Thanks, Doyle, for your suggestion for dialogue on the left about what is happening at KPFA (and around the network). Given how vital Pacifica potentially should be for a revitalized left, I think such a conversation is valuable. Please note that when I make broad statements about the actions of the LSB and some of their supporters I do not by any means intend that this is taken to mean all those who are supporting the LSB majority.
The five stations of the Pacifica Network, along with its 60 affiliate stations, are an immeasurably precious resource for the left. The licenses for KPFA in Berkeley, KPFK in Los Angeles, WBAI in New York, KPFT in Houston, and WPFW in Washington DC are worth tens of millions of dollars each. KPFA's license was granted in the late 1940s when FM radio was marginal and because of this, KPFA, like WBAI, is located in the commercial part of the radio dial. The potential reach of KPFA and the other Pacifica stations is vast. KPFA signal is one of the strongest signals of any station, commercial or noncommercial, in the San Francisco Bay Area and it reaches a third of California. The potential listenership of KPFA alone numbers 12 million people. While the latent capacity of KPFA is mind bending, the station is being torn apart by conflicts between KPFA's Local Station Board and much of the staff (certainly the majority of paid staff and a good number of unpaid staffers). The LSB is a 25 person body, three quarters of which was elected by listener-sponsor (listeners who subscribe to KPFA every year). Like most non-profit boards, the mandate of the LSB is to fundraise, find a pool of applicants for the hiring of the General Manager and Program Director, and make sure the station adheres to its mission, that is, the peace and social justice mission of Pacifica. Yet within a half of year in power, some of the listener members of the LSB have clashed with the staff and station management over issues outside of the board’s purview. LSB members have publicly attacked KPFA workers, libelously maligned both station staff and the interim General Manager, have created an unsafe working environment for certain KPFA staff members, and have put the Pacifica Foundation in danger of a number of lawsuits. LSB members have also promoted the illusory idea of divide at the station between paid and unpaid staff. The board majority has made a farce of democracy, using pseudo-parliamentary tactics to out-maneuver those who oppose them on the board. LSB members have engaged in appallingly unethical behavior. As a result, some KPFA staff and management are quitting the station because of intolerable working conditions. From what I understand, this same conflict between LSB and staff is happening at all the stations around the network. When challenged, some of those on the LSB and their supporters claim that the staff does not want to see change at the station, while the LSB represents the listeners as a whole and has the best interests of the station at heart. The LSB, however, does not represent anything but a small fraction of listeners. The turnout for the KPFA elections makes the US presidential elections look downright participatory. Only several thousand listeners voted in it and, consequently, some LSB members were elected with as few as 300-400 votes (see http://www.pacifica.org/elections/2003/index-2003.html for the election breakdown for all five stations). Most listeners I know said they had no idea who to vote for and, if they did vote, chose people randomly. I doubt most listeners would be pleased that those who are speaking in their name have opened the station up to legal liability, which they the listeners, along with the staff, will have to pay for. One of the main issues in the earlier conflict with Pacifica was that the national office was draining resources from the five member stations. KPFA General Manager Nicole Sawaya was fired after she demanded that Pacifica account for that money, leading to the lockout in 1999. Yet the costs of this new governing arrangement, set up in response to the misdeeds of the national board, gives one pause. For this year alone, the costs of the LSBs, the Pacifica National Board, and the elections – for teleconferences, plane flights and the like – are projected to be almost $600,000 and it is expected that this year's elections will cost much more than last year’s making the next fiscal year's expenses for governance even higher. Instead of helping raise money for the stations, the governing structure has become a big drain on them – and this comes at a time when our technical equipment is woefully inadequate and staff are terribly underpaid. The June report from Pacifica’s Chief Financial Officer states: “The variance which is most worrisome is that of the [Local Station Board] elections. It shows a negative variance YTD in April of 138k. On projection, I have received word that the new elections this summer and fall will cost the network an additional 160k. This will bring the total election costs in this fiscal to a grand total of 347k. (I had projected 268k by fiscal end but this new figure supercedes that number.) This figure is 347k is 29% of the Network’s working capital figure! Governance costs here are actually higher when we include National Board expenses (168k), Board related legal expenses (50k), telephone costs (15k) – all in one fiscal year. This totals 580k!” (emphasis in the original) http://www.pacifica.org/documents/pdf/Pacifica_CFO_Board_Report_April_and_May_2004.pdf As one of the younger programmers at KPFA, I strongly believe the station needs to change in order to survive and expand. There is an urgent need for quality control, renewal, and long term vision at KPFA and at Pacifica as a whole. Most of all, there is a need to reach beyond our current small audiences. The one thing Pacifica does not need is to become more insular than it already is. I believe the majority of people within the station feel the same. We, however, think that as the workers who create value at the station – without whom KPFA would not exist – the change must come from us. When, in 1999, KPFA faced a takeover from on high by Pacifica’s Executive Director and cronies, I marched in the streets with thousands of others, wrote letters, attended long meetings, and worked to get our station back. Now that we have it back I do not want to see KPFA and the other stations be ripped apart from within – or fall apart – like so many other left institutions. However, I am open to hearing other sides on this issue. ===== Sasha Lilley Producer, Against the Grain Pacifica Radio's KPFA 510 848-6767 ext 209 www.againstthegrain.org __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? New and Improved Yahoo! Mail - 100MB free storage! http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail
