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On "AWARE ON THE AIR" Tuesday night (10pm ch. 6 in C-U) you can in
fact see a good bit of Pilger's film - <br>
<br>
along with Ron Szoke on "The Descent" and divers alarums,
excursions, and animadversions from yr. obdt. servt.<br>
<br>
<br>
It's Flag Day. Come listen to the lies being corrected, on Urbana
Public Television<br>
<br>
(which actually is "an
<style type="text/css">p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; </style>accessible,
responsible, and responsive
media outlet.")
<br>
<br>
<br>
======================================<br>
Published on Saturday, June 11, 2011 by CommonDreams.org<br>
<br>
<u><b>'The War You Don't See': A Film You Won't See</b></u><br>
<br>
An Open Letter to Noam Chomsky and the General Public<br>
by John Pilger<br>
<br>
Dear Noam,<br>
<br>
I am writing to you and a number of other friends mostly in the US
to alert you to the extraordinary banning of my film on war and
media, 'The War You Don't See', and the abrupt cancellation of a
major event at the Lannan Foundation in Santa Fe in which David
Barsamian and I were to discuss free speech, US foreign policy and
censorship in the media. <br>
<br>
Lannan invited me and David over a year ago and welcomed my proposal
that they also host the US premiere of 'The War You Don't See', in
which US and British broadcasters describe the often hidden part
played by the media in the promotion of war, notably in Iraq and
Afghanistan. The film has been widely acclaimed in the UK and
Australia; the trailer and reviews are on my website
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.johnpilger.com">www.johnpilger.com</a><br>
<br>
The banning and cancellation, which have shocked David and me, are
on the personal orders of Patrick Lannan, whose wealth funds the
Lannan Foundation as a liberal center of discussion of politics and
the arts. Some of you will have been there and will know the Lannan
Foundation as a valuable supporter of liberal causes. Indeed, I was
invited in 2002 to present a Lannan award to the broadcaster Amy
Goodman.<br>
<br>
What is deeply disturbing about the ban is that it happened so
suddenly and inexplicably: 48 hours before David Barsamian and I
were both due to depart for Santa Fe I received a brief email with a
'sorry for the inconvenience' from a Lannan official who had been
telling me just a few days earlier what a 'great honor' it was to
have the US premiere of my film at Lannan, with myself in
attendance.<br>
<br>
I urge you to visit the Lannan website <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.lannan.org">www.lannan.org</a>. Good people
like Michael Ratner, Jeremy Scahill and Glenn Greenwald are shown as
participants in discussion about freedom of speech. I am there, too,
but my name is the only one with a line through it and the word,
'Cancelled'.<br>
<br>
Neither David Barsamian nor I have been given a word of explanation.
All my messages to Lannan have gone unanswered; my calls calls are
not returned; my flights were cancelled summarily. At the urging of
the New Mexican newspaper, Patrick Lannan has issued a one-sentence
statement offering his regrets to the Lannan-supporting 'community'
in Santa Fe. Again, he gives no reason for the ban. I have spoken to
the manager of the Santa Fe cinema where 'The War You Don't See' was
to be screened. He received a late-night call. Again, no reason for
the ban was forthcoming, giving him barely time to cancel
advertising in The New Mexican, which was forced to drop a major
feature.<br>
<br>
There is a compelling symbol of our extraordinary times in all of
this. A rich and powerful individual and organization, espousing
freedom of speech, has moved ruthlessly and unaccountably to crush
it.<br>
<br>
With warm regards<br>
<br>
John Pilger<br>
<br>
John Pilger was born and educated in Sydney, Australia. He has been
a war correspondent, film-maker and playwright. Based in London, he
has written from many countries and has twice won British
journalism's highest award, that of "Journalist of the Year," for
his work in Vietnam and Cambodia.<br>
<br>
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