cj#970!> NWO / Dept of Benevolent Silence

1999-07-30

Richard Moore

Dear cj,

For some reason, the cj#'s jumped down from #969 to #770 back on the 4th of
July.  I guess they were declaring their digital independence.  With this
post, I've persuaded them to be more cooperative.

Below are four items about censorship, one about KPFA, another from
Pakistan, one involving the NY Times, and another involving a Chinese
cyberspace attack on Canadian service providers.

I've been a KPFA listener since the sixties, and it has provided a unique
counter-voice in the San Francisco Bay Area to the deluge of all-the-same
media disinformation.  The station has survived many previous attacks, and
it is sad to learn that its demise seems to imminent.

regards,
rkm

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Date: Thu, 29 Jul 1999 18:51:05 -0700
From: Daniel del Solar <•••@••.•••>
To: NolanHarvard Bowie <•••@••.•••>
Bcc: rkm
Subject: [Fwd: Pacifica's Assault on KPFA]

THE  classic line at a time like this is,

"what is to be done?" or, "Que hacer?"

I've been a producer, subscriber, and listener, for 28 years at KPFA and
other Pacifica stations. I think it is a real challenge and would like
to hear what you think are good options, good things to do.

I hope this finds you well.

Daniel

---fwd message---
Date: Thu, 29 Jul 1999 06:53:37 -0700
From: Norman Solomon <•••@••.•••>
To: •••@••.•••

ASSAULT ON RADIO STATION RAISES KEY ISSUES

By Norman Solomon

It could become a notable media crime of the century -- the killing of the
strongest progressive radio station in the United States. Or it may turn
out to be a case of attempted murder, ultimately averted by the determined
struggle of a vibrant 50-year-old named KPFA.

With its back against the wall, the nation's first listener-supported radio
station is fighting for its life. Days ago, sources confirmed what many
supporters of KPFA Radio have suspected for a long time: KPFA's parent
company, the Pacifica Foundation, is moving toward sale of the station.

The foundation could gain $60 million or more from such a sale. But the
loss to much of Northern California -- which has received the unique
political and cultural offerings of the Berkeley-based station since 1949
-- would be incalculable.

KPFA has overcome many big obstacles. During the McCarthy era,
pseudo-patriotic zealots tried to shut it down. Financial problems and
internal strife often afflicted the fiercely independent station while its
unabashed leftist politics and diverse cultural programs clashed with the
mainstream mush dominating the radio band.

With escalating ruthlessness in recent months, the Pacifica Foundation
which also owns noncommercial radio stations in Los Angeles, Houston, New
York City and Washington -- has subjected KPFA's staff to repeated attacks
on free speech. Journalists have been harassed and fired for the content of
their on-air reports. One evening in mid-July, longtime staffers were among
more than 50 people arrested for "trespassing" at the station after
management interrupted a newscast in mid-sentence and imposed a lockout.

According to a spokesperson for Pacifica board chair Mary Frances Berry,
last Tuesday night she "emphatically denied" that selling KPFA is "an
option being seriously considered." But the next day, the latest deception
fell apart.

"I take no pleasure in being here today," board member Pete Bramson told a
news conference Wednesday afternoon, "but I cannot remain silent while
Pacifica's national board holds serious discussions in secret about selling
KPFA." In fact, during a phone meeting of the national Pacifica board --
only hours before Berry's denial on Tuesday -- the board vice chair had
proposed taking out a $5 million loan against the value of KPFA's license.
And, as Bramson noted, the proposal involved "selling the KPFA frequency,
which has an estimated value of $65-$75 million."

In the tradition of gutsy whistleblowers, Bramson spoke openly about the
private meeting. He provided chilling details of a discussion in which
leaders of the board talked about selling a precious and beloved radio
station as if it were a tract of barren real estate.

"We do need our radio station back," Bramson said at the Berkeley news
conference. "I call publicly on my fellow board members to do the right
thing and give KPFA back to its community." Such pleas resonate with people
across the country who have often lost their favorite radio stations to
gradual corporatization or outright sale.

Last Wednesday evening, with tensions soaring still higher and a mass
demonstration set to fill the streets of Berkeley on Saturday, it appeared
that Pacifica chair Berry was suddenly beginning to offer some concessions.
The details were murky as the station's thousands of active supporters
waited to see her offer in writing.

But one overarching reality remained clear: Whether or not KPFA's staff
would be back inside the station's building on Martin Luther King Jr. Way
at the start of August, the key issues of the huge dispute were sure to
remain.

Can KPFA revive its tradition of free speech and fearless challenge to
corporate power on the air? Can the station, after half a century, turn
back the authoritarian forces eager to crush its most vibrant
characteristics?

The answers that emerge from the struggle to save KPFA are sure to
reverberate far beyond the range of the station's transmitters. Several
decades ago, across America, the noncommercial portion of the FM band was
explicitly set aside for the public -- but few of the radio stations that
call themselves "listener supported" have been willing to open their
decision- making process to direct community participation.

Public radio's evocations of democratic values on the airwaves are
undermined when stations treat democracy as a concept that should not
intrude past their own front doors. In such a context, the governance of
the medium is the message.

________________________________________________

Norman Solomon is a syndicated columnist. His latest book is "The Habits of
Highly Deceptive Media."

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From: •••@••.••• ()  [Pakistan]
To: •••@••.••• (Richard K. Moore)
Date: Thu, 29 Jul 1999 23:33:00 +0000
MIME-Version: 1.0
Subject: (Fwd) Editor banned from writing, reporter threatened
CC: •••@••.•••

------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
Date: Thu, 29 Jul 1999 08:25:31 -0700 (PDT)
From: Beena Sarwar <•••@••.•••>

July 28

Editor banned from writing, reporter threatened

When the confrontation between Jang-News and the government eased in late
February, Dr Maleeha Lodhi, the editor of The News (Rawalpindi-Islamabad),
one of the whose sacking was sought by official authorities, was asked by
the management to exercise caution in her writings.

In April however, the management requested her not to write critical pieces
under her own name for the time being. In May when she wrote a piece on the
governments crackdown on The Friday Times and detention without trial of
its editor, the management stopped her from publishing this. That piece was
subsequently published in The Friday Times.

Thereafter, the management told her the only way it had managed to resist
the government's demand to sack her was to offer the assurance that she
would not write signed pieces until she mended her relations with the Prime
Minister.

This implicitly meant that she could now only write under her byline if the
government so permitted by signaling that relations had been mended.
Prevented from writing in the paper she edits since April 1999, Dr Lodhi
has since then been writing for weekly and monthly publications which are
not part of the newspaper group she works for.

There has been no official statement in this regard, nor has the government
contradicted the reports and comments appearing in other newspapers (eg.
Dawn) about the ban on Dr Lodhis writing. However, when questioned,
government officials privately fend off criticism by saying that if Dr
Lodhi has a problem with her Publisher, that is not their fault. However,
Dr Lodhi points out that if such a problem existed, she would hardly have
been entrusted with not only bringing out an entire newspaper but also
managing its editorial pages and policies, and even writing editorials (eg.
the one below).

Dr Lodhi is not the only member of the News staff in Pindi-Islamabad to be
threatened. Frequently in the last six months, Nadeem Malik, senior
economic correspondent of The News, has  been harassed by intelligence
sleuths and anonymous callers. The most serious incidents occurred in
January 1999 when on two successive nights, unidentified people tried to
break into his house but ran away when he and his family raised an alarm. A
similar incident also took place during the day on  February 15, 1999 at
11.30 a.m.  On other occasions he has been chased and stopped by what he
believes are intelligence sleuths as they kept trying to interrogate him.

More recently, including in the last several days following a number of
stories filed by him on the state of Pakistan's economy, especially about
Islamabad's problems with the IMF, this pattern of official intimidation
has revived. On successive nights in the week starting July 13, 1999
anonymous telephone calls have been received coinciding with an official
blacklisting of Mr. Malik by the Finance Ministry. Mr. Malik believes the
offending story that might have led to the ongoing campaign of harassment
concerned an analysis by him on how economic weakness had forced Islamabad
to bow to international pressure for the withdrawal of Kashmiri fighters
from Kargil.

Mr. Nadeem Malik apprehends that his personal safety is under threat. He
fears that his house may be broken into as threats that he has received on
the phone may translate into actions such as these.

Editorial in The News, July 26 1999

since editorials are not signed, Dr Lodhi is allowed to write in this space
Press under fire

Many high-profile cases of intimidation and harassment of renowned
journalists and their organisations drew domestic and international
criticism of the government this year. Less noticed, though equally
appalling, has been the state of the press working outside the mainstream
national media.

Last week, the news editor of a Sindhi daily, Kawish, was arrested by the
Kotri police, forcing journalists to take to the streets in protest in
Moro.  This was not an isolated incident. Reports of one or the other
Sindhi daily or weekly being suspended and its editor taken into custody
regularly appear in newspapers. The troubled city of Karachi, where many of
Pakistan's publications are based, makes the job of journalists even more
demanding as private mafias are as interested in getting a favourable press
as the government. Elsewhere in the country, unless they 'cooperate' with
the administrative and political hierarchy, journalists at the local level
are likely to face their wrath usually on the pretext of anti-state
activities or one of the many laws used to curb the freedom of expression.

The role of Pakistan's vernacular press, especially the Sindhi-language
publications and small papers in many towns of Punjab, in giving voice to
the people at the local level is little acknowledged. This small-town press
has, by and large, been a messenger of authentic public sentiments at the
grassroots. And doing this job scrupulously often means inviting the fury
of local administrations and other segments whose interests are hurt by
independent reporting and dissenting views.  Anti-press measures targeting
lesser known journalists in so-called "remote" areas and small towns often
do not elicit the same response at home and abroad as we see in instances
of national media figures and their publications. Yet protecting their
rights by actively supporting them is crucial to Pakistans political
development. Given recent events, it is not surprising that the example of
intolerance set at the national level has been impacting at the local level
by fostering the same behaviour of officials towards journalists. That is
why so many incidents have come to light of harassment of pressmen across
the country in smaller towns and cities. These cases must not lose our
attention and support. The principle of freedom of expression is universal
and needs to be protected at all places. (ends)

Beena Sarwar,
Editor (The News on Sunday)
13-Sir Agha Khan Road, Lahore (Pakistan)
Ph: 9242 6304745 Fax: 9242 637-1335
Do You Yahoo!?
Free instant messaging and more at http://messenger.yahoo.com


--------------------------------------------------------
Imagine a World where All Women Enjoy their Human Rights

creed  (http://sangat.org/creed)
citizens alliance in reforms for efficient and equitable development
44 Darulaman Society 7/8    Sharea Faisel    Karachi  PAKISTAN
ph (9221) 453-0668  452-8884  499-0566  fax 454-9219 499-0566 777-2752

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From: •••@••.•••
Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1999 11:42:48 EDT
To: •••@••.•••
Subject: [actionalerts] DEVELOPING NEWS!!! NY TIMES HOLDS BACK NEW GERTH
STORY ON CITIBANK AND CHINA

From: •••@••.•••

From: "Peter Murray" <•••@••.•••>

    TAKE ACTION!!!!    PLEASE CIRCULATE!!!!!
======================================
Write NY TIMES!!!!  EMAIL ADDY: •••@••.•••
Tell them to RELEASE Gerth/Citibank Report!!!!!!
======================================
NY TIMES HOLDS BACK NEW GERTH STORY ON CITIBANK AND CHINA

**Exclusive**

The DRUDGE REPORT has learned that the NEW YORK TIMES is holding back a new
blockbuster report that details how a New York City bank has been slow to
cooperate with various federal investigations looking into money transfers
from China to individuals suspected of passing cash to the Democratic
National Committee.

According to publishing sources, NEW YORK TIMES star reporter Jeff Gerth
filed his story last Friday. And publication of the report has now been
bumped from Saturday to Sunday to Monday...to one day.

"It is a big story, and its fair to say that the editors are nervous," one
newspaper source explained early on Monday. "And sure, CITIBANK is a huge
advertiser."

The exclusive report details how CITIBANK has failed to cooperate with
various law enforcement officials in the China case. Investigators have
subpoenaed bank account records of suspected money runners. CITIBANK has
balked at providing any such records, according to the report, citing,
among other things, a "language barrier" problem with its Hong Kong office.

[CITIBANK also claimed the twelve hour time differential between New York
and Hong Kong has led to communication difficulties.]

One congressional committee investigating the cash transfers from China is
now threatening to subpoena individuals from CITIBANK to explain the lack
of cooperation.

China's alleged money laundering scheme has been on Gerth's radar for months.

"[Gerth] filed a solid story, that was very well sourced," one TIMES
insider said of the Pulitzer Prize winner. "No one really knows why it
hasn't run."

---<snip>---

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Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999 09:36:55 -0400 (EDT)
To: •••@••.•••
From: Cyber Rights <•••@••.•••>
Subject: Canadian ISP's Under Attack in Internet War (Canada/China)

Sender: John Walker <•••@••.•••>

The CSS Internet News (tm) is a daily e-mail publication that
has been providing up to date information to Netizens since 1996.
Subscription information is available at:

http://www.bestnet.org/~jwalker/inews.htm

or send an e-mail to •••@••.••• with

---<snip----

Canadian ISP's Under Attack in Internet War (Canada/China)

Hamilton, Ontario Internet service provider experiences Denial of
Service attacks after hosting Falundafa site.

by John Walker
CSS Internet News
http://www.bestnet.org/~jwalker
Tuesday, 27 July 99

The Falundafa site was transferred to Bestnet Internet Inc late last
night after another Canadian ISP which had been hosting the site
could no longer cope with the continual attacks.

Eric Weigel, Director of Bestnet Internet Inc. said in an interview
today that the site was up at Bestnet by about 10:00 P.M. EST last
night and the Denial of Service attacks began within an hour.

Bestnet is one of several ISP's mirroring the sect's site after it
was banned by the Government of China.

System logs show attacks originating from The Information Service
Center of XinAn, Beijing, China, and other locations in China.

One ISP reports that "It is not just my machine under attack it is
many machines from all over the US and Canada many of which are .edu
(educational) sites."

Mr. Weigel says "Bestnet will attempt to continue hosting the site in
spite of attacks from individuals or governments. That's what we do."

A regime that attempts to stifle free speech on the 'Net is bound to
fail. A site that is banned in one country can be mirrored on
hundreds of servers all over the world in just hours.

This is one of the great strengths of the Internet.

Links:

Falundafa

http://www.falundafa.ca

Bestnet Internet Inc.

http://www.bestnet.org

Asia Pacific Information Center

http://www.apnic.net/db

Eric Wiegel, Director Bestnet Internet Inc.

•••@••.•••

---<snip----

           Posted by Andrew Oram  - •••@••.•••
          A CPSR Project -- http://www.cpsr.org -- •••@••.•••
                http://www.cpsr.org/cpsr/nii/cyberjournal-rights/
  Materials may be reposted in their _entirety_ for non-commercial use.

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                             (Richard K. Moore)

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