Brothers and Sisters,
The following press release just went out to the media as of a few minutes ago. I have attached it as a word file as well as printed it below in the body of this email. We need to make a strong showing at this demonstration, so please make your best effort to be there.
Here is all the information:
For Immediate Release For Further Information Contact: Steve Miller 419-842-7847 day 419-242-7317 evening
LOCAL GROUP CONFRONTS MEDIA
TOLEDO, OH. - On Wednesday, December 19th, at 3:45 p.m., members and friends of the Northwest Ohio Peace Coalition (NWOPC) will challenge local media to cover the underreported story of civilian casualties among the Afghani population from the "war against terrorism." Members of the NWOPC will converge on The Blade newspaper building and WTOL-Channel 11 TV's headquarters in downtown Toledo with graphic photographs of Afghani civilians killed by U.S. bombings. They will present the photos along with news articles from U.S. and foreign press reporting casualties, which have not been reported or only sparsely mentioned by local and national media. The action will begin at the Toledo Blade, 541 N. Superior St. in Toledo, and end at WTOL's facility located at Summit and Cherry Streets.
Members of the NWOPC question why authoritative reports of Afghani civilian deaths have been almost wholly missing from mainstream media of the Afghanistan war, when credible reportage reveals that 3,500 or more Afghan civilians have perished from deliberate or accidental U.S. military strikes. Additional photos and a variety of articles will be available in a press kit and distributed to the Toledo media.
One of the members of the group, Steve Miller said, "What happened on September 11 was an unspeakable tragedy. But the anonymous deaths of Afghani civilians, reported in the media as 'collateral damage' when they are mentioned at all, only compounds the tragedy and makes it difficult for Americans to have a fully-informed opinion of the war." Miller continued, "Viewers following mainstream media receive the overriding impression that all deaths are of supporters of Bin Laden, which is simply untrue. We need to know about innocent people dying on both sides of this conflict."
Another NWOPC spokesperson, Amjad Doumani, suggested that the news blackout is not accidental. "The Pentagon pays over a million dollars a month to tie up media access to the aerial photos from a private-sector satellite which could reveal damage and bodies to a resolution of about 3 feet in length. This is a major story in itself. We want to know why the U.S. press isn't clamoring to cover things fairly and fully, because that's been a hallmark of American journalism."
The Northwest Ohio Peace Coalition is a group of concerned citizens who have been actively advocating and lobbying for a reasoned response to the World Trade Center and Pentagon tragedies of September 11th, 2001.
Endorsed by: Green Party of Northwest Ohio Interfaith Justice & Peace Center St. Rose Peace & Justice Committee Toledo Metropolitan Mission Witness For Peace Great Lakes
Amjad NWOPC (North West Ohio Peace Coalition) http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nwopc -- Yoshie
* Calendar of Anti-War Events in Columbus: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html> * Anti-War Activist Resources: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/activist.html> * Student International Forum: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/> * Committee for Justice in Palestine: <http://www.osu.edu/students/CJP/>