06/13/02 FTW - After a long fight between factions at Pacifica radio, Mike Ruppert was on KPFK's The Morning Show on Thursday, 6-13-02.

Unfortunately, KPFK reverted to its old behavior, sandbagged Ruppert, and devoted approximately 1/3rd of the show distracting Pacifica's listeners from hearing the truth about U.S. government involvement in 9-11.

Sonali Kolhatkar, host of The Morning Show, opened the segment seeming to give Ruppert a free hand in putting out the information Pacifica's listeners have been denied. Kolhatkar asked a few somewhat interesting questions, but then a different agenda appeared. Kolhatkar asked Ruppert about his belief that U.S. government agencies were the perpetrators of 9-11. Ruppert calmly explained that he has never said or written that the any government agency was the overt force committing the 9-11 atrocities, and that what he has been discussing is the government's foreknowledge of the events and cover-up of that foreknowledge afterwards.

Kolhatkar went on with the interview, but at three additional points asked Ruppert the exact same question about evidence the U.S. government organized and committed the 9-11 attacks, something Ruppert has never said or published. It was obvious Ruppert had been set-up. Then, 20 minutes into the show, Pacifica showed its disdain for its listeners, and what their true agenda is. And their agenda is apparently not the dissemination of information.

When she opened the show Kolhatkar discussed the controversy that Ruppert's work has created in the mainstream press, and mentioned, specifically, David Corn, Washington Editor of The Nation. She said that Corn had been invited to appear on the show but had declined. This on-air statement is a direct contradiction of what Kolhatkar had told the FTW office. In arranging the interview FTW office manager Andrea Shepherd was told, by Kolhatkar, that Ruppert would be on for the entire 8:00 ­ 8:30 AM segment alone. Shepherd repeated this back to Kolhatkar, who confirmed it. So the invitation to Corn was made without Ruppert's knowledge, and is contradictory to what Kolhatkar told Shepherd.

During the program Kolhatkar again brought up Corn, and Ruppert gave his opinion as to the reasons for Corn's attacks. After about the 20-minute point Kolhatkar went to a music break, which people familiar with KPFK operations say is quite unusual, and indicates something unexpected is about to occur. When Kolhatkar came back, lo-and-behold, surprise, surprise, there was David Corn. He had changed his mind, and now wanted to be on the program. Apparently he had been listening to the broadcast from the outset.

Rather than discuss the events of 9-11 or the merits of Ruppert's work, Corn immediately turned the proceedings into a personal forum to whine about a few, particular words Ruppert has used when discussing Corn's work. Instead of getting information many of Pacifica's listeners should know, they were treated to about a 10-minute David Corn tantrum, complete with personal attacks, threats, challenges to make wagers and an ever increasingly shrill voice. You could almost hear him stamping his foot.

Just as they did on a March 1 broadcast, when Ruppert was prevented from discussing 9-11 by Norman Solomon's distractions, Pacifica today showed that they are more concerned with helping preserve the careers of their friends than in serving their listeners. KPFK asks its listeners for financial support, and promises alternative points-of-view. What took place this morning on The Morning Show forces all reasonable people to have very serious questions about the integrity of KPFK's management.

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Here is the contact information for KPFK and Pacifica Radio:

Pacifica National Programming
2390 Champlain St., NW
Second Floor
Washington, D.C. 20009
Tel: (202) 588-0999
pnn@pacifica.org

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR:
Dan Coughlin - dcoughlin@igc.org

KPFK GENERAL MANAGER - (818) 985-2711
GM@kpfk.org
comments@kpfk.org

HOST: Sonali Kolhatkar
morningshow@kpfk.org