Rally Roundup
A place for your thoughts, accounts, etc. on the rally held today at DLG Plaza.
posted by Sara De la Guerra | 2/21/2007 02:27:00 PM
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9 Comments:
Unfortunately I had to leave after Dawn Hobbs spoke, so I did not get any of the information on the Journalist's Fund. If someone could post that information (I heard as I was leaving something about a fundraising barbeque at the plaza...), that would be great.
All in all I left feeling inspired by the great speakers, the large supportive crowd, and a sense of the cause gaining momentum. Congratulations to everyone involved.
On behalf of the Steering Committee for the Lawyers Alliance for Free Speech Rights, I am responding to a couple of questions raised by Blogabarbara commenters with regard to last Saturday’s “Let’s Help Jerry Roberts.”
One post asks : “If they are strictly a fund raising group, why a bunch of lawyers?”
The Lawyers Alliance was created by a group of local attorneys and former judges who believe that people committed to the rule of law should also uphold the principle of equal access to justice. As a practical matter, such equal access to courts or arbitration is expensive. It involves not only legal fees but also related costs for experts, arbitrators and support services. Litigation or arbitration is only affordable by people with significant financial means. The fund helps assure that former News-Press employees can defend themselves on a level playing field. Others stepped forward to create a separate fund to help with living expenses, so we are not alone in fund-raising efforts.
Another post asks : “Writing a check to the Lawyer's Alliance is for just Jerry Roberts or all fired NP employees or for all employees who have resigned or been fired?”
The fund is available for any former News-Press journalist's defense costs. We are not providing funds for plaintiff’s fees – e.g. to fund a wrongful termination lawsuit. At the moment, Jerry Roberts is the only one defending himself, in the arbitration mentioned by other commenters . some donors have asked the Alliance to designate their gifts for him, a request we will honor. Unrestricted donations will go to help defend all former employees being sued, but we are unaware of any other defense needs at the present.
Donations may be sent to the Lawyers Alliance for Free Speech Rights, P.O. Box 5159, Santa Barbara, CA 93150.
--Bruce MacKenzie, Member
Lawyers Alliance Steering Committee
I felt perhaps it would have had more impact if the crowd had been larger (not that the NP will cover this event anyway -- as if it had never happened), but I'm glad I made the effort to go.
Was particularly moved by the comments from Kathleen Rodriguez, and also firebrand Dawn Hobbs, who was absolutely terrific (though I had to leave before she was finished speaking).
I just posted the story at Independent.com around 5pm so check it out if you can:
http://www.independent.com/opinion/2007/02/will_newspress_owner_wendy_mcc.html
Matt K
Lance Orosco was there yesterday and he produced a very well written piece that aired twice on KCLU radio this morning.
http://www.kclu.org/
Lance also just won 4 golden mic awards from the Radio and TV News Association of Southern California.
Many years ago, Lance was the news director at 101.7 K-lite Santa Barbara - back when you could hear local journalism on almost all of the commercial radio stations.
KCLU Program Director is Jim Rondeau, former programmer of KRUZ 103.3 Both of these people are quality broadcasters.
Hey Jim, how about posting Lance's local news features on the KCLU site?
I attended the rally and was impressed by the good speeches. It was unfortunate that some of the other journalists near the end had their talks cut short due to the time, but they were appreciated nonetheless.
I was pleased to see the media turnout to the event and saw stories on the rally deep into that night's television schedule on numerous channels.
How about having a rally when people aren't at work? I am sure there are many supporters who would like to attend but are unable to leave work either due to the time or the location of their work and De la Guerra Plaza and not having enough time for the commute to and from.
Keep up the good work!
Maybe there just isn't that much interest or support.
On the value and importance of unions:
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2007/02/22/union_states_of_america.php
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