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National Day of Outrage for Democracy Now!
Tuesday morning, August 28, 2001
Outside the offices of WBAI at 120 Wall St., New York
Demonstration to demand the return of Democracy Now! to WBAI
DN Staff StatementNote: Use your Back button to return here
Photos
Amy Goodman
DN producers Kris Abrams and Brad Simpson DN engineer Anthony Sloan
Arun & Bob Arun Aguiar, event co-moderator and Concerned Friends outreach committee member & Bob Lederer, fired and banned WBAI producer
John Miller East Timor Action Network, reads statement of support from Jose Ramos Horta, Timorese Nobel Prize laureate
Frances Goldin literary agent for Mumia Abu-Jamal. In a recent phone call to her, Mumia expressed chagrin that Utrice was misrepresenting his family as being upset about his position in support of the movement to take back Pacifica.
Christine Quinn Originator and chief sponsor of Resolution 1723, which calls for endorsement of the platform of Concerned Friends of WBAI -- including returning the fired and banned, removal of illegally imposed management and democratization of Pacifica.
Katherine Freed Manhattan City Councilmember, one of the co-sponsors of Resolution 1723
Rev. Billy calls for divine intervention to drive the demons out of 120 Wall
Miguel Maldonado WBAI LAB Chair
Rasheeda Ismaili longtime artist and activist in the African community and supporter of WBAI. Currently active in organizing a 9/12 national rally in DC against the Pacifica board. (co-moderator of event with Arun Aguiar)
Cleo Silvers Workers to Free Mumia
Valerie Vanissler fired Station ManagerApprox. 9 AM - Supporters on the street
The Meek Are... Protestors Banning Producers Protestors 2 Protestors 3 Protestors 4 Protestors 5
Looking west Looking east Large groupAdditional photos (offsite) at www.pbase.com/jcappy/radio and http://www.wbaiaction.org/artwork/
TO: PACIFICA NATIONAL BOARD
FROM: DEMOCRACY NOW! STAFF
RE: PACIFICA CONTRACTS WITH NON-UNION, OFFSITE SERVICE TO REPLACE DEMOCRACY NOW! NEWS STAFF/HEADLINES
cc: AFTRA
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.In the daily segments which began last Friday and replace Democracy Now!'s headlines, the anchor announces that she is reporting "from the Pacifica newsroom." This is false. The news service is called Feature Story News, and is provided from a remote location.
This is the first time Pacifica has sub-contracted out an entire daily newscast. In addition, they have tried to pass it off as a Pacifica production. Feature Story News‚ clients include Fox News and Voice of America. (Voice of America is the radio propaganda arm of the U.S. government. Its broadcasts are forbidden by law to air in the U.S.)
As we seek protection from a workplace that our union has declared unsafe, we are appalled that Pacifica is blocking our broadcasts and that we have been suspended without pay -only to be replaced by a non-union content-provider, whose politics are anathema to community radio.
All we are asking is that we be able to produce and broadcast Democracy Now! from a safe and secure location until the problems at WBAI are adequately investigated and resolved, and that our suspensions are revoked and our pay re-instated.
Listeners have for years given us their trust, and their money, to produce the only independent, nationally broadcast, grassroots newsmagazine in this country. We owe them no less. We implore you to take immediate action, and restore us to every Pacifica station and affiliate.
Signed,
Amy Goodman, host of Democracy Now!
Kris Abrams, producer of Democracy Now!
Brad Simpson, producer of Democracy Now!
Anthony Sloan, engineer of Democracy Now!Back to WBAI Menu
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