Two American journalists – Amy Goodman (above ) and Allan Nairn - were beaten by Indonesian soldiers at the 1991 Santa Cruz Cemetery Massacre , Dili, East Timor. Nairn, who threw himself on top of Goodman in a bid to protect her, was bashed with the butts of M16 rifles and had his skull fractured .Nairn was declared a "threat to national security" and banned from East Timor, but he re-entered several times illegally, and his subsequent reports helped convince the U.S. Congress to cut off military aid to Jakarta in 1993. In a dispatch from East Timor on March 30, 1998, Nairn disclosed the continuing U.S. military training of Indonesian troops implicated in the torture and killing of civilians. In 1999, Nairn was detained briefly by the Indonesian Army in East Timor, where he had chosen to remain after most other media had evacuated following East Timor's independence referendum.
Today Amy Goodman is a powerful voice in alterative media. She hosts DEMOCRACY NOW!, a daily international TV/radio news hour on more than 900 stations in North America . She has received many awards, including the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award and the George Polk Award. In 2001, she declined to accept the Overseas Press Club Award, in protest of the group's pledge not to ask questions of keynote speaker Ambassador Richard Holbrooke and because the OPC was honoring Indonesia for their improved treatment of journalists despite the fact that its forces had recently beaten and killed reporters in occupied East Timor. In 2008 Goodman received the Swedish Government Right Livelihood Award,often called the "Alternative Nobel Prize". The award foundation cited her work in "developing an innovative model of truly independent grassroots political journalism that brings to millions of people the alternative voices that are often excluded by the mainstream media."
Goodman and Nairn returned to East Timor to witness the freedom celebrations and Darwin agronomist , Rob Wesley-Smith, helped them get their reports out via Darwin. Goodman has just written a piece for Nation of Change , Progressive Journalism for Positive Change , making the point that whistleblowers like Julian Assange suffer and war criminals walk. See http://www.nation/ofchange.org for WIKILEAKS, WAR CRIMES AND THE PINOCHET PRINCIPLE.
Today Amy Goodman is a powerful voice in alterative media. She hosts DEMOCRACY NOW!, a daily international TV/radio news hour on more than 900 stations in North America . She has received many awards, including the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award and the George Polk Award. In 2001, she declined to accept the Overseas Press Club Award, in protest of the group's pledge not to ask questions of keynote speaker Ambassador Richard Holbrooke and because the OPC was honoring Indonesia for their improved treatment of journalists despite the fact that its forces had recently beaten and killed reporters in occupied East Timor. In 2008 Goodman received the Swedish Government Right Livelihood Award,often called the "Alternative Nobel Prize". The award foundation cited her work in "developing an innovative model of truly independent grassroots political journalism that brings to millions of people the alternative voices that are often excluded by the mainstream media."
Goodman and Nairn returned to East Timor to witness the freedom celebrations and Darwin agronomist , Rob Wesley-Smith, helped them get their reports out via Darwin. Goodman has just written a piece for Nation of Change , Progressive Journalism for Positive Change , making the point that whistleblowers like Julian Assange suffer and war criminals walk. See http://www.nation/ofchange.org for WIKILEAKS, WAR CRIMES AND THE PINOCHET PRINCIPLE.
In her article,Goodman raises the belief that if Assange is deported to Sweden he will be onpassed to the US where some officials, politicians and raving commentators have been baying for his blood . Goodman points out that US Secretary of State ,Hillary Clinton, is soon to visit Sweden and asks : Why?
