In June of 1996, there was a rumour that EXTRA!, FAIR's print publication, would investigate the charges of the hiring of union-busters by the Pacifica's management. Then a rumour circulated FAIR had decided not to do the story --- FAIR has never explained.

People involved with the dissident movement forwarded information on the Pacifica situation to FAIR in New York CIty. The only public response from FAIR at that time was an unsigned request to stop e-mailing their offices:

Date sent: Wed, 10 Jul 1996 10:12:29 -0700 (PDT)
From: Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting <fair1@igc.apc.org>
To: melblcome@igc.apc.org
Subject: please delete us from conf. Copies to: freekpfa@coco.ca.rop.edu

To whom it may concern:

Please delete fair@igc.org and fair1@igc.org from your conference on Pacifica. We have access to this material whenever we need it. This is the second time we've asked you to delete us.

This message caused many to now conclude FAIR had made a conscious decision to turn a blind eye to the doings at Pacifica. Others wondered whether FAIR was a force behind the power grab at Pacifica. Many of us felt prominent Left organizations had an obligation to address the issue, and should be held accountable for their actions, or inaction.

Jeff Blankfort of Take Back KPFA, decided to address the issue of this conspicous silence head on in an essay, Pacifica and the Liberal/Left Media, published on the Internet in November, 1996.

Maria Gilardin, former Development Director of KPFA, sent a letter to Jeff Cohen and received a reply on December 13, 1996. The letter from Cohen is presented here with responses from some of us, disputing his facts.

Norman Solomon, an associate of FAIR and host of Making Contact, allowed a personal letter to Michael Papadopoulous, on the subject of FAIR and Pacifica, to be published in January 1997. Thank you, Norman, for speaking openly.

Esty Dinur from WORT-FM interviewed Janine Jackson FAIR and asked about their silence on Pacifica

edited by Lyn Gerry 1/97