Working on this new server in php7...
imc indymedia

Los Angeles Indymedia : Activist News

white themeblack themered themetheme help
About Us Contact Us Calendar Publish RSS
Features
latest news
best of news
syndication
commentary


KILLRADIO

VozMob

ABCF LA

A-Infos Radio

Indymedia On Air

Dope-X-Resistance-LA List

LAAMN List




IMC Network:

Original Cities

www.indymedia.org africa: ambazonia canarias estrecho / madiaq kenya nigeria south africa canada: hamilton london, ontario maritimes montreal ontario ottawa quebec thunder bay vancouver victoria windsor winnipeg east asia: burma jakarta japan korea manila qc europe: abruzzo alacant andorra antwerpen armenia athens austria barcelona belarus belgium belgrade bristol brussels bulgaria calabria croatia cyprus emilia-romagna estrecho / madiaq euskal herria galiza germany grenoble hungary ireland istanbul italy la plana liege liguria lille linksunten lombardia london madrid malta marseille nantes napoli netherlands nice northern england norway oost-vlaanderen paris/Île-de-france patras piemonte poland portugal roma romania russia saint-petersburg scotland sverige switzerland thessaloniki torun toscana toulouse ukraine united kingdom valencia latin america: argentina bolivia chiapas chile chile sur cmi brasil colombia ecuador mexico peru puerto rico qollasuyu rosario santiago tijuana uruguay valparaiso venezuela venezuela oceania: adelaide aotearoa brisbane burma darwin jakarta manila melbourne perth qc sydney south asia: india mumbai united states: arizona arkansas asheville atlanta austin baltimore big muddy binghamton boston buffalo charlottesville chicago cleveland colorado columbus dc hawaii houston hudson mohawk kansas city la madison maine miami michigan milwaukee minneapolis/st. paul new hampshire new jersey new mexico new orleans north carolina north texas nyc oklahoma philadelphia pittsburgh portland richmond rochester rogue valley saint louis san diego san francisco san francisco bay area santa barbara santa cruz, ca sarasota seattle tampa bay tennessee urbana-champaign vermont western mass worcester west asia: armenia beirut israel palestine process: fbi/legal updates mailing lists process & imc docs tech volunteer projects: print radio satellite tv video regions: oceania united states topics: biotech

Surviving Cities

www.indymedia.org africa: canada: quebec east asia: japan europe: athens barcelona belgium bristol brussels cyprus germany grenoble ireland istanbul lille linksunten nantes netherlands norway portugal united kingdom latin america: argentina cmi brasil rosario oceania: aotearoa united states: austin big muddy binghamton boston chicago columbus la michigan nyc portland rochester saint louis san diego san francisco bay area santa cruz, ca tennessee urbana-champaign worcester west asia: palestine process: fbi/legal updates process & imc docs projects: radio satellite tv
printable version - js reader version - view hidden posts - tags and related articles

It's Official, the LA Weekly is Ben Austin's personal public relations firm

by Robert D. Skeels Friday, Feb. 11, 2011 at 11:20 PM
rdsathene@sbcglobal.net 90026

How Jill Stewart's masseuse and porn ad pennysaver -- The LA Weekly -- has taken yellow journalism to new heights with its fanatical coverage of the corporate astroturf group Parent Revolution's school privatization pogroms in Compton.

"There's nothing the matter with teachers that a little less unionization and more COMPETITION couldn't cure." — Ann Coulter (racist reactionary right wing pundit)

"It would force the district to learn how to run great schools by forcing them to COMPETE." — Ben Austin (Executive Director LAPU/PR)

Defend Public Schools from Corporate Charter-Voucher Charlatans Caroline Grannan's latest brilliant article exposing the nightmare caused by pariah Ben Austin and his band of paid organizers trying to establish corporate charters in Compton is Powerful "Parent" Trigger operators target vulnerable school; attack misfires. In it she links to yet another of right-wing reactionary journalist Patrick McDonald's cheerleading pieces for the Walton Foundation and Gates Foundation funded corporate charter front group Parent Revolution.

One of the lies in McDonald's article, discussing the foppish millionaire from Benedict Canyon and his paid staffers, was so egregious, I was compelled to write an open letter.

Open Letter Re: Parent Trigger Showdown in Compton Gets Increasingly Heavy; Jerry Brown, Kamala Harris, and Barack Obama M.I.A.?

(By the way LA Weekly have begun moderating their comments and won't allow any evidence against Parent Revolution to be posted on their site.)

Mr. McDonald:

In your Jan 24, 2011 piece you write: "McKinley Parents for Change, a parent group that arose late last year, after the Parent Trigger effort had gathered enough signatures to take over McKinley, is demanding that the signatures gathered in 2010 be honored."

That's absurd and incredulous! You know as well as I do that McKinley Parents for Change is a fake group formed out of Austin's office. You saw my articles and emails attesting to that. Is that how right-wing libertarian reporting works, ignore well documented facts that don't support your ideological goals? Or is it that you think Parent Revolutions' own Yuritzy Anaya was lying to me when she explained how that group was founded?

Update on the veracity of McKinley Parents for Change

Do you recall my email to you on Dec 17, 2010 where I wrote:

As a long time social justice writer, public education advocate, and immigrant rights activist I’m not fearful to search for the truth. As soon as a Compton parent sent along a copy of the fake McKinley Parents for Change flyer via a substitute teacher, I called the number and left a message. Yuritzy Anaya of Parent Revolution called me the next morning, spoke with me, and told me that their Deputy Director Gabe Rose created the flyer.

Also, why no LA Weekly coverage on how Gibson Dunn & Crutcher's Danielle Katzir mysteriously dropped off "Parent Revolution's" board as soon as Austin's lawsuit was announced? Conflict of interest much?

http://www.gibsondunn.com/Lawyers/dkatzir

I left her voicemail today to see if she withdrew from their board for obvious reasons related to conflict of interest. However, her Gibson Dunn & Crutcher biography still lists her as being a board member for LAPU/PR. To wit:

Ms. Katzir serves on the firm's Los Angeles-Area Diversity
Committee. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the
Los Angeles Junior Chamber of Commerce and the Los
Angeles Parents Union...
She also works closely with Green Dot Charter Schools and
the Los Angeles Parents Union in their collective efforts to
implement statewide education policy reforms, including,
most recently, representing them in connection with the
"Parent Empowerment" legislation, signed into California law
in January, 2010.

It's in the public's interest that such facts be reported on.

Mr. McDonald your paper is well known for yellow journalism, but your own articles clearly show that your no stranger to that either.

Contemptuously

Robert D. Skeels

Report this post as:
Share on: Twitter, Facebook, Google+

add your comments


© 2000-2018 Los Angeles Independent Media Center. Unless otherwise stated by the author, all content is free for non-commercial reuse, reprint, and rebroadcast, on the net and elsewhere. Opinions are those of the contributors and are not necessarily endorsed by the Los Angeles Independent Media Center. Running sf-active v0.9.4 Disclaimer | Privacy