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The picket was on Tuesday already, so too late, but it might be worthwhile for intereted London folks to keep an eye out for more actions. This is the first specific example I've seen of action against the media representations of the war, not just peace vigils and anti-war demos. Interesting. Yay for pissed-off journalists.
quote:
MEDIA WORKERS AGAINST THE WAR (MWAW)
http://www.mwaw.org
NEWS RELEASE: Wednesday 17 October, 2001
TO: Planning editors, peace movement correspondents
PRESS CONTACT: Mike Marqusee 0207 275 9399
* Anti-war picket at BBC Broadcasting House 5.30pm Tuesday 23 October
* MWAW website now up and running
Media Workers Against the War (MWAW) have called a picket of BBC Broadcasting House, Portland Place in London, from 5.30 to 8 pm on Tuesday 23 October. We want to register our support for our colleagues in the BBC who are doing all they can to resist government attempts at censorship.
Ten Downing Steet called in broadcasting and newspaper executives to instruct them to spin the news, and in particular not to broadcast statements by Bin Laden or pictures of dead and wounded civilians in Afghanistan. As a result, only the Mirror and Channel 4 News used the harrowing pictures from Afghanistan on Monday. Many BBC staff are deeply unhappy about this.
As media workers, we are also deeply concerned that Radio Shariat, formerly Radio Kabul, was obliterated by coalition bombs in the first two days of the attacks on Kabul.
"The destruction of the national radio station, and the staff working
there, was presented as an attack on a military target," said Jonathan
Neale of Media Workers Against the War.
"On Tuesday we want to make it very clear that journalists and other media workers in this country do not accept that radio stations, like Radio Shariat in Kabul and Broadcasting House in London, are legitimate targets in any war. There can be no freedom of the press where journalists are killed for broadcasting their views."
More information can be found at the new MWAW website:
http://www.mwaw.org
PRESS CONTACT:Mike Marqusee 0207 275 9399
http://www.mwaw.org |
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