Statement from Marty Fishgold,
President, International Labor Communications  Association


March 30, 2004    

  The image of American soldiers shutting down and padlocking the doors on Sunday of a popular newspaper in Baghdad, Al Hawza, must send chills down the spine of anyone who believes that freedom of the press is one of the bedrocks of democracy.
  Under orders from the Bush Administration's proconsul, Paul Bremer III, the Shiite weekly was shut down for 60 days for allegedly printing false anti-American rumors that stirred up hatred, undermined stability, and indirectly incited violence.
   If these allegations are enough to shut down media, many newspapers, television programs, and radio talk shows in this country run by the likes of Bill O'Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, and Oliver North would surely qualify for a padlock.
  Fortunately, freedom of the press and media democracy still count in this country.  Tomorrow, Air America will launch a series of progressive radio talks shows hosted by Al Franken, Janeane Garofalo, Laura Flanders,
Robert Kennedy Jr. and others to counter the reactionary talk radio hosts that have dominated the airwaves on stations controlled by a shrinking number of corporate owners like Clear Channel.  This is the direction we
must go in, toward alternative media owned and democratically operated by progressive organizations like unions, environmental groups, and community and independent organizations.  That is the only way we can insure that different points of view are voiced and discussed, and that the doors of media organizations will never be padlocked in this country.