Has anyone heard of Link TV?

[Peter McGuire]

Link TV is only available on Satellite based Dish Network and DirecTV. They seem to dig deep into some very controversial subjects. But would they openly discuss the Kennedy and King assassinations?

I submit it would be their downfall.

Link TV broadcasts programs that engage, educate and activate viewers to become involved in the world. These programs provide a unique perspective on international news, current events, and diverse cultures, presenting issues not often covered in the US media.

SENIOR MANAGEMENT

Paul S. Mason, President & Chief Executive Officer, is an award-winning broadcast journalist and documentarian. A 28-year veteran of ABC News, Mason served as senior vice president and the executive-in-charge of several ABC News shows, including Nightline, This Week with George Stephanopoulos, and ABC News Radio. He also directed all political coverage at ABC News and served as executive producer for the weekend edition of World News Tonight. Through the course of his career, Mason's work earned an Emmy (plus 14 Emmy nominations), four Cine Golden Eagles, and the New York Film Festival Grand Prize for his one-hour news documentary, Judgment at Midnight. He was a member of the ABC News team that won the DuPont Silver Baton and the Peabody Award for coverage of the events of September 11, 2001. For more information, please see Paul's full bio.

Kim Spencer, Chief Content Officer, is an award-winning producer of over 50 documentaries and television specials. His 1983 documentary The First 50 Years, on the history of U.S.- Soviet relations, won a DuPont-Columbia Award. A pioneer in using satellite links to foster global dialogue, Kim produced a series of fifteen international “spacebridges” including The Moscow Link, a live TV exchange that changed USSR attitudes on nuclear war, the Five Continent Spacebridge, and Capitol to Capitol, a series of live debates on ABC between the U.S. Congress and the USSR Supreme Soviet (winning two Emmy Awards in 1989). Subsequently Kim became coordinating producer of ABC News’ Prime Time Live. In the 1990s he produced the innovative Vis à Vis documentary series on PBS: transcontinental video dialogues linking people from their homes and workplaces. He was a founder and executive director of Internews Network, an international non-profit organization that fosters independent media in 40 developing countries. Spencer is also executive producer of Link TV’s original productions, including Global Pulse, Bridge to Iran and Mosaic.

Keith Chreston, Chief Financial Officer, has over 25 years experience as a senior financial executive and consultant with businesses and non-profit organizations. He is the General Manager of Chreston Consulting LLC, a financial consulting firm. His non-profit background includes prior service as the Chief Operating Officer of the Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy in San Francisco, California, as well as interim COO and CFO of the East Bay Community Foundation in Oakland, California. Keith was formerly a senior financial executive for several businesses, and a CPA and auditor with Ernst & Young. He holds an MBA degree from St. Mary’s College in Moraga, California.

Hannah Eaves, Vice President/Digital & Engagement, oversees Link TV's Internet operations, managing design, engineering, and new technology development. Prior to Link TV, Hannah worked for 10 years as an interactive multimedia producer, video producer, and video editor for clients including Tower Records, Kaiser Permanente, and Blockbuster. Her web management experience has brought her onto projects for Sam Goody, HP, and Altera, as well as into long term positions with several Bay Area VOD start-ups. As a journalist she has covered the convergence of film, TV, and the tech world for publications including SOMA Magazine, the Santa Cruz Sentinel, Imagining Reality: The Faber Book of Documentary Film, Alternet, GreenCine, PopMatters, and most recently as an expert tech columnist for SF360.

Ben Fuller, Vice President/Business Development, was co-founder and president of eBizApps.com, an e-business solutions consulting company acquired by Framfab of Sweden. Ben previously worked at DaimlerChrysler and Global Business Network. Fluent in six languages, Ben holds a master’s degree from Stanford University and completed a Fulbright Scholarship. In addition to overseeing development of new web products, Ben is responsible for Link's PEG and alternative cable distribution. Ben manages Link’s operations in Los Angeles.

Wendy Hanamura, Vice President/Strategy & General Manager, oversees the network's on-air operations, post-production and pledge drives. Hanamura also serves as host of many pledge specials, and originated Mosaic Special Reports, Link TV's Middle Eastern news analysis program. Wearing several hats, Hanamura also executive produces series for Link TV, including the One Nation, Many Voices Online Film Contest, and she is part of the development team for the Global Pulse News Service. Hanamura has been an award-winning documentarian and television journalist for more than 23 years. Her programs have been seen internationally on PBS, CBS, the Discovery Channel, and NHK-TV in Japan. Her documentaries often focus on the personal story as it exemplifies larger issues in our society and collectively they have been awarded an Emmy, a Cine Golden Eagle and a Chris Award for Best Social Issues Documentary. Hanamura began her career at Time magazine; she has been a nightly news reporter for KPIX-TV in San Francisco, as well as a Tokyo-based television and radio correspondent for World Monitor on the Discovery Channel, an anchor for NHK, The Japanese Broadcasting Company, and a series producer for PBS station, KQED.

Lorraine Hess, Vice President/Programming, has been a key member of the programming and acquisitions department since the channel’s inception in 1999. Prior to working at Link TV, Lorraine worked for over 13 years in international production and documentary film. Her roles ranged from series and executive producer to field producer and post-production producer. Lorraine’s work, both in the television and production realms, and in her prior work as a teacher, has taken her all over the world. It has also solidified her passion for world cultures and people, as well as her compassion for the underdog and for people whose voices can reach a wider audience through television and film. Lorraine has a degree in French Language and Literature from the University of Sheffield in the UK.

Janet Pailet, Vice President/Development, is responsible for spearheading the organization's fundraising and sponsorship efforts. Pailet has over twenty years of fundraising experience in both the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors of entertainment, media, and health care. She has raised more than $25 million for theater, film, and entertainment projects from high net worth individuals as a commercial producer. She is a graduate of the State University of New York where she earned a B.A. in Political Science with Magna Cum Laude. She also holds a J.D. from the American University's College of Law in Washington, D.C.

[Paul Brancato]

Not high at all, and viewer sponsored.

[Peter McGuire]

Not high at all, and viewer sponsored.

Thats right - there can not be many viewers , Dish and Direct do not pay anything to Link, hence the constant ads for donations.

Regarding the 1953 Iran Coup; there is an interesting clip of Allen Dulles denying that the U.S. would ever be involved in assassination or nation building. Quite hilarious.

And although the Coup has been available for reading , getting it on TV would widen the number of people aware of the 1953 Iran Coup, the players, and the implications on the Middle East.

The episode ends by speculating that the government under Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh could have evolved peacefully in Iran which would have put a Democratic government right in the heart of the now troubled Middle East!

Great job CIA and Kermit Roosevelt et al!

These same people were likely involved in Dallas just a decade later - so maybe if Link has more shows like this they will come after the station after all!

The following is from Spartacus - Amy Goodman is a frequent guest on Link TV.

http://www.spartacus...FKroosevelt.htm

3) Steven Kinzer, interviewed by Amy Goodman, Democracy Now (4th March, 2004)

The story of how the C.I.A. overthrew the government of Iran in 1953 is really an object lesson in how easy it is for a rich and powerful country to throw a poor and weak country into chaos. The CIA sent one of its most adept operatives, Kermit Roosevelt, the grandson of President Theodore Roosevelt, to Iran with the mission of organizing the overthrow of the government. One reason I was so interested in writing this book is that I have always asked myself, how do you go about overthrowing a government? What do you do? Suppose that you are sent to a country with that mission. What do you do on the first day? How do you start and then what do you do? Well, now I know. Kermit Roosevelt set about trying to create chaos in Iran. He was able to do that very quickly by a series of means. The first thing he did was, he started bribing members of parliament and leaders of small political parties that were a part of Mossadegh 's political coalition. Pretty soon the public started to see the Mossadegh ’s coalition splitting apart and people denouncing him on the floor of parliament. The next thing Roosevelt did was start bribing newspaper editors, owners and columnists and reporters. Within a couple of weeks, he had 80% of the newspapers in Tehran on his payroll and they were grinding out every kind of lie attacking Mossadegh. The next thing Roosevelt did was start bribing religious leaders. Soon, at Friday prayers, the Mullahs were denouncing Mossadegh as an atheist enemy of Islam. Roosevelt also bribed members of police units and low-ranking military officers to be ready with their units on the crucial day. In what I think was really his master stroke, he hired the leaders of a bunch of street gangs in Tehran, and he used them to help create the impression that the rule of law had totally disintegrated in Iran. He actually at one point hired a gang to run through the streets of Tehran, beating up any pedestrian they found, breaking shop windows, firing their guns into mosques, and yelling -- "We love Mossadegh and communism." This would naturally turn any decent citizen against him. He didn't stop there. He tired a second mob to attack the first mob, to give people the impression that there was no police presence and order had completely disintegrated. So, within just a few weeks, this one agent operating with a large sum of cash and a network of contacts and various elements of society, had taken what was a fairly stable country and thrown it into complete upheaval.

Edited January 3, 2013 by Peter McGuire