[Ppnews] Can the Media Continue to Ignore "The Framing of Mumia Abu-Jamal"?

[Political Prisoner News]

Original Content at http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/diarypage.php?did=7874

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June 24, 2008

Can the Media Continue to Ignore "The Framing of Mumia Abu-Jamal"?

By Hans Bennett

If in the Philadelphia area, please come to our event Wed., June 25, 
7pm, at The A-Space, 4722 Baltimore Avenue: J. Patrick O'Connor will 
speak and be signing copies of his new book for the audience. This 
event is a fundraiser for printing the next issue of the Journalists 
for Mumia newspaper.

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Can the Media Continue to Ignore "The Framing of Mumia Abu-Jamal"?


by Hans Bennett


Abu-Jamal-News.com


Despite an important 
<http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/05/01/18496220.php>NY Times 
article written on the day of "The Framing of Mumia Abu-Jamal"'s 
release in May, the mainstream media has virtually ignored this 
powerful new book which argues in painstaking detail that Abu-Jamal 
is innocent and that the actual shooter of Philadelphia police 
officer Daniel Faulkner was a man named Kenneth Freeman. The one 
exception to this media blackout was an article in the 
<http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08139/882258-148.stm>Pittsburgh 
Post-Gazette, by Milan Simonich. Instead of ignoring it like the rest 
of the mainstream media, Simonich chose to dishonestly present the 
book, contending that O'Connor "is guilty of writing the sloppiest, 
most one-sided crime book of the year," by mixing "recycled 
conspiracy theories with his own sweeping pronouncements, most devoid 
of fact."


To learn more about "Framing" and the meticulous arguments made by 
O'Connor, you can watch my video-interview with him at Philadelphia 
City Hall on the day of the book's release
(PARTS <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zsh8fxS0S3k>1, 
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4J6EYVC5hME>2, and 
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2nm5T0nMSw>3) and read my 
<http://www.abu-jamal-news.com/article.php?name=framing4>text-interview 
with him a few weeks before that, which focused on how exactly the 
frame-up happened, Kenneth Freeman, the March 27 court ruling, and 
Frank Rizzo's legacy. Abu-Jamal-News.com also features an 
<http://www.abu-jamal-news.com/article.php?name=framing1>excerpt, a 
<http://www.abu-jamal-news.com/article.php?name=framing3>previous 
interview, 
<http://www.abu-jamal-news.com/article.php?name=framing2>O'Connor's 
review of "Murdered By Mumia," and 
<http://www.abu-jamal-news.com/article.php?name=framing5>his response 
to the March 27 ruling.


For irrefutable evidence of 
<http://dailyscare.com/2472/a-history-of-racist-media-bias-abcs-20-20-report-on-mumia-abu-jamal>mainstream 
media bias against the world famous death-row journalist considered 
by many to be a political prisoner, just compare this coverage of 
"Framing" to last December's release of "Murdered By Mumia," written 
by Michael Smerconish and Maureen Faulkner. The attention was massive 
and almost uniformly absent of any serious questioning of the book's 
assertion that Abu-Jamal received a fair trial and that the evidence 
of his guilt is clear-cut. The Philadelphia Inquirer actually 
featured three days worth of excerpts from "Murdered," but would not 
even mention any of the criticism of the book from Abu-Jamal's supporters.


On December 4, two days before the book's release, Journalists for 
Mumia organized a 
<http://insubordination.blogspot.com/2007/12/press-conference-was-po-daniel-faulkner.html>press 
conference to present our side of the story, arguing that Abu-Jamal 
did not receive a fair trial, and that there is evidence of his 
innocence that the court needs to consider. Along with a presentation 
of the newly discovered crime scene photos, our event featured Pam 
Africa (of The International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia 
Abu-Jamal) and local journalists Linn Washington Jr, David Love, and 
David Lindorff who passionately argued for the legitimacy of the new 
photos as an important story deserving of media coverage, which they 
argued was just one more reason that Abu-Jamal needs a new trial. 
Despite my personal invitation to every Philadelphia media outlet I 
could find, not one single reporter from the local mainstream media 
covered our event. The only mainstream coverage came from British 
journalist Jon Hurdle of Reuters.


Hurdle's article was the very first mainstream report of the new 
crime scene photos, and his article was cited the following week on 
<http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/diarypage.php?did=5165>Philadelphia's 
NPR show "Radio Times," and in an uncharacteristic 
<http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/articles/16027>Philadelphia Weekly 
article, which challenged Smerconish and Faulkner's argument that the 
Abu-Jamal/Faulkner case is "open and shut". While not cited directly 
on the 
<http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/diarypage.php?did=5100>controversial 
Dec. 6 Today Show, by co-host Matt Lauer, Hurdle's article almost 
certainly helped persuade The Today Show to air the photos and 
therefore become the first television show to even acknowledge them 
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FsL3rjXpl4>(WATCH THE SHOW ONLINE).


By asking Faulkner and Smerconish challenging questions and 
accurately representing what Abu-Jamal supporters were saying about 
the photos, Lauer and The Today Show became the clear exception to 
the rule. As a result, 
<http://newsbusters.org/blogs/geoffrey-dickens/2007/12/06/matt-lauer-presses-widow-slain-officer-about-mumia-abu-jamals-guil>right-wing 
media critics went crazy with outrage, and both Faulkner and 
Smerconish publicly vented their anger at Lauer, particularly for his 
last question to Faulkner: "Maureen, when you're ever, when you're 
alone, when you're alone with your thoughts at night, when you even 
see pictures of the protest like the one we have across the street, 
does it ever cross your mind that perhaps they're right? Do you ever 
allow yourself to consider the fact that perhaps he didn't do this?"


Following The Today Show, I frantically sent personal emails to all 
of the same mainstream media folks (both local and national) that I 
invited to our Dec.4 press conference, and said: "Hey, this story of 
the crime scene photos is getting even more credibility! Isn't this 
news now? Isn't it only fair to present the opinions of Abu-Jamal's 
supporters alongside those of Faulkner and Smerconish?" To top this 
off, I told the media about the 
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oi_tCg_QwGQ>slideshow presentation of 
the photos I would be giving on Dec. 8, for which I had contracted 
the use of the photos so that the media could film the event and 
therefore feature the photos on their news program. Guess what? Not 
one reporter showed up!


If these December events are not proof enough of the media's 
inexcusable bias, just compare this to the abhorrent treatment of 
"The Framing of Mumia Abu-Jamal". Faulkner, Smerconish, and other 
advocates of Abu-Jamal's execution constantly say to "read the 
transcripts" for clear evidence of a fair trial and Abu-Jamal's 
guilt. Now, here is a book that is based almost entirely on the court 
transcripts, but the author argues that these transcripts reveal a 
frame-up of a factually innocent man! This is not published by a 
leftist Abu-Jamal support group, but rather by an established 
publishing house. The most basic notions of journalistic fairness 
demand that "Framing" be given equal coverage, so that the public can 
hear both side of the debate and decide for themselves what they 
think of this case


This media blackout of "Framing" is even more scandalous following 
the May 2 NY Times article by Jon Hurdle, who also wrote the Dec.4 
Reuters article. Being recognized in the NY Times should have been an 
impetus for more coverage by other media outlets, but instead, the 
mainstream media was uniformly silent until the dishonest May 18 
article in the 
<http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08139/882258-148.stm>Pittsburgh 
Post-Gazette, by Milan Simonich. Immediately after reading the 
article that day, I submitted this "letter to the editor," but it was 
not published:


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Milan Simonich "is guilty of writing the sloppiest, most one-sided" 
book review "of the year." This dishonest review (5/18) gives further 
credibility to author J. Patrick O'Connor's allegation of mainstream 
media bias against death-row journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal.


As detailed in an interview at Abu-Jamal-News.com, O'Connor does not 
"ignore the prosecution's side of the story." He doesn't interview 
either the prosecution or defense. Instead, he relies entirely on the 
court transcripts and a few mainstream news articles to argue that 
the actual shooter of PO Daniel Faulkner was a man named Kenneth 
Freeman (who was mysteriously found dead the day after the infamous 
May 13, 1985 police bombing of MOVE). This transcript-based approach 
is powerful, because Abu-Jamal's critics always say to "read the 
transcripts" for proof of a fair 1982 trial and Abu-Jamal's guilt.


Simonich writes that O'Connor ignores/downplays Abu-Jamal's alleged 
"hospital confession." Actually, this alleged confession is central 
to the book's "frame-up" thesis, because he (like Amnesty 
International) sees it as an obvious fraud. The "witnesses" allegedly 
forgot about the confession for over 2 months! While a hospital 
security guard did testify at the 82 trial that she immediately 
reported it to her supervisor, the trial was the very first time she 
mentioned this report, and she actually disavowed the alleged written 
(and unsigned) report that the prosecution presented in court. 
Further, her supervisor was never called to testify!


Sounds fishy, huh? This is just one part of the obvious frame-up that 
O'Connor exposes.


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Then, a few days after writing the Post-Gazette, I wrote this letter 
to the Philadelphia Inquirer, which was also not published:


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I am disappointed that The Inquirer has yet to acknowledge the new 
book "The Framing of Mumia Abu-Jamal," by J. Patrick O'Connor. Just 
released by Chicago Review Press, it has been featured by The NY 
Times, and at my website, Abu-Jamal-News.com.


Advocates of Abu-Jamal's execution always say to 'read the 
transcripts' for proof of a fair 1982 trial and Abu-Jamal's guilt. 
However, O'Connor cites the trial transcripts to argue that police 
framed Abu-Jamal, and that the actual shooter of Officer Faulkner was 
a man named Kenneth Freeman, who was mysteriously found dead in a 
Northeast lot (reportedly naked, gagged, hand-cuffed, and with a drug 
needle in his arm) the day after the infamous May 13, 1985 police 
bombing of MOVE.


When Maureen Faulkner and Michael Smerconish released 'Murdered by 
Mumia' in December, The Inquirer featured three days of book 
excerpts, and more. In the interest of fairness and balance shouldn't 
'Framing' be featured in at least one substantive article?


I do applaud The Inquirer's publication of the April 2 editorial by 
author Dave Lindorff titled "The Mumia Exception" that criticized the 
March 27 court decision denying Abu-Jamal a new guilt-phase trial. 
Please extend this same fairness to coverage of "Framing."


----------


To recap, when "Murdered By Mumia" was released in December, the book 
received major coverage both locally and nationally. Almost 
uniformly, the coverage was uncritical and the book's critics were 
ignored. When "The Framing of Mumia Abu-Jamal" was released in may, 
it was virtually ignored. Can the bias be more obvious?


On Monday, J. Patrick O'Connor kicked off his East Coast book tour 
with an appearance on the Washington DC, Pacifica Radio show "Jazz 
and Justice" <http://www.voxunion.com/?p=71>(LISTEN HERE) and a 
book-signing event at 
<http://www.thejerichomovement.com/events4.html>Baruch College in New 
York City. Tuesday night, he is appearing at 
<http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o59/jaysyro/booksigning.jpg>The 
Brecht Forum alongside Pam and Ramona Africa. Wednesday, he comes to 
<http://phillyimc.org/en/node/68970>Philadelphia for an event 
organized by Journalists for Mumia. The 
<http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/06/24/18510745.php>San 
Francisco Bay Area is now preparing for a similar tour this Fall.


The question now before us is whether or not the mainstream media can 
continue their shameful behavior in reporting on the case of Mumia 
Abu-Jamal. A century ago, the journalist and former slave, Frederick 
Douglass said that "power concedes nothing". Therefore, it is up to 
us to confront the mainstream media and demand that they stop 
ignoring this important new book. When we flexed our power last 
December, and wrote NBC's Today Show to ensure fairness, we were 
rewarded with a stunning victory. 
<http://phillyimc.org/en/node/64653>Please help today by urging the 
national media, as well as our local media outlets, to report on this 
important book.


--Hans Bennett is a Philadelphia multi-media journalist, and 
co-founder of Journalists for Mumia Abu-Jamal, whose website is 
Abu-Jamal-News.com. Be sure and check the website for coverage of J. 
Patrick O'Connor's presentation in Philadelphia on June 25.




Authors Website: insubordination.blogspot.com

Authors Bio: Hans Bennett is a Philadelphia photojournalist mostly 
focusing on the movement to free Mumia Abu-Jamal and all political 
prisoners. An archive of his work is available at 
insubordination.blogspot.com and he is also co-founder of 
"Journalists for Mumia," created to challenge the long history of 
corporate media bias, whose website is: Abu-Jamal-News.com




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