Today's Democracy Now! Pulled off the Air : LA IMC

Today's Democracy Now! Pulled off the Air

Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2001 at 9:27 AM

Today's live broadcast of Democracy Now! was yanked off the air by Pacifica and replaced by a tape of an old DN show.

errorFrom: Juan Gonzalez
Subject: Democracy Now! Important Update

Tuesday, August 14, 2001

Friends,

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.

She offered instead to originate the program from Downtown Community Television (DCTV) in Lower Manhattan until management could assure her a safe working environment, and she proceeded to do just that this morning. The originating of programming - national and local -- from remote locations is not unheard of. Gary Null's Natural Living and Armand DiMele's Positive Mind show originate in other locations and are fed to WBAI for broadcast.

But Pacifica lawyers, who had not responded to numerous letters and complaints from Amy about the increasing harassment she had faced in recent weeks, refused yesterday to either guarantee her a safe work environment or agree to allow her to broadcast from someplace else.

The escalating harassment against Goodman included an incident last Friday where Leid physically shoved her during a heated discussion; the removal of Democracy Now! from the main production studio of WBAI, continued on-air personal attacks on Amy by staff members close to Leid, racist and sexist remarks by staff members that are not censured by management, even slanderous statements about Goodman that continue to appear on Pacifica's official web page.

No one should be forced to work under such conditions, and certainly not the host of the most popular news program in Pacifica's history.

Democracy Now! did air today in a few locations. Pacifica's KPFA in Berkeley aired it at 9:00 am Pacific time today and WMNF in Tampa aired it at noon. If you want to listen to the show, it will be posted to http://www.wbix.org.

But hundreds of thousands of loyal Democracy Now! listeners were denied the show by a Pacifica management that is growing more irrational and desperate with each day.

Please take action today. If you are a listener in a Pacifica affiliate station, call the Pacifica headquarters to complain at 202-588-0999. If you are in one of the five Pacifica listening areas call your local station - WBAI at 212-209-2800, KPFK in Los Angeles at 818-985-2711, KPFT in Houston at 713-526-4000, WPFW in Washington DC at 202-588-0999, and KPFA in Berkeley at 510-848-6767.

Also, contact the people listed below.

Venceremos,

Juan Gonzalez
****************************
CONTACT INFO

Stop the Harassment of Democracy Now! Resign Now!

Please call, fax and/or e-mail the following individuals. Please contact as many times as you feel necessary for your voice to be heard. You can make one phone call a day over the next five days or five today. Your phone calls are important. Keep the message simple and straightforward.

WBAI Acting GM Utrice Leid
Tel: 212-209-2800/2820
Fax: 212-747-1698
E-mail: uleid@escape.com

Pacifica Executive Director Bessie Wash
Tel: 202-588-0999 x 348 or 888-770-4944 x348
Fax: 202-588-0561
E-mail: bmwpacifica@aol.com

Pacifica Board Vice Chair Ken Ford
Tel: 202-822-0228
Fax: 202-822-0369
E-mail: kenfordpacifica@aol.com, kford@nahb.com

Pacifica Board member Wendell L. Johns
Tel: 202-752-5355
Fax: 202-752-4281
E-mail: wendell_L_johns@fanniemae.com

Pacifica Board member Valrie Chambers
Tel: 361-825-6012
Fax: 281-655-0266
E-mail: Valrie.Chambers@mail.tamucc.edu,
valriechambers@aol.com

Cut the below list of email addresses, paste it into the To: line of your email composition form. Also go to:
http://www.progressiveportal.org/letters/pacifica/resign/Bmwpacifica@aol.com, uleid@escape.com, kford@nahb.com, KenFordPacifica@aol.com, jmurdock@ebglaw.com, wendell_L_johns@fanniemae.com, Alfigo@aol.com, valriechambers@aol.com, Valrie.Chambers@mail.tamucc.edu, jhoward@nahb.com,
bsmith@nahbofficer.com, pacificacampaign@yahoo.com

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Today's Democracy Now! Pulled off the Air