FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: MARCH 9, 2001
Place: Association of Legal Aid Attorneys, 568 Broadway, Room 702A (Prince and Broadway) in Lower Manhattan Time & Date: Monday, March 12th, 11:00 a.m.
Contact: Concerned Friends of WBAI: Ursula Ruedenberg, 917-913-0752; www.wbaiaction.org Pacifica Campaign, (646) 230-9588 Background: www.savepacifica.net
CENSORED CONGRESSMAN AND ELECTED OFFICIALS TO HOLD PRESS CONFERENCE
New York, NY: Congressman Major Owens (Brooklyn, 11th District) will appear at a press conference Monday, March 12th, to denounce what he said was *the weird and frightening experience of being gagged by a radio-station manager in my own home city of New York.* The Congressman will be joined by city-council officials along with Larry Adams, President of Local 300/National Postal Mail Handlers Union, WBAI producer Ken Nash and fired WBAI producer Mimi Rosenberg.
Speaking Thursday on the floor of the House of Representatives, Owens spoke of the need to protect open and free media in New York. He linked the Christmas take-over at Pacifica station WBAI (99.5 FM) intimately to this struggle. *The survival of WBAI is vital for the entire movement seeking more access to the airways. The bully monopolies of commercial radio provide the continuing roadblocks.*
Last Monday, Congressman Owens was interrupted without warning and pulled off the air when he called in as a guest on WBAI. Speaking on *Building Bridges: Your Community and Labor Report,* co-hosted by Mimi Rosenberg and Ken Nash, Owens was several minutes into a discussion on recent changes at the listener-sponsored station when WBAI's interim general manager came into the master control studio and seized the mic.
Later, Congressman Owens said he was *outraged, and caught without any explanation or apology.* He said he was hoping to talk about independent media when the interim general manager took over. *Building Bridges,* WBAI's only labor show, was cancelled on the spot when co-host Nash defied the interruption.
The late-December, midnight take-over of WBAI by the parent foundation Pacifica has created a storm of controversy. Locks were changed, veteran staffers were fired and banned and security guards have been installed at the station. A gag rule has been imposed, and access to the station continues to be restricted. Critics say the take-over represents Pacifica management's nearly 10-year effort to corporatize and alter the political content of the 52-year-old community-supported network. ###