offsite location. Click here for the full story

Pacifica's Harassment, Defamation and Censorship of Amy Goodman and Democracy Now! 2000/2001 This chronology is not comprehensive but highlights many of the incidents that have become public knowledge. Only a few examples of the scapegoating and disinformation and the sexist and racist comments directed at Goodman are quoted here. Click here for the full story

Robert Farrell, it's Time to Face the Music In recent weeks, Pacifica Foundation director Robert Farrell has signaled his intention to "switch sides" and support the dissident members on the board. Robert Farrell is just as responsible for the mess in LA and New York as Bessie Wash, Ken Ford, and John Murdock (among others). Click here for the full story

National Day of Solidarity With Democracy Now! Amy Goodman and the Democracy Now! team have been suspended without pay for insisting on violence-free workplace. And Democracy Now!, which is being produced from a safe site in lower Manhattan and not Pacifica station WBAI, has been yanked off the air. Click here for the full story

Democracy Now! Update and Action The crisis with Pacifica's flagship national news show, Democracy Now!, has gotten worse. Pacifica management has now suspended Amy Goodman without pay. Incredibly, the Democracy Now! team found this out in the morning newspapers. Click here for the full story

Free Pacifica Benefit in LA Sunday Acclaimed folksinger Dar Williams has joined a line-up of artists performing at a "Musical Garden Party" honoring former Pacifica Radio hosts Roz and Howard Larman and their 30 years of "FolkScene" and former Democracy Now! co-host Juan Gonzalez in support of the Free Pacifica Lawsuits and the Pacifica Campaign. Dar is not new to the Free Pacifica Radio movement, she performed at several benefits in the Bay Area. "That New York station, WBAI, totally radicalized my adolescence," she told the San Francisco Chronicle earlier this year. "I could tune in and find things no one else was playing. The Berkeley station (KPFA) serves the same function." Click here for the full story

Groundbreaking Bilingual Gathering to Reclaim KPFK Progressive activists from Spanish speaking communities across Southern California will gather Saturday, August 25, to make plans to reclaim KPFK 90.7 FM Pacifica Radio. KPFK management has dismantled most of the Spanish-language programming and almost all public affair's show hosts of color have been fired or banned in the last five years. Critics say KPFK management has been unwilling to tap into the resources and needs of the more than three million Latinos in their listening area. Click here for the full story

Democracy Now! Important Update Today's live broadcast of Democracy Now! was yanked off the air by Pacifica and replaced by a tape of an old DN show. This unprecedented action occurred after all-night negotiations between the management and Goodman broke down early this morning. Goodman notified Pacifica yesterday that she could no longer originate the show at WBAI in New York due to the continual intimidation and harassment she was experiencing at the hands of interim station manage Utrice Leid. Click here for the full story

Amy Goodman Physically Accosted On Friday afternoon, Amy Goodman was physically accosted by WBAI Interim General Manger Utrice Leid. According to eyewitnesses, Amy came upon two WBAI staffers rifling through the personal possessions of fired WBAI Program Director Bernard White. Amy objected to the invasion of privacy, and when the two people refused to stop, she went to her office, got her camera, and took a picture of their illegal search. Click here for the full story

Pacifica Campaign News The systematic harassment by Pacifica management against Amy Goodman and her national news show, Democracy Now!, which began more than one year ago, has reached a crisis stage. Click here for the full story

TAKE ACTION! NAHB on August 8 Ken Ford, Vice Chair of the Pacifica National Board, must resign. On July 10th, the Pacifica Campaign kicked off nationwide protests against Ken Ford at 12 affiliate offices of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), the anti-environmental and anti-disability rights group where Ken Ford works. This was on the heels of an email campaign in which thousands of you voiced your opposition to Ford. We are now organizing the next National Day of Action for Wednesday, August 8th. Click here for the full story

PACIFICA CAMPAIGN ACTION ALERT POLK AWARD WINNER ROBERT KNIGHT FIRED, EMERGENCY PICKET SLATED FOR THURSDAY, 5:00-7:00 PM AT WBAI Robert Knight, one of Pacifica Radio's most distinguished news reporters and program producers, was fired by WBAI's interim general manager Utrice Leid last night. Knight went to Pacifica station WBAI in New York City to do his regularly- scheduled Earthwatch show after preparing a tape on the drug war in Tulia, Texas, to find a memo from Leid. The memo reads in part: "This is to inform you that effective Thursday, July 26, your program Earthwatch is canceled. You are no longer a host of this program or any other program at this time. You may not co-host, substitute as host, produce for, or contribute to any other program at this time." Click here for the full story

PACIFICA TRANSCRIPT - JULY 17, 2001 What follows is the transcript of the Alameda County Superior Court proceedings of July 17, 2001 wherein the opposition was denied the opportunity to stack the Board. In it, Amy Goodman is falsely accused of leading a protest in Maine when she was actually in NYC. Click here for the full story

Pacifica Campaign Report Back on the National Association of Home Builders and Pacifica Vice-Chair Ken Ford The growing campaign for free speech and community radio took a dramatic turn this month with a series of coordinated nationwide protests against Pacifica National Board Vice-Chair Ken Ford and his employer the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), the Washington, D.C.-based anti-environmental and anti-disability rights group. Click here for the full story

Downloadable PDF for Wendell Johns/Fannie Mae Action Thurs Downloadable PDF for Wendell Johns/Fannie Mae Action Thurs. July 19th Demonstrations at Fannie Mae offices in Atlanta, DC, Des Moines, Houston, Mnpls, NYC, SF, Seattle Click here to view / download the PDF

MESSAGE TO ALL SUPPORTERS OF THE PACIFICA CAMPAIGN: PACIFICA BOARD SECRETARY ANDREA CISCO HAS RESIGNED Pacifica Board Secretary Andrea Cisco has resigned. She confirmed the move in a conversation this afternoon with Pacifica Campaign activist and fired WBAI Program Director Bernard White. Pacifica board majority lawyer Daly Temchine also notified lawyers for the Pacifica litigants that she was prepared to step down. Technically, the resignation will become effective when the paperwork for a dismissal of all claims against her by the Pacifica litigants -- the Local Advisory Board members, the dissident National Board members and listeners -- has been completed. The plaintiffs from the legal actions have offered to dismiss all claims against the majority Pacifica Board members if they resign by Thursday, July 19, at 5:00pm Click here to download the PDF for printing

Pacifica Campaign News Update and Action: Do the Right Thing: Resign Now! The crisis that has rocked the Pacifica radio network for the last two years can come to an end tomorrow. Judge Sabraw¹s decision yesterday blocking the present board majority from immediately installing new members points the way ahead. The present Pacifica majority needs to do the right thing, to put the future of the Pacifica Radio network first, and to resign. It is the honorable thing to do. Every day that goes by means more damage to the network. Nothing is gained by a few board members desperately clinging to power. Click here for the full story

Statement from Pacifica Litigants We have won an important legal victory today. A California judge has refused to allow the Pacifica Board majority to call an emergency meeting to stack the board with their supporters. Further, one of those nominated, Democratic party stalwart Susan Estrich, withdrew her name following our education campaign. Congratulations to the plaintiffs and the legal team who have been waging the struggle through the California courts. Enclosed is a statement they released today. The Pacifica Campaign will be issuing a statement in the next few days. In the meantime, keep the pressure on the board hijackers!!! Click here for the full story

Pacifica Update and Action. New Letter Writing Campaign Last week, the shrinking, illegitimate majority on the Pacifica Board of Directors made another desperate attempt to forestall the inevitable restoration of the network to listeners, staff and community. Their lead attorney, Daly Temchine, of the anti-union law firm of Epstein, Becker & Green, sent a letter to the California judge overseeing the lawsuits by dissident board members, listeners and Local Advisory Board members. He asked the judge for permission to call an emergency Board meeting on Tuesday, July 17th. Click here for the full story

PACIFICA RESISTANCE MOVEMENT LAUNCHES NONVIOLENT NAVAL STRIKE AGAINST RENEGADE PNB MEMBER KEN FORD Giving a whole new meaning to the phrase "pirate radio," on Friday, July 13, an ad-hoc maritime unit of the Pacifica/WBAI resistance movement launched a twilight seaborne protest action against Ken Ford, vice chair of the Pacifica National Board (PNB) and senior officer of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Click here for the full story

Action Alert for Friday, Saturday and Sunday, July 13-July 15 As a national board member, Andrea Cisco is charged with the stewardship of the organization's interests, assets and name. However, her term on the national board expired in March 2001, yet she refuses to step down. The WBAI Local Advisory Board, which first nominated her to the national board, has also asked her to resign. Please urge Andrea Cisco to resign immediately from the Pacifica Foundation national board. Click here for the full story

AR’s David Barsamian Live in LA : Saturday July 28 David Barsamian is the founder and director of Alternative Radio (www.alternativeradio.org), the award- winning Boulder-based weekly independent program. AR presents information and perspectives that are ignored or distorted in the corporate-controlled media. The one-hour program is broadcast on more than 125 public radio stations around the world. Barsamian is also National Producer of "Making Contact," another weekly radio program. His interviews and articles appear in The Progressive, The Nation, Z and other journals and magazines. Click here for the full story

JULY 10 DAY OF ACTION KICKS OFF NATIONAL CAMPAIGN TO DEMAND THE RESIGNATION OF NAHB MANAGER KEN FORD Tuesday, July 10- Irate citizens demonstrated, picketed, and carried out other peaceful actions in 12 cities around the U.S. in a day of protest that kicked off a national campaign against National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) manager Ken Ford’s continuing presence on the Pacifica National Board. The actions were peaceful, autonomous actions that were locally organized and coordinated by the Pacifica Campaign to Stop the Takeover. Click here for the full story

Exit Only: Ken Ford out of Pacifica As part of the campaign, letters and informational materials linking Ford's actions on the Pacifica Board to union busting, lockouts, mass arrests, censorship, sexism and race baiting were distributed at the Building Industry Association of Southern California in Diamond Bar. Office staff at the BIA refused entry to the activists. They were instructed, instead, to slide the letter and brochure under the door. Click here for the full story and Photo

Action Reminder: Make A Phone Call Please call for the immediate resignation of Andrea Cisco, a diversity consultant, from the Pacifica Radio national board. Let her employers know that she endorses intolerance, racial division, and hate at the Pacifica Radio network and that she is damaging their reputation. Click here for the full story

NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION AGAINST NAHB'S KEN FORD - Pacifica Activists In Over 12 Cities Plan to Protest Please join the Pacifica Campaign LA and others in pushing for the resignation of the new chair of the Pacifica National Board, Ken Ford, who works for the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). We plan to target the NAHB and its affiliates across the country until Ford, who supported the attacks against KPFA, WBAI, and Democracy Now! resigns. Click here for the full story

Pacifica Campaign Update, July 3, 2001 Update on: 1) The pressure campaign against the Pacifica Board 2) Recent agent provocateur-type break-ins 3) Status of a possible negotiated settlement Click here for the full story

Vandalism Follows Event for Ex-Radio Employees GARDEN CITY, N.Y., July 2 At the Cinema Arts Center, vandals stole two safes, damaged computers and scrawled graffiti denouncing the radio station WBAI-FM after a Saturday fund-raiser at the theater that featured an Internet simulcast by fired, banned and exiled employees of the station and their supporters. Click here for the full story

DOES NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF HOMEBUILDERS CARE ABOUT DEMOCRACY? The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) has a track record of fighting environmental protections, consumer protections, and rights for people with disabilities. It is one of the largest US political action committees, based in DC, with 800 affiliated member associations with over 203,000 members. The NAHB spends over $2 million per election cycle to promote candidates that support its pro-business agenda, 70% of which goes to Republicans. Click here for the full story

Pacifica Campaign Update, June 28th, 2001 On June 27, three well-dressed media activists associated with the Los Angeles Pacifica Campaign Group disrupted a cocktail party of a National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) affiliate, the Sales & Marketing Council of Orange County (SMC-OC) at the Marriott Hotel in Irvine, California, in order to protest and educate homebuilders about the Pacifica Crisis. Click here for the full story

NEW LAWSUIT THREAT ISSUED AGAINST PACIFICA PROTEST WEB SITE AS MORE THAN 800,000 LETTERS DEMAND RESIGNATION OF BOARD MEMBER A web site through which listeners have sent more than 800,000 protest emails and faxes has been threatened with legal action by the employer of Ken Ford, vice chair of the Pacifica Foundation. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), employer of Pacifica vice chair Ken Ford, made the threat in an email to Steve Freedkin, operator of the Progressive Portal web site. Click here for the full story

Pacifica Brass Threatens to Bring In the FBI As most of you know, the majority of us have been the targets of a harassing email campaign, threatening letters, and even extortion phone calls regarding our affiliation with Pacifica.If you receive any of these notices going forward or have any of the voicemails, emails or letters, please forward them to me so that we may hand them over to the FBI. We do have federal protection under the RICCO/Computer Fraud statutes. Click here for the full story

Pacifica Campaign Action Alert For Friday, June 15 through Mon. June 18th Our collective action is having results. Please read this background material, or jump below and make as many of the calls as you can and send the suggested email . The people to call are listed in order of priority - if you can only make one call, call the first, etc. Click here for the full story

URGENT MESSAGE TO ALL SUPPORTERS OF THE PACIFICA CAMPAIGN Yesterday evening, two more members of the corporate clique which has hijacked control of the Pacifica Board resigned. They are David Acosta, chairman of the Pacifica Board of Directors, and Karolyn Van Putten, a board member from San Francisco. Along with previous resignations by board member Frank Millspaugh and board treasurer Micheal Palmer, that brings the number of defections from the corporate clique to four since January 31, when I resigned from Democracy Now! and we launched our campaign. Click here for the full story

TWO MORE BOARD MEMBERS RESIGN Board Chair David G. Acosta, CPA of Houston and Board member Karolyn van Putten of the San Francisco Bay Area resigned yesterday (June 12th, 2001). The following memos were distributed to board members last night by Jennifer Spearman, assistant to Pacifica Foundation Executive Director Bessie Wash. Click here for the full story

ACTION ALERT: RETURN 'ALTERNATIVE RADIO' TO AIR Alternative Radio (AR) has been replaced with a program called "New Dimensions," a New Age program for which KPFK pays. When David Barsamian told KPFK General Manager Mark Schubb that he didn't want AR programs used as premiums during the recent spring fund drive, May 16 to May 25, Schubb was less than pleased, and AR was not broadcast during the fund drive, or ever since. Click here for the full story

Pacifica Campaign Update, June 13th, 2001 Fresh from the spring drive fundraising boycott, Pacifica reform activists across the country have launched a spirited campaign targeting the usurpers who temporarily control the Pacifica Board. Just this past weekend pickets were thrown up in Houston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Washington DC. Click here for the full story

WBAI Radio In Exile & Indymedia Centers Bring CLEARWATER FESTIVAL LIVE TO THE WORLD After a few successful LIVE EVENT webcasts, including a congressional forum coverage, www.wbix.org, WBAI RADIO IN EXILE, will be in Croton-on-the-Hudson, N.Y. for a weekend of leading edge radio production, celebration, creative energy and environmental awareness on Sat./Sun. June 16-17, 2001, from 10am to at least 9 pm. Click here for the full story

Ex-KPFK'ers respond to "Letter to Amy Goodman" Just prior to the recently concluded KPFK fund drive, a list of current KPFK staff sent a letter to Amy Goodman regarding her references to the banned and fired at WBAI. Some ex-KPFK'ers have recently sent letter to Amy in response to the one from the present staff. This letter was presented to Amy Goodman by Blase Bonpane, last night (June 10th) in Los Angeles at a National Lawyers Guild dinner when Amy received an award and standing ovation from the Guild. Click here for the full story

Pacifica Campaign News Release, June 10, 2001 In an unprecedented action for U.S. radio, thousands of listeners to the Pacifica Radio network joined a national boycott of Pacifica's spring fundraising drive this past month, prompting a precipitous 20 percent decline in overall financial pledges to the network, say organizers of the campaign. Click here for the full story

Banner Hung at NAHB Headquarters Pacifica Activists Hang Banner on National Association of Home Builders HQ at 14th and M Streets in Washington, DC, across from the Wyndham Hotel. Click here for the full story & photos

URGENT ACTION ALERT - HELP OUST ANOTHER PACIFICA BOARD MEMBER We need your help to put pressure on Ken Ford, vice chair of the board and arguably the rudest, most vehement member of the corporate cabal that has takenm control. Click here for the full story

Pacifica Campaign Action Alert Keep the Pressure On! Demand the Return of Democracy Now! Pacifica station WBAI in New York continues to keep Democracy Now! off the air. Click here for the full story

Billboard Photo An active member of the Pacifica Campaign and the Concerned Friends of WBAI-New Jersey undertook an ambitious billboard project. Privately raising thousands of dollars and coordinating the artwork, copy, and siting of the board, thousands of commuters every day see this message. The billboard is located on Highway 1-9, between the Holland and Lincoln Tunnels, in New Jersey. Click here to view the image

REPORT: The Pacifica Campaign's Thursday, May 24 National Demo/Protest at KPFK 90.7 FM The Pacifica Campaign-L.A. Demo celebrated Democracy Now!'s return to the LA’s airwaves Thursday May 24, the first Democracy Now! edition to be uncensored by KPFK GM Mark Schubb since the fund drive began May 16th. Click here for the full story

WBAI Fundraising Goes in the Tank; Listeners Rally for Democracy Now! WBAI listeners rallied outside the station yesterday afternoon in support of "Democracy Now!" while leaders of the Campaign to Stop the Corporate Takeover of Pacifica claimed success for their fundraising boycott against the embattled Pacifica Network. Click here for the full story

Pacifica management's lies and misrepresentations A Reply to "Pacifica Myths and Realities". Mark Schubb and his associates in, or close to, the management of KPFK-LA recently put up a statement entitled "Pacifica Myths and Realities," which was quickly placed on The Nation magazine's website. The statement is remarkable for the crudity of its apologetics for the Pacifica management. In Schubb's account, whereas the thousands of protesters and hundreds of fired employees never have a reasonable complaint or make a valid point, as with Alexander Solzhenitsyn's Soviet apparatchiks in "We Never Make Mistakes," so also Schubb's Pacifica management never makes mistakes. Click here for the full story

"Listeners' Lawsuit" Report - May 21 The pins & needles waiting for the Judge's rulings after the hearing on May 15th were removed today! At last week's hearing Judge Sabraw took matters under submission. Today he issued his rulings. Click here for the full story

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