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Monday to Friday, 6:30 - 7:00 p.m.
Hosts:
Deepa Fernandes
Randi Zimmerman
Nell Abrams
Producers:
Kata Mester (interim)
Aaron Glantz (on leave)
Josh Chaffin (D.C. editor)
Jade Pagette-Seekins (technical producer)
Pauline Bartolone (assistant technical producer)
Website: www.fsrn.org
Email address: fsrn@hotmail.com
Phone number: (212) 209-2811
For copies of the show:
Go to www.fsrn.org and listen on the Web or download an mp3 copy.
Program description:
Providing incisive news and analysis in the service of peace and social justice, Free Speech Radio News is the only daily half-hour progressive radio newscast in the U.S. It is owned and managed by news reporters, and is an independent broadcast news organization. FSRN was born in January 2000 as the result of a strike by 43 reporters who formerly worked for Pacifica Network News (PNN). It was created in defiance of the Pacifica Foundation's former Board of Directors and staff, who imposed a gag rule and censorship restrictions on PNN reporters. Since that time, FSRN has expanded to over 200 journalists who report from 40 states within the U.S. and 57 countries around the world, including Israel/Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan, Argentina, Mexico and Nigeria.
Any journalist may pitch a news story to FSRN, and every reporter who produces a story gets paid. FSRN actively recruits and trains people throughout the U.S. and around the world, resulting in an ever-expanding and broadened reporter base.
FSRN supports peace and social justice. It emphasizes decentralized production, and the collective input of Pacifica stations, affiliates and other community media. The FSRN steering committee strives for diversity in ethnicity, gender, class and sexual orientation in the staff and reporting pool.
FSRN is administered by Pacifica Reporters Against Censorship (PRAC), a newly incorporated not-for-profit, 501(c)3 tax-exempt corporation. FSRN is currently negotiating for union affiliation.
Host/producer profiles:
Deepa Fernandes is a journalist, media activist and media trainer. She is a radio features producer who has worked in communities around the world to produce award-winning documentaries about forgotten peoples with marginalized voices. She is currently the host of Free Speech Radio News and a freelance producer for the British Broadcasting Corporation, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and Pacifica Radio. Fernandes also runs Radio Rootz: Kids Make Radio in Harlem.
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Randi Zimmerman has been Headlines Editor for Free Speech Radio news since it went daily in 2001. In addition to her duties at FSRN, she anchors local headlines for WMNF in Tampa, Florida during morning and afternoon drive times, and co-anchors the WMNF Evening News with Mitch Perry and Nell Abram. Randi has traveled around the state of Florida to cover stories for Free Speech Radio News, WMNF news, and Florida Public Radio. Besides her current work in the WMNF newsroom and for Free Speech Radio News, Randi is the originator and executive producer of WMNF's "One Step Forward," a monthly, thirty-minute radio program designed to teach women about all facets of radio production. Randi also teaches in the Communications Department at the University of Tampa.
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Kata Mester reported for FSRN for the past three years before coming on board as the interim coordinating producer. Kata hails from Pacifica Station KPFA in Berkeley, CA where she reported from Sacramento during California's "Energy Crisis." She established the FSRN Congressional Bureau shortly after the events of Sept 11, 2001 and reported regularly on Congressional Activities. During the summer of 2002, Kata filed regular reports from the West Bank and Gaza.
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Aaron Glantz is currently on extended leave reporting for FSRN from Turkey and Jordan, on the war against Iraq. Aaron is also helping to implement Free Speech Radio News' international outreach and training program. As part of this program, he has provided training to journalists who are now reporting for FSRN from India, Turkey, Jordan, and Algeria. Before producing for FSRN, Aaron served as Sacramento reporter for Pacifica's Berkeley station, KPFA, where he began his career in journalism.
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Josh Chaffin is the DC Editor for Free Speech Radio News. He has reported for Free Speech Radio News from Sacramento, Brazil, and Washington DC. Josh co-produced the winning entry for "Best Documentary/Special Programming" in 2000 for the Associated Press Television-Radio Association.
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Jade Paget-Seekins has been volunteering/working in community radio for over ten years. She has a BA in radio and television from San Francisco State University. She spent a year working with the Independent Media Center, traveling around reporting and producing from major protests. In January of 2001 when it was a weekly newscast she started volunteering with Free Speech Radio News. She has been the technical producer since FSRN became a daily newscast on May 21, 2001.
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Pauline Bartolone started in radio at the Urbana Independent Media Center that she helped start after the Seattle WTO protests. "Life in the Bike Lane," a five-minute environmental "drop-in" on WEFT was her first weekly production. Pauline started filing regularly for Free Speech Radio News from Radio For Peace International in Costa Rica where she lived before moving to Berkeley and becoming a technical producer with FSRN, and freelance radio reporter.
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