Even
VOA Admits Its
Anti-Press
Push Was
Inappropriate,
Used
Reuters &
AFP
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
December 7 --
The UN
Correspondents
Association's
executive
committee
including the
UN bureau
chiefs of
Reuters and
Agence France
Presse helped
Voice
of
America to
file a June
20, 2012
request with
the UN to
"review"
the
accreditation
status of
Inner City
Press -- and
then never
deigned to
explain
themselves.
But documents
now obtained
obtained
from Voice of
America's
Broadcast
Board of
Governors
under Freedom
of
Information
Act requests
and appeals
show that even
VOA's boss
Richard Lobo,
as well as
review
requester
Steve Redisch,
had to admit
in
writing their
anti-Press
moves were
"not
appropriate."
Still the UNCA
executive
committee
persisted,
leaving posted
on its
glassed-in
bulletin board
its initial
May 25 letter
of
denunciation,
going
secret with
their meetings
with the UN,
and setting up
scam
elections. As
reported
yesterday,
this
illegitimacy
must end, and
the
new beta FUNCA
-- the Free UN
Coalition for
Access --
aims to do so.
On August 8
and earlier
on December 6,
we reported on
some of the
documents
obtained from
BBG via FOIA
requests and
appeals; now
we report
more.
On July 29,
VOA's David
Ensor wrote to
Steve Redisch,
"The quote
from Reuters
will
definitely
help!"
The
reference was
to the stealth
complaint
filed by
Reuters bureau
chief
Louis
Charbonneau,
based on Inner
City Press
telling him,
"you
disgust me."
Later,
Charbonneau on
behalf of Reuters
said he was
willing to
submit a
letter to get
Inner City
Press
disaccredited.
Once VOA's
letter was
leaked,
Charbonneau
and
outgoing UNCA
president
Giampaolo
Pioli came to
ask Inner City
Press
to withdraw
its FOIA
request.
Moments
later,
the UN
official to
whom Redish's
request was
directed met
Inner City
Press and gave
a six month
extension of
accreditation,
along with a
written (and
separate and
different
oral) warning.
Richard
Lobo,
the head of
BBG, ended up
having to call
the request by
Redisch
"not
appropriate"
in an email to
the BBG board,
one of
whose members
Dana
Perino wrote,
"folks - I
believe this
issue
needs
addressed in a
more robust
way."
BBG
and VOA never
issued any
apology to
Inner City
Press, or
moved to
withdraw their
"inappropriate"
request. Nor
did the UNCA
executive
committee say
anything, or
explain the
documents when
Inner
City Press
sent them
three in
October.
Now,
we have
learned, some
on this UNCA
Executive
Committee seek
to have
another closed
door,
otherwise
secret meeting
with UN
officials on
December 10.
Watch this
site.
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