I recieved this from The Socialist Party USA via E-Mail today and thought it may interest some, as I saw someone mentioned being a journalist.


Below is a message forwarded from the National Writer's Union list. Note
that the Socialist Party's own Barbara Garson is named in the New York
Times' blacklist. Barbara was a plaintiff in the Tassini Supreme Court
case, because the Washington Post was republishing her article "Would You
Like to Run for Vice President" - originally published while she ran as
Quinn Brisben's running mate in 1992 - online.

The Supreme Court decided recently that writers must be compensated when
their print material is republished on the internet. The New York Times has
continued to balk at paying writers for their work.


--
Socialist Party USA Announcement List
Socialist Party USA
339 Lafayette Street, #303
New York, NY 10012
phone/fax: (212)982-4586
http://www.SocialistPartyUSA.org
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Dear friend,

I thought The New York Times could not stoop lower.
First, they stole your work. Then, they tried to scare
and intimidate writers by demanding that they sign
away rights they we all won in the U.S. Supreme Court.


But, the Times has now gone even further: it has created
a blacklist. Several days ago, I was provided an internal
New York Times memo by a confidential source (the memo
is pasted below). In the memo circulated throughout
the top echelons of the newspaper, top Times editor,
Michaela Williams, writes that "our lawyers recommend
that the newspaper not engage any of the below named
plaintiffs to write for the newspaper." The memo then
lists all the original 11 plaintiffs in Tasini v. The
New York Times.

It is a sad day when the paper of record resorts to
the kinds of tactics that have left deep scars on the
soul of this country.

Here is what we must do RIGHT AWAY:

1. Send an e-mail to Michaela Williams at: [email protected]
Express your outrage at The Times' action. Ask her
to justify such actions that remind us of the discredited
and immoral blacklists of the 1950s. Make the point
that blacklists are contrary to freedom of expression--the
ideal that all newspapers must live by.

Please send a copy of your e-mail to [email protected]

2. Call the office of Arthur Sulzberger at 212-556-3588.
Convey the same message by phone that you sent via
e-mail to Williams.

3. Circulate this alert to other writers, websites
and listservs. Ask your colleagues to take action also.

We will suggest additional action in the next day or
so.

Solidarity,

Jonathan Tasini
President

-------------------------------------
Memo from The Times

X-Sender: [email protected]
X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Pro Version 4.2.2
Date: Tue, 18 Sep 2001 17:07:03 -0400
To: "News Exec":;
From: Michaela Williams [email protected]
Subject: Tasini plaintiffs

Sept. 18, 2001

Folks:

I'm sending this list around again, just in case it didn't reach you
earlier. Please see that relevant assigning editors and backfield
editors and clerks get copies.

Our lawyers recommend that the newspaper not engage any of the below
named plaintiffs to write for the newspaper.

These are the original named plaintiffs in the Tasini lawsuit:
Jonathan Tasini
Barbara Belejack
Mary Kay Blakely
Barbara Garson
Daniel Lazare
Margot Mifflin
Joan Oleck
Sonia Jaffe Robbins
Lindsy Van Gelder
David S. Whitford
H. Bruce Franklin
Named plaintiffs in a class action suit filed by the
Authors Guild
against The Times:
Derek Bell
Lynn Brenner

Thanks, Michaela