For Immediate Release: Contacts: November 10, 1999 Steve Rendall <mailto:srendall at fair.org>
Rachel Coen, <mailto:rcoen at fair.org>
CounterSpin Once Again Censored by a Pacifica Station
FAIR's national radio show, CounterSpin, was interrupted in mid-show this morning as it aired on WPFW-FM, the Pacifica-owned radio station located in Washington, D.C.
The show, which airs on WPFW between 11:00 and 11:30am, was in progress when host Janine Jackson began to announce an item about the November 1 "reassignment" of Dan Coughlin, the Pacifica Network's news director. Just as Jackson began mentioning the reason for Coughlin's removal -- FAIR's sources indicate he was fired for running a news item about a boycott of Pacifica by several of its affiliated stations -- a musical interlude crudely interrupted the report and continued for 50 seconds, until after the Coughlin item was finished.
Here's a brief transcript of the CounterSpin report effected by WPFW's censorship. The copy that could not be heard by WPFW listeners is indicated in brackets and bolded:
More trouble at the nation's premier independent radio network. On November 1st, Pacifica Radio News Director Dan Coughlin was removed from his job and reassigned as a network consultant. Sources close to the situation at Pacifica say Coughlin was explicitly removed because [of a 30-second item that ran on Pacifica News, about affiliate stations boycotting the network's programming in protest of actions by the national board.
A Pacifica press release dated November 4 doesn't mention the reason for Coughlin's reassignment, but claims the decision was made during Pacifica's recent board meeting in Texas. The release does not say if the board actually participated in the decision.
Indeed, CounterSpin has also learned that a debate within Pacifica's national board has at least one member claiming the board was not involved in the decision, and demanding the action be reversed and Coughlin reinstated as news director.
Pacifica's Executive Director Lynn Chadwick has not returned our call and Dan Coughlin was not available for comment.] The censorship continued until first sentence of next item was read.
Today's episode marks the fifth time in 1999 that CounterSpin's broadcast has been altered or withheld by Pacifica stations. In April, the Los Angeles-based KPFK pulled the entire CounterSpin show, which included an interview with then recently fired broadcaster Larry Bensky. On WPFW, the same show was interrupted by music which continued throughout the show's normal timeslot.
In July, a CounterSpin broadcast on KPFK was interrupted following an interview with Pacifica critics J. Imani and Norman Solomon when KPFK general manager Mark Schubb came on the air and spent the duration of CounterSpin's time slot commenting on Pacifica issues and taking calls from listeners. On WPFW that same show was pulled entirely.
"CounterSpin is a show of media analysis and criticism. That's what we do," commented CounterSpin co-host and distributor Peter Hart. "The Coughlin removal is a news story, and for WPFW to bleep it out is censorship. Over the years, CounterSpin has aired dozens of unflattering reports about NPR, and not once has CounterSpin been censored by any of the NPR affiliates that carry the show."
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