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Indybay Feature

Should KPFA cover Oscar Pistorius's trial for allegedly murdering his model girl friend?

by KPFA Listener
The lead corporate news story, on February 21st, was South African track star and double amputee Oscar Pistorius's trial for shooting his girl friend through a locked bathroom door in Johannesburg. Even KPFA Radio, our listener sponsored station for Northern and Central California, reported it.
Listen now:
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KPFAlogostraightcrop.jpg
OscarPistorius-GirlFriend.jpg
South African Olympic athlete and double amputee Oscar Pistorius
with Reeva Steenkamp, the girl friend whom he is accused of murdering
by firing shots through a locked bathroom door.

KPFA Radio gave the Pistorius murder trial top-of-the-news billing and four minutes coverage on its February 21st newscast, followed by a pitch to contribute to the station that brings you news and more "that you just cannot find anywhere else . . . because we're independent, we're not dependent on commercial broadcasters, underwriters, and rich people."

I love KPFA, but couldn't its News Department do better than to report the most sensational sex and murder story since the OJ Simpson trial, when everyone else is, and when, just for example, the U.S. is engaged in more military operations all over the planet than anyone can keep track of, and so many Bay Area residents are at odds with our local police departments?

This is a simple request, via Indybay, that this be the last four minutes KPFA give to this trial, which will no doubt be at the top of the local, national, and international news headlines for many days to come.
by Weary listener
I listen as I walk home and whenever the "news" has stories like these, I just pull my earphone for a few minutes to let it pass, and do the same for all the money pitches, having already contributed online, all the "actualizations" of whoever is president, which are in almost every newscast, and whatever other garbage irritates me. The half hour weekend 6 p.m. news is well worth listening to and beats the hour long weekday alleged newscast by a mile.
by Daniel Borgstrom
The KPFA newsroom is run by Mark Mericle and Aileen Alfandary, two prominent members of SaveKPFA.

Mark and Aileen are famous for reading AP reports off the wire, uncritically. When Associated Press does an outstanding job of investigative journalism, as it sometimes does, then Aileen and Mark give an outstanding report. When AP does a mediocre job, then Aileen and Mark give a mediocre report. When AP does a lousy job, then Aileen and Mark do a lousy job.

Whatever AP produces, that's what Mark Mericle and Aileen Alfandary pass on to us.



by KPFA Listener
This is like reporting on the equivalent of the OJ trial, halfway around the world, while South African miners are engaged in life and death struggles with the world's biggest mining conglomerates, South African shackdwellers' communities are being bulldozed, and South Africa is sending troops to the highly controversial UN combat intervention brigade in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
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