This just in ...
A Los Angeles forum at which the Amy Goodman, Juan Gonzalez and Bernard White are speaking tonight is filled to capacity; every seat in the 1200 seat venue is occupied. An intense lobbying effort by both KPFK staff and management, as well as Pacifica management, attempted to derail the event. This included pressuring panelists and sponsors to withdraw.
This is by far the most well-attended event on the Pacifica crisis in Los Angeles to date, and signals a geometric leap in awareness and activism of the issue.
Ramona Ripston of the Southern California ACLU, who was to moderate, withdrew, as did one of the panelists, Dominique Di Prima, whose program airs on the commercial station "The Beat"
Los Angeles City Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg agreed to moderate the panel in place of Ms. Ripston. Ms. Goldberg is the first openly lesbian candidate to gain election to the LA City council. Her brother, attorney Art Goldberg, is an active member of the National Lawyers guild, which is one of the events co-sponsors.
The Los Angeles chapter of the National Lawyers Guild has a long- running program on KPFK . Indications are that the program may be cancelled in retaliation. KPFK has been under a strict gag rule since the coup of January 1995, and more than 150 paid and unpaid staff have been removed, and at least a dozen people have been banned.
Additionally, persons who express criticism of management of KPFK in other venues have also been sanctioned. In 1999, a KPFK reporter, Robin Urevich, was banned after she wrote a critical article in a community newspaper.
Lyn
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