Why the Pacifica National Office intervened at WBAI by Akio Tanaka Thursday Nov 14th, 2019 4:28 AM Pacifica have a directorship that somehow believes you can VOTE reality out of existence. Recently, as I was reading an exchange between Bill Crosier, KPFT Director, and Tracy Rosenberg, former KPFA Director, regarding the crisis at WBAI, it seemed that they were talking past each other. So, I asked a fellow board member Darlene Pagano, who sits on the Audit Committee, for her take on the exchange. I want to share her response.
Akio Tanaka
———————————- “Hello Akio,
I joined the PNB Audit committee, having been on the non-profit org side of many an audit in my time, and what I can say is that NETA is pulling Pacifica out of a lot of stinking muck and mud and we should be as thrilled with them as we can possibly be. NETA has been sounding the alarm on the Pacifica financial DISASTER since about day 3 of working with us.
I do think that there was NO money to further give to WBAI, and the fact that no one said NO to their GM earlier (and then dealt with the consequences) was an incredible lapse of Fiduciary responsibility at the very top of our governance structure.
John Vernile did do what an Executive Director should do, and that is make hard choices and prioritize the PACIFICA FOUNDATION needs, even if is a terrible shock to one station. Triage.!!
The NFC meetings affirm to me that NETA (a professional, “dis-interested” financial specialty firm) is the best thing that has happened to Pacifica recently. The financial documents they produce can be relied upon and will give the iED and all the GM’s a great deal of help in making some hard decisions and possible direction in planning.
Major donors and lenders will be helped by this level of verified information as well. Perhaps even our CA Attorney General who has made repeated warnings about revoking our Incorporation due to th . . . “
Darlene
Kinda Ridiculous …. by Tracy Rosenberg Sunday Nov 24th, 2019 6:10 AM “While I can’t help what some people want to believe, it is really sad to see people on the board of a community radio network being so oblivious to what their mission actually is: to operate local community radio stations. The mission of a nonprofit is not a joke. It’s the purpose of its existence. And nobody ever said it was going to be financially easy.
Pacifica’s national office is bleeding money right and left, due to poor supervision by the board. Plain and simple. The numbers are right in front of our faces. Anyone who chooses not to look at them is simply complicit in a blame game that is focused on dangling WBAI and its very lucrative broadcast license as a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
Look at these crazy numbers for a supposedly poor national office that claims it is on the verge of collapse due to a payroll loan of $35,000 for a week.
A national office payroll of $1.026 million dollars over the past two years.
National office consulting contracts totaling $399,417 over the past two years.
National office legal bills totaling $607,785 over the past two years.
National office contracted accountants totaling $321,933 in the past year. (The NETA folks).
National office corporate travel totaling $61,000 in the past year or more than $5,000 a month.
More than $2.0 million dollars received in major donor income and how much used to pay back a loan due in 2021 that holds real estate assets including the three production studios in Berkeley, LA and Houston?
The bad news is, author, playwright, radio comic, Joseph K. Adams has passed. I will so miss him. Here’s the last (worth reading) I heard from Joesky: “I think I think it’s important to try what you feel will help, reasonably, short of intense self-prescribed drug treatment. Acknowledging that it’s sad for a reason. And facing that reason. For me it was being molested as a child and having to deal with it where it belongs, in the past, I was for, I’m not for now. And I can protect me. That is a huge amount of growth. My story.May 19May 19, 2021, 5:04 PMYou sent May 19Many of the men I have met recently were molested, the latest by catholics.You sent May 19Sounds like a good reason to attach to your inner childJoseph K. AdamsJoseph sent May 19Child molestation and rape in any form qualify for ptsd. Being held at gunpoint or otherwise having your life at risk in a violent crime. Being in combat for people are repeatedly trying to kill you. There are lots of reason for PTSD but the first issue is getting honest with it. It’s terrifying and no one ever wants to admit being that powerless. But with the work I’ve done I’ve learned how to put it where it belongs, in my past, and connect to the parts of me that were isolated in different tragedies.Joseph K. AdamsJoseph sent May 19I suggest you look up a c e, adverse childhood events, from the cdc. It’s goes long beyond adult children of alcoholics,. It’s really very good.You sent May 19I want to send your words to my friend. If necessary could I use your name?Joseph K. AdamsJoseph sent May 19Certainly. We go back quite a ways and I have never found you to abuse my reference or credit. Feel free.You sent May 19Thank youJoseph K. AdamsJoseph sent May 19
You sent May 19My job before Covid was teach english as a 2nd language. If I can’t do that again, maybe I will look for another avocation
1Joseph K. AdamsJoseph sent May 19I’ve always felt it important to do work that would leave something behind, and help someone. Sounds like that job did.You sent May 19For then, but that’s over. I have a knack for finding the worst in things.You sent May 19I feel proud of what I did for KPFK and its listenersYou sent May 19I sent much of your words to him.May 20May 20, 2021, 8:41 PMYou sent May 20How are you, when is your bedtime?May 20May 20, 2021, 9:05 PMJoseph K. AdamsJoseph sent May 20I was in a zoom meeting. I don’t have a specific bedtime but I’m turning in pretty quick. How are you doing?You sent May 20Are you doing groups by zoom? More power to ya!Joseph K. AdamsJoseph sent May 20I’ve been stranded at home without being able to go to meetings for a very long time. When the pandemic hit and people started doing Zoom it was my chance to quote get out quoteJoseph sent May 20I hope people will still do them later.”
You sent May 20Now that I’m forced to learn how ( sort of) I think we’ll continue.You sent May 20June 18 at 3:22 PMFri 3:22 PMYou sent June 18 at 3:22 PM HE TOLD ME I SHOULD CONNECT TO MY INNER CHILD, AND PROTECT HER, AND THAT’S WHAT HELPED HIM.
“Why the Pacifica National Office intervened at WBAI by Akio Tanaka Thursday Nov 14th, 2019 4:28 AM Pacifica have a directorship that somehow believes you can VOTE reality out of existence. Recently, as I was reading an exchange between Bill Crosier, KPFT Director, and Tracy Rosenberg, former KPFA Director, regarding the crisis at WBAI, it seemed that they were talking past each other. So, I asked a fellow board member Darlene Pagano, who sits on the Audit Committee, for her take on the exchange. I want to share her response.
Akio Tanaka
———————————- Hello Akio,
I joined the PNB Audit committee, having been on the non-profit org side of many an audit in my time, and what I can say is that NETA is pulling Pacifica out of a lot of stinking muck and mud and we should be as thrilled with them as we can possibly be. NETA has been sounding the alarm on the Pacifica financial DISASTER since about day 3 of working with us.
I do think that there was NO money to further give to WBAI, and the fact that no one said NO to their GM earlier (and then dealt with the consequences) was an incredible lapse of Fiduciary responsibility at the very top of our governance structure.
John Vernile did do what an Executive Director should do, and that is make hard choices and prioritize the PACIFICA FOUNDATION needs, even if is a terrible shock to one station. Triage.!!”
Our Board problem is that the members don’t know who they’re voting for or against. We need to wake up and join the computer age, and really show who we are on line. And we should show pro and con arguments for all issues on line. I have many more arguments, but I don’t know if.
Jun 11, 2021, 5:43 PM (4 days ago)
The problem is not this or that form of governance. The problem is the people who have been in governance all these years. NDP are the same old people who not only created the “bad” bylaws but are now putting themselves in unremovable leadership positions. The same people who broke Pacifica can not fix it with a “new methodology,” which really does little more than try to eliminate the “other faction.”
Taking the loan was in and of itself not negligent governance, although it was not great. Needing the loan was the result of negligent governance. “Working on audience,” Pacifica’s core business, should have been a focus and I believe that almost everyone in governance for the last 20 years believes they have/had the key to that – if only the other faction didn’t get in their way. Each faction has had their turn, with only decreasing results with each switch. NDP are the same people who think they’re geniuses and some of them have now been part of both factions, all of which has produced negative results. Even if NDP is approved, there will be new factions from the same old people making more bad decisions.
John Vernile may be a professional in some areas but not, as far as I can tell, in the radio business. KPFA will be making the decisions and if you like that, then bravo, you’ve won the brass ring. This is, of course, what KPFA has been trying to do for over 20 years. There’s not much more to it than that. It’s a crapshow either way.
Next: Facts:United Electrical moved their office from the Bay Area to LA and the staff needed a union with local support. The NLRB ruled that unions can’t represent unpaid staffCWA reps at KPFA represented many KPFA unpaid staff over the years and helped negotiate a grievance policy for unpaid staff. Facts:KPFA has 4 training programs in news, operations, drive time UpFront and the apprentices with a social justice orientation. It gets grants. It upgrades technology and supports a full news department. In this challenged media market it has continues to be self sustaining because of a skilled diverse management team and production and programming training for staff. Why is WBAI’s low listenership programming still on the air? Why is there not a major effort to improve the same old vapid programming and infomercials. Is it factional control of management, conflicts of interest or lack of broadcasting management skill? It may be a self serving issue for some. It needs to be investigated and improved. I appreciate that you care about programming Jim. It is key to improving WBAI and all the stations. Swearing doesn’t really help convince people.
Next:
Why is WBAI’s low listenership programming still on the air? Why is there not a major effort to improve the same old vapid programming and infomercials. Is it factional control of management, conflicts of interest or lack of broadcasting management skill? It may be a self serving issue for some. It needs to be investigated and improved. I appreciate that you care about programming Jim. It is key to improving WBAI and all the stations. Swearing doesn’t really help convince people.
Next:
Subject: Re: A Message From Pacifica’s General Counsel About A False Posting Regarding Jane Fonda
On Fri, Jun 11, 2021 at 9:13 AM >wrote:
> Who knows or cares what level of acrimonious bullshit the various > factions and sub factions will put forth to justify inertia
it’s a fascinating miniature of the left’s foibles. isn’t resistance to amending those bylaws which have served the foundation ill over the last twenty years properly characterized as self-destructive inertia?
> They have studiously avoided for twenty years dealing with the > broadcast issues That was obvious from the start during the bylaws > process and remains so today
eventually, destruction will overcome inertia. if the current bylaws repeatedly failed to install governance which drives audience building via talented managers, shouldn’t the foundation try a new methodology?
the admirable drive to reacquire CPB funding, if it succeeds, may free just enough other revenue to cover interest payments to FJC. taking the loan was negligent governance. needing the loan should have been a strong signal to work on audience, if not in NYC, then somewhere else. but pacifica did nothing except extend its interest payment obligation.
Sharon Kyle, editor of LA Progressive will become Pacifica’s ED if the proposed bylaws are adopted. She did a questionnaire which follows the below. Below are my responses/questions to the answers she posts from that questionnaire. My answers are on KPFK Los Angeles 90.7 on Facebook:
Sue Cohen JohnsonAdminSell what off, KPFK? Hire outside professionals? That would make us into NPR! Sue Cohen JohnsonAdminManager Tarabu Betserai tried really hard to write a killer grant for KPFK, but was crushingly denied. And no CPB either. Grants are not the answer, and they would not be enough. Sue Cohen JohnsonAdminBetserai was from KPFA, for KPFK’s mgr. These are comments from outside people, they show how un-aware outsiders are. Listen to our listeners! They are desperate for health info. Don’t demean them.by assuming they don’t know which is true and false. They want alternative points of view just like they want alternative News and public affairs. And those are the plurality of our financial support. What do you think they mean when they say tell the truth about Covid? Something’s Happening successfully plays alt health info, he knows his overnight audience, leave him alone. Cut off WBAI? Throw away a huge potential audience in the biggest city and market in the country? Don’t you care about those people? Last time we had a National fundraising office, they not only sent direct mails to the members of the stations but also wanted the proceeds of station fundrives to go directly to them. And they had a National Program Director. With no local money there’s no no local hiring and no locally chosen programming, like a repeater station?
Sue Cohen JohnsonAdminThis poll was done by Sharon of LA Progressive who would become the ED of Pacifica if the new bylaws get approved. Can you say “self-serving”? Serve self-interest!?
Moe ThomasSooooo … it is true! The sale of the stations and the wholesale slaughter of the network is definitely on the agenda, despite the denials?
Sue Cohen JohnsonAdminThese are responses to her questionnaire, selected and edited by her. Pollsters know that it’s easy to skew the answers by careful questions.
NEXT What follows are the suggestions and answers to Her Questionnaire, as published by her:
https://www.laprogressive.com/survey-results…/…” . . . More to the point than these general statistics are over 300 comments from survey takers. The vast majority of survey respondents who listen to Pacifica believe it is in trouble. Their recommendations fell into five major categories:Fix the FinancesBroaden Its ReachImprove ProgrammingAddress Internal ConflictsDeclare War on Conservative/Moderate media When asked how they would improve Pacifica, many respondents laid out very specific recovery plans. Others had thoughtful comments about the current hullaboo. Rather than attempt to sort, group, or skew those responses, we list a number of them here, followed by a link to all of them. You’re welcome to add your comments below.
” . . . Break up Pacifica. There seems to be no other way to get rid of all of the problems. Maybe keep those stations which function well. Get rich supporters like Martin Sheen, Tim Robbins, Susan Sarandon, Jack Black, Joni Mitchel, Mimi Kennedy, Lebron James, Jane Fonda, Al Gore, etc to give a lot to pay for the launch of the new station that has hired real professionals and accountants. The big signal has to be maintained.Pacifica missed the opportunity to become a university of the air-waves…thus allowing degree earning students to be supported and funded by their local Pacifica radio station…and in turn providing income to the stations involved…allowing for a rapid spread trained journalists, technicians etc..Pacifica has taken a real dive in the last year or so. Instead of edgy, radical news breaking reports, Pacifica has gone the way of NPR with human interest and liked news. I would return to the original format.I think the first order of business needs to be to get more people like me aware of Pacifica. Next would be to generate a backing of paying subscribers. Third would be to develop effective outreach to counter the inevitable badmouthing of Pacifica that can be expected from the likes of Fox News.It may not be the best advice, but I really want to see the Left become more assertive. I do not want violence, but the Left could be more aggressive in attacking the Right.It may not be the best advice, but I really want to see the Left become more assertive. I do not want violence, but the Left could be more aggressive in attacking the Right.Not to feel as dry. Also, it’s good to have progressive leftist programming but also have Moderate programming with leftist viewpoints so that more of a mass audience can relate. More programming from the viewpoint of the everyday person and what they are going through and how progressive policies are helping them in their life.Declare war on liberal AND conservative media – two different flavors of the same propaganda. Be fiercely independent. You cannot frame stuff as “fighting back against the right” since the left as just as, if not more corrupt. Rebrand as the ONLY source of propaganda-free news. Attack the phony narratives. tell the truth about Covid and Israel and the USA being the world’s biggest terrorist state and Biden being a lifelong conman/grifter. That’s a good place to start. You have to win people back by telling the truth. That’s how Krystal and Saagar did it.Oh, so many ways. There has to be a rejiggering of mentality, and there should be a push for foundation money — really — to create real people’s news. Produced and directed by and given by the people — the poor, the disenfranchised, the downtrodden, the BIPOC, marginalized, and those of us who are hard left socialists, communists.Dispense with the snake-oil and magic crystal shows. How can Pacifica brag about its honesty when it is peddling false medical claims for untested products?KPFK needs to be better integrated with the struggles and issues of local communities. Needs to do better outreach and marketing. Many local people are not aware of Pacifica. Beyond issues taken on by progressive, issues of concern to regular working people need to be highlighted.Get the financial house in order so we can stop being in perpetual fundraising mode. Ditch the new age hucksterism. Selling highly questionable items and get rich programs belong on the home shopping network for gullible morons not on Pacifica and FIRE Christine Blasdale because she is the one pushing these things!!!I would make Pacifica more present and participatory in society beyond its daily broadcast. I moved to LA in 2003 and was immediately aware of KCRW and KPCC, and LA Weekly. They sponsor and are present at cultural events. Many people talk about them. I do not ever recall Pacifica arising in any conversation. Pacifica has never come up in web search results for any news story for which I have ever searched for more information.Sell it off and use the proceeds to finance a modern, progressive digital imprint.Hate, really HATE to say it, but one has to somehow catch people in their 20’s and 30’s a bit more (I’m in 60’s)… if only fleetingly that their electronic address in given if poss. Then keep up-dating them with things periodically. And making the archive system as cutting-edge as possible, so, for example, “Something’s Happening” doesn’t HAVE to be listened to in the middle of the night, possibly increasing listener-ship by a dozen-fold eventually. Other matters deserve hard thinking about.Improve the financial condition of the station so we are not subjected to the incessant fund drives! Cut WBAI and Gary Null off and stop paying the rent/mortgage on that expensive NY office building. Make Democracy Now! broadcast from Amy or Juan’s place and declare a jubilee on the massive debt Gary Null has accrued towards Pacifica. He’s got enough moolah from his health food store there in Manhattan.People used to listen to FDR’s “fireside chats,” because they knew who was speaking and what time the “chat” was going to take place. What if organizers selected two hours per week as “21st Century Fireside Chats.” Schedule well known Progressive leaders to share their thoughts about issues that are crucial to the lives of “ordinary people.”Get the hippie-dippy New Age baloney off. More Barbara Prescod, more Rich Jeserich, more Marxist analysis, more communists.Reorganize a la New Day so that the larger stations won’t be broken up to save the debt-ridden stations….and keep our local control to address the needs of all of Pacifica.Get your top media people to become household names with a rigorous PR campaign that gets them on TV, radio, social media, etc.Streamline the governing process; create a fundraising arm or development office nationally with networks in every Pacifica region or market area. Actively survey the listeners on usefulness of program offerings; stabilize the management and leadership locally and nationally.The non-stop fundraising let’s the audience know that something is not right with the organization. I listen all the time and have to wonder who is running the organization. I know there’s support for the station + incredible amount of quality volunteers donating their work. It would be great to get a solid business structure to match the strength of the signal.Make it less corporate and more diverse. Talk about workers and unions and have cultural programs that reflect the communities they serve. What happened to “Straight No Chaser”? I loved that music program. another great show? Smoke Rings. Have music appreciation programs with the experts in music like Gustave Dudamel. Interview guests like Professor Gerald Horne who wrote the authoritative book on Jazz titled, “The Political Economy of Jazz”. interview real intellectuals, not posers.By maintaining its democratic governance structure and establishing a task force to learn and teach — working with all five stations — how to effectively utilize the network’s archived programs (which is most of them) to tap into the podcasting world, the medium typically used by members of younger generations to access audio programming. And NEVER AGAIN cynically betray the founder’s pacifism (the source of the network’s name) by resorting to transparent fascism: sending violent thugs to a Pacifica station (that was, btw, GIVEN to the network, along with more than a decade of massive financial support from the benefactor, which is how Pacifica was able to survive and expand) to terrorize staff, cause extensive damage and frighten the landlord, who had always been a Pacifica supporter, with the goal — at the very least — of quashing local community control at that station.Better organized websites would permit access to podcasts by subject. Comments within those areas could be moderated. Content could be tagged and reposted to social media sites.Pacifica needs a social media strategistPacifica can spread itself into red states via social media, especially with regard to Calendars, elections, events, and partners . . . “
PacificaKPFK2014History.com 