Pacifica Radio's KPFA launches multimedia project to brings the Iraq War home

BERKELEY, CA - KPFA-FM, America’s first listener-sponsored radio station, has launched an interactive website, Warcomeshome.org, featuring hard-hitting stories about the true costs of the Iraq war, as well as innovative means of contributing to, and distributing information about, the impact of the conflict on people in the United States.

The site features the first person accounts of US veterans returned from Iraq, like that of Corporal Phillipe Louis Jean, who was thrown into an immigration prison after serving a tour in Iraq; Sergeant Todd Bowers, who returned from a second tour in Iraq to find his student loans had been sent to collection; and Specialist Joshua Casteel, who worked as a US Army interrogator at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison.

“I was constantly being asked, tell me about freedom, about democracy, why am I being held here, I want answers,” recounts Abu Ghraib interrogator Casteel on Warcomeshome.org. “And the detainees were the ones wanting answers. But that was our job. We were supposed to be finding answers to our questions.”

The stories are produced by award-winning journalist Aaron Glantz, who reported from Iraq over the first three years of the war, and is the author of the best-selling book How America Lost Iraq. He is a founding producer of Pacifica Radio's national newscast FSRN.

"Too often the American media covers the Iraq war like it’s a political wrestling match between President Bush and Democratic leaders in Congress,” says Glantz. “But those of us who've seen the violence up close know the focus ought to be on the war's human costs. The Iraq war is really a story about people. Understanding their stories is the only way to unlock the truth.”

In the spirit of KPFA's tradition of media innovation, Warcomeshome.org allows visitors to listen to and share stories about the consequences of the Iraq war for those in America, using their own blogs, email lists, and social networking sites. The website features audio stories, photos, transcripts, resources for veterans and activists, as well as a blog by Glantz which digs beneath the politics of the Iraq occupation.

“The War Comes Home provides a unique interactive twist on traditional media – it combines critical, rigorous radio journalism with the power of social networking websites to amplify the reach of these important stories,” says KPFA’s interim program director Sasha Lilley, the project’s executive producer.

Upcoming stories will look at the plight of homeless Iraq War veterans, sexual assault of women in the US military, and the fate of Iraqi refugees who attempt to seek asylum in the United States.

Founded by pacifists in 1949, KPFA is the United States' first listener-sponsored radio station and the flagship station in the Pacifica Radio Network. Broadcasting on 94.1 FM in Berkeley, CA, and 88.1 FM on KFCF in Fresno, KPFA's signal reaches one third of the state of California. KPFA’s website, kpfa.org, serves thousands of listeners all over the world. KPFA's innovative news, arts, public affairs, and music programs have won numerous awards and have helped redefine the boundaries of radio in America.

To learn more about “The War Comes Home,” go to http://www.warcomeshome.org. For inquiries, contact Producer Aaron Glantz,aaronfglantz [at] yahoo.com, or KPFA Interim Program Director Sasha Lilley, 510-848-6767 ext 209, ipd [at] kpfa.org

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