Free Speech Radio News, the daily newscast put out by freelance journalists on strike against Pacifica Radio, is nearly out of funds. Unless they raise sufficient money, the newscast will go off the air in mid-November. Please consider the following EMERGENCY APPEAL from writers Alice Walker and Studs Terkel...

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November 1, 2001

Dear Free-Speech Supporter,

Thank you for considering this emergency appeal.

At all times, and especially in wartime, truth becomes a lifeline.

The Pentagon recently bought up the exclusive rights to commercial satellite images showing civilian dead in Afghanistan. The U.S. government is trying to control what the entire country--including the media--knows about this already-devastating conflict.

In a climate of increasing political repression, Free Speech Radio News is one of the few remaining independent sources for real information about our government's so-called war against terrorism--information not owned by a corporation, controlled by the Pentagon or vetted by the White House.

Flying routinely under government censors, Free Speech Radio News recently announced unprecedented war coverage. Anchored by former Pacifica Network News veteran Verna Avery Brown, this newscast challenges the information blackout sweeping the mainstream press with a pool of over 100 progressive journalists positioned across the Middle East, in South Asia and around the world, filing from every continent except Antarctica.

Covering a conflict of this scale takes money, and Free Speech Radio News needs your help to stay o n the air. This daily, ground breaking, half-hour newscast, airing on more than 50 community radio stations, over the Internet and beamed to 120 countries via short-wave, is proud to bring you:

**Fariba Nawa in Islamabad, providing first-hand accounts of U.S. air strikes, plus coverage of the Pakistani refugee crisis.

**Sputnik Kilambi reporting from South Asia, with deep contacts among Indian and Pakistani peace ac tivists.

**James Smoot on the ground in Istanbul, reporting on violent police repression of civilian protest.

**Jeremy Scahill, the youngest-ever Polk Award winner offering critical analysis of the political a lliances being sought by the U.S.

Other international coverage includes Rafael Krafft in Occupied Palestine; Steve Negus in Egypt; Ro ry Mulholland in Turkminestan; Rupert Cook in the Sudan and Sam Olukoya in Nigeria.

Kata Mester on Capitol Hill covers the clampdown on civil liberties. An impressive pool of journali sts, including Polk-Award winner Robert Knight, Geoff Brady, Miranda Kennedy and Eileen Sutton brin g daily news from *the first ground zero* in New York. Susan Wood weighs in from the United Nations , and an extensive team of U.S.-based Free Speech Radio News reporters will also stay keenly focuse d on the U.S. peace movement and other domestic issues.

Nearly two years old, this alternative broadcast was first created by dozens of freelance reporters who struck Pacifica Network News (PNN) last year over rampant censorship. The success and populari ty of the newscast is exceptional, with at least 41 former Pacifica affiliates canceling PNN in ord er to air Free Speech Radio News.

Independent media sources must work extra hard to secure funding. FSRN has always relied on genero us contributions from supporters. However, it is facing an unexpected funding shortfall this month that threatens its survival. (This shortfall is due in part to increased expenses related to cove rage of the Afghan war.)

Consider this: your donation of $150 pays a reporter for one story. Your donation of $500 covers m onthly travel expenses for overseas journalists. Your $1,000 donation pays for one entire Free Spee ch Radio News broadcast. Your donation of $1,700 covers the satellite link for a month, while a don ation of $5,000 keeps the show on the air for an entire week.

A donation of any size will help concerned listeners get the information they deserve. Checks can b e made out to Pacifica Reporters Against Censorship and sent to PRAC, c/o Kevin Brower, 2210 Curtis St., #A, Berkeley, CA 94702. All donations are tax deductible. For more information, please write to pnnstrikers@igc.org, or listen to the newscast at www.fsrn.org.

Without your support, this remarkable, truly grass-roots media effort cannot continue. Please give generously today.

Sincerely,

Alice Walker & Studs Terkel

P.S., Free Speech Radio News needs your support to say on the air. The Bush Administration wants t o control all that you see, hear and know. I hope you'll agree that a minimum donation of $50 to F ree Speech Radio News is a small price to pay for access to the truth. Please give what you can.

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