The US National Press Club, Overseas Press Club of America, Reuters, and Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press all deserted Assange in 2011 ,
two years into Obama's presidency. After more than six years of
political asylum inside London’s Ecuadorian Embassy, he is in poor
health and in danger of extradition to stand trial in the US for
publishing leaked confidential documents, many of which were also
published by the New York Times, the London Guardian,
and other prominent media outlets. He could even be tried and sentenced
“in camera,” with neither press nor human rights observers present.
Pacifica was founded by pacifist Lew Hill in the 1940s after World
War II. It has a long, proud history as a radical, edgy alternative to
corporate and state media that has opposed most US wars and austerity
measures since. So one might think that passing this resolution would be
a slam dunk, but it hasn’t been. As I wrote in “We Love the CIA!—Or How the Left Lost its Mind,”
Pacifica has incrementally moved to the right, along with the rest of
the country, ever since Ronald Reagan’s presidency, and during the
neoliberal, hawkish presidencies of Democrats Bill Clinton and Barack
Obama.
Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg and other
whistleblowers, writers, editors and union and media activists have
endorsed the resolution, but majorities on the Berkeley board and the
national board have prevented roll call votes or any votes at all
without explaining why. If you’d like to see this resolution passed by
the Pacifica National Board and the KPFA Local Station Board, please
write to pnb@pacifica.organd lsb@kpfa.org.
-- Ann Garrison, "Standing With Julian Assange" (BLACK AGENDA REPORT).