NP Pacifica/WBAI related [FAIR-L] MEDIA ADVISORY: Award-Winning Reporter Resigns On-Air from Pacifica

[Doug Millison]

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>                                  FAIR-L
>                     Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting
>                Media analysis, critiques and news reports
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>MEDIA ADVISORY:
>Award-Winning Reporter Resigns On-Air from Pacifica;
>Calls for Campaign to Oust Network Leadership
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>January 31, 2001
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>In a dramatic on-air announcement, Juan Gonzalez, the co-host of the
>Pacifica Radio Network show "Democracy Now!," resigned this morning from the
>network. Citing harassment and muzzling of free speech, Gonzalez said that
>"the current management situation at Pacifica has become intolerable...the
>last straw being the Christmas Coup at this station, WBAI, last month"- a
>reference to the recent unexplained firings and bannings of top staff.
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>"I've come to the conclusion that the Pacifica board has been hijacked by a
>small clique that has more in common with modern-day corporate vultures than
>with working-class America," Gonzalez said.
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>Addressing his co-host at Democracy Now!, Amy Goodman, Gonzalez continued:
>"You are a wonderful and committed journalist and you have been subjected to
>slanderous personal accusations and constant undermining of your efforts.
>And the board of Pacifica has tolerated it and, I think, even encouraged
>this."
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>Gonzalez ended his on-air resignation by announcing a "national corporate
>campaign" to oust the Pacifica Foundation's embattled new board leadership,
>which he accused of "illegally chang[ing] the Foundation's bylaws." He said
>the campaign would call on listeners, instead of donating to Pacifica, to
>contribute money to groups challenging the board's legitimacy and working to
>democratize the network.
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>Gonzalez said the current leadership group "does not respect free speech; it
>does not respect labor or civil rights; it doesn't even practice due process
>for its own managers."
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>Pacifica's Washington, D.C. station, WPFW, censored most of Gonzalez's
>statement, cutting away to taped programming.
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>Gonzalez, who has co-hosted "Democracy Now!" since 1996, is a staff
>columnist with the New York Daily News. He has won numerous awards,
>including a George Polk award. His latest book is "Harvest of Empire: A
>History of Latinos in America" (Viking 2000). He was a founding member of
>the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.
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>FAIR executive director Jeff Cohen commented: "Juan Gonzalez exemplifies the
>best in the Pacifica tradition-a journalist who tells the stories of the
>powerless and holds the powerful to account. As the two-year-long Pacifica
>crisis worsens and the network's survival is seriously in question, FAIR
>joins Gonzalez in calling for the national board leadership to step down.
>Whatever these individuals' intentions, unless there is a prompt and
>thorough transformation in Pacifica's national leadership, it is impossible
>to see Pacifica fulfilling its unique, historical mission."
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>For more information about Gonzalez and the campaign, call (212) 871-9322 or
>email pacificacampaign at yahoo.com.

[snip Gonzalez's letter of resignation]

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