Home > Programs
> Democracy
Now! > Thur., Nov 16, 2006
Democracy Now!
ATTN: ALL STATIONS
From: Democracy Now!
Re: Rundown 11-16-06
PRSS Channel: A67.7
Argentine Torture Survivor Patricia Isasa Returns to Police
Station Where She Was Imprisoned and Abused
LA Times Editor and Publisher Forced Out For Resisting Job
Cuts: A Look at the Effects of Media Consolidation on America's
Newsrooms
Argentine Torture Survivor Patricia Isasa Returns
to Police Station Where She Was Imprisoned and Abused
Patricia Isasa was 16 years old in 1976 when she was kidnapped
by Argentine police and soldiers. She was tortured and held
prisoner without trial for two and a half years. Before she
joins thousands heading to Fort Benning, Georgia to protest
what used to be called the School of the Americas, Isasa joins
us in our firehouse studio to tell her story and of her lifelong
campaign to bring her torturers to justice. [includes rush
transcript]
Thousands are expected to converge in Fort Benning, Georgia
this weekend for the annual protest calling for the closure
of the School of the Americas. The school - now known as the
Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation - was
created sixty years ago as a military training facility for
Latin American military and police.
There have been hundreds of documented human rights abuses
connected to soldiers trained at the school. In 1996, the
Pentagon released school training manuals that advocated torture,
extortion and execution. Despite this, there has never been
an independent investigation of the school.
In 2004, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced that
Venezuela would no longer send soldiers to train at SOA. Earlier
this year, the governments of Uruguay and Argentina followed
suit. Argentina in particular has a sordid history with the
school. When SOA graduate Leopoldo Galtieri headed Argentina's
military during the country's dictatorship, thirty-thousand
people were killed or disappeared.
One of those who was disappeared and lived to tell her story
is Patricia Isasa. She was only sixteen in 1976 when she was
kidnapped by police and soldiers, tortured and held prisoner
without trial for two and a half years. One of Patricia's
torturers was Domingo Marcelini. He is a graduate of the SOA.
A documentary about Patricia's ordeal and her subsequent
investigation to bring her torturers to justice - premiered
on Argentinean television last May. It is called "El
Cerco" and it features interviews with some of her torturers,
who are now in prison awaiting trial. In the film, Patricia
Isasa revisits the sites where she had held and describes
her torture.
- "El Cerco" - excerpt of documentary about Patricia
Isasa.
Nine of Patricia Isasa’s torturers are in prison awaiting
trial. In September, Argentinean President Nestor Kirchner
ordered her into a witness protection program. This was after
the disappearance of Jorge Julio Lopez - another torture survivor
who had recently testified against his abuser. Patricia is
scheduled to testify against her torturers in the coming months.
She joins us in our firehouse studio.
- Patricia Isasa, Argentine torture survivor.
LA Times Editor and Publisher Forced Out For Resisting
Job Cuts: A Look at the Effects of Media Consolidation on
America's Newsrooms
In an effort to cut costs, the owners of many of the nation's
newspapers are slashing the amount of money spent on reporting
and laying off staff. Most notably at the Los Angeles Times
where the paper's publisher and its top editor Dean Baquet
were ousted after publicly they defied calls by executives
at Tribune Company to eliminate more newsroom positions. [includes
rush transcript]
In an effort to cut costs, the owners of many of the nation's
newspapers are slashing the amount of money spent on reporting
and laying off staff. The impact of these mass layoffs is
expected to be widely felt.
Howard Kurtz of the Washington Post recently wrote "If
this erosion continues, it would be bad news for serious journalism,
and good news for corrupt politicians."
Kurtz points out that journalists played key roles in exposing
recent Washington scandals including those involving Jack
Abramoff and Mark Foley.
On an almost daily basis reports have emerged about more
newspaper layoffs. On Tuesday the executive editor of the
Washington Post, Leonard Downie, Jr., announced plans to shrink
the newsroom staff as part of a major transformation of the
paper.
On Monday the St. Paul Pioneer Press in Minnesota said it
would cut 40 full-time positions at the paper. Last week the
new owners of the Philadelphia Inquirer forced out the paper's
editor Amanda Bennett. Employees at the Inquirer fear the
paper's new owners will layoff as much as much as a third
of its newsroom staff.
In California, the owners of Los Angeles Daily News recently
laid off the paper's publisher and 20 other employees. 101
jobs are being eliminated at the San Jose Mercury News. Another
111 at the Dallas Morning News. The Cleveland Plain Dealer
plans to cut 17 percent of its staff.
But the most turmoil might be at the Los Angeles Times -
the nation's fourth largest newspaper. Two months ago the
paper's publisher Jeffrey Johnson and its top editor Dean
Baquet publicly defied calls by executives at Tribune Company
to eliminate more newsroom positions. Johnson was ousted in
October. Baquet was forced out last week. A columnist for
the trade magazine Editor & Publisher said about Baquet's
firing "It is a sign that no editor who makes news first
and big profits second is safe."
One of the most outspoken critics of the changes at the Los
Angeles Times has been Henry Weinstein, the paper's legal
affairs reporter. He has worked for the paper for 28 years.
He was recently awarded the John Chancellor Award for Excellence
by Columbia University's School of Journalism. He joins us
in our firehouse studio.
- Henry Weinstein, legal affairs writer for the Los Angeles
Times.
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu,
Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
|
Listen
to the show
Help
whole
show
