Democracy Now! founder Amy Goodman will speak Friday, Sept. 7 for MAIN benefit

From MAIN (a press release)

Award-winning journalist Amy Goodman will speak in Asheville on Friday, Sept. 7, to benefit the nonprofit Mountain Area Information Network.

Following the talk, Goodman will be signing her just-released book, The Silenced Majority, with co-author Denis Moynihan. The book examines the power of ordinary people to change the media based on accounts documented during populist uprisings from Fukushima to Tahrir Square and Occupy Wall Street. 

Goodman is the host and co-founder of Democracy Now!, the daily news show broadcast on more than 1,000 radio and TV stations worldwide.

Goodman’s talk in Asheville will be her first following Democracy Now!‘s coverage of the 2012 Democratic and Republican national conventions. In 2008, Goodman and two Democracy Now! producers were among a number of journalists arrested during the opening day of the GOP convention in St. Paul, Minn.

Goodman and Democracy Now! filed a civil lawsuit against the local police and the US Secret Service. The suit was settled last October for $100,000 plus an agreement by the police departments to train their personnel in the First Amendment’s protections of journalists and a free press.

“We are thrilled to host Amy Goodman the day after the Democratic Convention concludes in Charlotte,” said Wally Bowen, founder and executive director of MAIN. “With the unprecedented flood of corporate money into our politics, truly independent journalists like Amy Goodman are more important than ever before.”

The nonprofit Democracy Now! does not accept advertising or corporate underwriting, making it one of the only independent national news programs in the United States. Its awards include Best Investigating Reporting from the Society of Professional Journalists, the George Polk Award for Broadcast Reporting, and the Alfred I. DuPont-Columbia Award for Excellence in Broadcasting.

The Friday, Sept. 7, talk will begin at 7 p.m at Ferguson Auditorium on the campus of Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College. Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for students. Advance tickets are available at Malaprops Bookstore or online at: www.main.nc.us.

About MAIN:
Founded in 1995, the Mountain Area Information Network is a nonprofit Internet service provider which hosts websites for citizens, small businesses, and nonprofits throughout western North Carolina. MAIN also offers high-speed Internet access in parts of Buncombe, Madison, Mitchell and Yancey counties. MAIN is pioneering a new business model for journalism by enabling local residents to spend their Internet dollars to support independent news and public affairs programming. For more information, visit: http://www.main.nc.us or call 828.255.0182

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27 thoughts on “Democracy Now! founder Amy Goodman will speak Friday, Sept. 7 for MAIN benefit

  1. bsummers

    Yes, the term “broadcast” seems to be used fairly loosely here. They may still “webcast” DN (but why bother – I listen & watch on democracynow.org). But the MAIN radio station has been dark for some time now.

    And I’m interested to hear more about this “major power increase” referred to in the press release. Experts who I trust say there are no applications on file at FCC for any frequency change, transmitter move, or power increase for WPVM-FM (legally, there is no “MAIN-FM” – that is Wally trying to erase the hard years of the WPVM implosion years.)

    It’s also interesting that the press release refers to “MAIN-FM 105.3”. Did anyone at XPress check to see if that is an actual radio station? That frequency was cited by Wally in an earlier AC-T story, but appears to have been claimed by a Waynesville station seeking a translator for the Asheville area. It’s not clear how WPVM can claim to be on that frequency.

  2. D. Dial

    I would hope this publication would check to verify that Main has indeed been on air. ” The program is heard locally each weekday at 8 a.m. on MAIN-FM 105.3, the low-power community radio station “ My understanding is that wpvm has been off the air for some time. Whoever wrote this needs to have some investigatory skills.

  3. Dionysis

    I thought MAIN-FM 105.3 stopped broadcasting in October of last year. So, is the MtXpress saying they’ve resumed broadcasting each weekday morning, as it appears? I can’t find any other mention of the station resuming broadcasting.

  4. bsummers

    To be fair to XPress, this isn’t really an article – they just reprinted Wally’s press release. Never a good idea.

    BTW, 105.3 is already occupied by a Mexican station out of Gaffney, WNOW-FM. Go there – strong, loud latino music, not Democracy Now!.

    Does MAIN still have a Board, and do they know that Wally is apparently trying to pull a fast one on us again?

    • Dionysis

      So a pre-written press release was reprinted verbatim and classified as an ‘article’? Hmmmm.

  5. MtnRunr

    The FCC web site lists applications for radio stations. The most recent application for WPVM was last December, when they requested permission to remain silent. It was dismissed because it was not properly filed. WPVM is off air without permission, against FCC rules.

    Democracy Now! is a good program. I’m sorry they are coming to raise funds for something that does not exist – an application for a frequency which is not available.

  6. Potpourri

    Interesting to compare Wally Bowen’s press release in the Citizen-Times with the one above. In the C-T item, Wally claims that MAIN-FM (legally, WPVM)will have a major increase in its power as soon as the FCC gives “final approval” to WPVM’s application to change frequencies from 103.5 to 105.3.

    When that piece of propaganda was disputed – there is no application on file with the FCC – Wally revised his story, now claiming that Democracy Now is being broadcast by WPVM on 105.3. WPVM used to broadcast from 103.5 (not 105.3) but has been off the air, against FCC rules, since last October. Further, WPVM (aka MAIN-FM) will never occupy 105.3, with an accompanying power boost, because Clear Channel has applied for 105.1 and doesn’t have to consider WPVM because an FCC application was never filed by MAIN. Exactly how is the FCC “working with” MAIN when MAIN has ignored FCC rules and procedures?

    For years, Wally has been exploiting the Asheville community with claims that WPVM would soon have a significant power increase. It never happens. Involving Amy Goodman in his latest deception is a new low. What’s sad is that MAIN’s Board is allowing Wally to bring down not only WPVM but MAIN as well.

  7. Sham69

    Good luck to the WB Network- if he can coerce the FCC as well as two local rags that don’t fact check, and His board, then God Bless Him…I hope Amy isn’t coming under false pretenses.

  8. glolady

    Dang Amy… see how they are in this town? 1st Amendment rights? This bickering is what cost the citizens of Western North Carolina to loose our Community Access Media Center.

    When will they learn that the People’s Voice Needs to Be Heard? The truth is not being shared in Mass media. It is a divide and conquer.

    County Commissioners denied the funding to cover up the corruption in Buncombe County and others in WNC.

    • D. Dial

      Bickering did not cause the demise…it was run into the ground by inept management. YOU were a part of that bickering, so by inference you would have some responsibility of the cause.

      Management’s incompetance gave public access’ head to the City and County on a silver platter. They were looking for reasons to shut it down and keep the $$$$$s. Management gave them ample reason.

    • mat catastrophe

      I’m not sure why we have to keep going back to this “bickering” canard every time there is a discussion of some facet of local media.

      The Media Center collapsed because a lack of oversight from both Asheville and Buncombe governments allowed it to overspend itself for too long. When it became apparent that the county and/or the city was no longer willing to disburse money to the media center, they cried foul and chaos ensued.

      The only “bickering” was the consistent drumbeat of denial coming from the Media Center and its supporters in the form of a few talking points that were brought up for weeks on end. Of course, most of them were in direct contradiction with some of the actual findings of auditors (http://www.citizen-times.com/assets/pdf/B0172992413.PDF).

      I think that there were probably a lot of people in the area who would have liked for public access television to continue and get to a point where there was a great deal of quality content happening. Unfortunately, some people were trying to use the Media Center to prop up some delusions of stardom and/or a revenue source.

      Anyone who does that in a local media setting is almost certainly going to fail – especially when the stated purpose of local non-profit media is to do pretty much the opposite.

  9. bsummers

    Ten days ago it was this:

    “Bowen hopes to move the MAIN-FM signal from 103.5 FM to 105.3 FM, which is pending final FCC approval.”

    Two days ago it was this:

    “The program is heard locally each weekday at 8 a.m. on MAIN-FM 105.3, the low-power community radio station operated by Mountain Area Information Network. MAIN-FM re-broadcasts Democracy Now! at 6 p.m.”

    Today it’s confirmed that not only is the station not on the air at all, there is no chance that it will ever air on 105.3 FM.

    The Asheville community needs solid, trustworthy independent media now more than ever. Currently, we can’t trust it when we’re told this radio station is even on the air at all.

    • D. Dial

      Meantime AshevilleFM evolved from past shoddy treatment. As an upstart it appears to be progressing nicely.

    • bsummers

      “Local radio was better when the pirates ran it.”

      Yeah, but they only played songs with the word “booty” in the title. Sort of limiting…

  10. Eamon Martin

    I wish the Xpress would just take the time to clear this mess up. It’s irresponsible “journalism” for everyone involved. Some clarifications are in order. This is just the latest example of what you get when you allow public relations and local boosterism to substitute for actual reporting.

  11. Potpourri

    Perhaps Xpress could contact MAIN’s board members requesting written clarification about the claim that WPVM will soon be broadcasting from 105.3. The Board should have all FCC application materials on file.

  12. bsummers

    As for Tim Warner’s FB comments above, I can say this. During the brief period in 2008 when the volunteers were running WPVM, we had access to many documents previously denied us, and had private discussions with MAIN Board members on these issues. I and other volunteers attended MAIN Board meetings where these issues were discussed. I can say that from what I saw, everything Tim is saying about the original frequency issues is correct.

    Over the years as WPVM volunteers, we were continually asked to raise money for MAIN based on promises that a ‘signal fix’ was in the works. Nine years later, we are still hearing unsupported claims from Wally that the long awaited ‘fix’ is just around the corner.

  13. tatuaje

    Is the MX even reading these comments?

    HELOOOOOOOO!

    Anybody home?

    Respect for this publication dwindles daily.

  14. Margaret Williams

    We sought clarification earlier this week from Bowen, and he has replied via Facebook comments above. The information about MAIN’s broadcast of Democracy Now! and the unconfirmed station information has been removed.

  15. Eamon Martin

    This is a trainwreck. Having to sift through these comments to make sense of what this $10-a-ticket fundraiser is for is to ask for an unreasonable amount of detective work on the readers’ behalf. The now-edited press release further obscures the story and Margaret’s direction to just read Wally’s comments as the final word is journalistically, ethically dubious. …Also, this event is now dated to take place on Aug. 7.

    I’m not writing to bicker about Wally or MAIN, by the way. I just want better journalism.

  16. Potpourri

    Anyone who wants to check out Wally Bowen’s credibility can simply go to the FCC website and search under applications for WPVM-LP. Here’s the link:

    http://licensing.fcc.gov/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/app_sear.htm

    You’ll see that, since 2006, there have only been two applications related to WPVM. There was an application for a routine license renewal in November, 2011, and an application in December for “Special Temporary Authority” to remain silent. This was dismissed by the FCC in January of this year. WPVM is off the air illegally.

    The person signing the latter application, certifying that he “prepared the engineering data” is Morgan Neely. You may google him. He has a degree in Geography.

    There is no application for a power increase or frequency change since engineering consultant Tim Warner chose to stop working with MAIN/WPVM in 2007. You’d think that, considering Wally’s claim to have consulted “several engineers” to “fix this problem”, at least one of them would have known how to file an FCC application.

  17. D. Dial

    I hope Ms. Goodman didn’t miss the Aug. 7th event. Anybody see round town?

    This, copied from above. “The Friday, Aug. 7, talk will begin at 7 p.m at Ferguson Auditorium on the campus of Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College. Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for students. Advance tickets are available at Malaprops Bookstore or online at: http://www.main.nc.us.”

  18. Big Al

    “Bickering did not cause the demise…it was run into the ground by inept management…” (D.Dial)

    “The Media Center collapsed because a lack of oversight from both Asheville and Buncombe governments allowed it to overspend itself for too long. When it became apparent that the county and/or the city was no longer willing to disburse money to the media center, they cried foul and chaos ensued…The only “bickering” was the consistent drumbeat of denial coming from the Media Center and its supporters in the form of a few talking points that were brought up for weeks on end.” (mat catastrophe)

    While all of this may be true, those of us on the OUTSIDE looking in on your petty squabbles feel compelled to note that the final reason that local media (URTV, The Media Center, etc.) failed is that THE CONTENT WAS CRAP!

    Stop acting like petulant, entitled, drug-addled flower children and maybe more of the public will support local media.

  19. bsummers

    “It is time for the progressive community here in asheville to come together.”

    I’m sorry to say it will never ever happen behind Wally Bowen. He has burned too many people.

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