Pacifica Announces Settlement With Empire State Building and Empire State Realty Trust (Pacifica press release)
http://pacificainexile.org/
Advertisements
Jun9
2018 Empire State Building Settlement
Category Archives: Pacifica
Nov5
In answer to some questions:
Goodbye Dick Gregory, no one can replace you. Rest in beauty.
Pacifica National USED TO have very little power and little staff including PRArchives until they were able to market the subcarrier frequencies and direct the income to themselves (Sharon Maeda).
Now they have hiring final power at National Board and since they have no experience running a non-profit listener-sponsored radio station, they don’t know who (whom?) to hire, and it shows.
Blosdale is iGM and a good choice.
Station Hiring committees used to be required to have representation from all quarters, LSBoard, paid staff, unpaid staff, local manager or rep. But last time at KPFK the paid staff didn’t even know they were replacing the iGM who we loved, with a lesser choice. Not consulted nor informed.
Sue Cohen Johnson
former Membership Dir., programmer, board op, receptionist, KPFK
Some say that making the LSBs not self-selecting but elected instead, was the downfall. I think we should have some of both.
“Lower” hires should also be by committee so that “Management” can’t just hire them, then promote them to Management without due process.
Apr24
Links-Pacifica History: From KPFK, Los Angeles-Overview
From Pacifica.org, from KPFK.org:
“The Pacifica Foundation (now known as Pacifica Foundation Radio) was born in the late 1940’s out of the (now nearly forgotten) peace movement surrounding World War Two. Lewis Hill, a conscientious objector and Washington, D.C. newsman, was fired from his mainstream reporting job when he refused to misrepresent the facts.
This was a time when the idea of a listener-sponsored radio station was a new one which had never been implemented. Many people doubted the viability of a broadcast model which didn’t rely on some kind of corporate or government funding. But the idea was too compelling for Hill and others who agreed with him. Pacifica was born and in 1949 KPFA went on the air from Berkeley, California.
KPFK, in Los Angeles, was the second of what would eventually become five Pacifica Stations to go on the air. It was 1959 and Terry Drinkwater was the first General Manager. Blessed with an enormous transmitter in a prime location, KPFK is the most powerful of the Pacifica stations and indeed is the most powerful public radio station in the Western United States. . . .
http://www.pacifica.org/about_history.php
- Matthew Lasar, author of Pacifica Radio: The Rise of an Alternative Network (2nd Edition) and Uneasy Listening: Pacifica Radio’s Civil War
- Jesse Walker, author of Rebels on the Air : An Alternative History of Radio in America
- David Barsamian, author of The Decline and Fall of Public Broadcasting: Creating Alternative Media
- Laura Flanders, author of Real Majority, Media Minority : The Costs of Sidelining Women in Reporting
- William Mandel, Saying No to Power : Autobiography of a 20th Century Activist and Thinker
- Steve Post, Playing in the FM Band: A Personal Account of Free Radio”
Apr24
Videos Pacifica turns 60
Democracy Now features KPFA On the Air documentary
Part 1, 11 minutes, the other 5 episodes follow on Youtube
“Pacifica Radio at 60: KPFA Remains a Sanctuary of Dissent Six Decades After Its Founding
Today marks the sixtieth anniversary of Pacifica Radio. On April 15th, 1949 at 3:00 p.m., a charismatic conscientious objector named Lewis Hill sat before a microphone and said, This is KPFA Berkeley. With that, KPFA went on the air, and the first listener-supported radio station in the United States was born. Pacifica Radio is the oldest independent media network in the United States, and its sixtieth birthday comes as a deepening crisis engulfs mainstream media. To commemorate the sixtieth anniversary of Pacifica Radio today, we feature a documentary about the first Pacifica Radio station: KPFA in Berkeley. Its called KPFA on the Air by filmmakers Veronica Selver and Sharon Wood and narrated by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alice Walker.”
Feb20
CPB note (2016)
From FCC Attorney John Crigler
Crigler’s recommendation isn’t “outdated”. It was sent on November 14, 2016. Here are some excerpts: “Before I get to your question, I should make sure that you know that CPB has been cracking down on noncompliance and beefing up its annual certification requirements. I favor in-person meetings for two reasons. First as a legal matter, CAB meetings have to be “open.” The other reason for having in-person meetings is to make sure that the CAB members are on-task and committed. You don’t want to encourage CAB members to multi-task on other interests during meetings which they do not attend in person. The LSBs are created by Pacifica’s Bylaws rather than CPB requirements, but because they function as committees of the PNB they are subject to open meeting rules, so my answer would be the same as for CABs”. 
Nov7
Broad cast your Show
Sprouts: Radio From the Grassroots
Do you have a radio production worthy of national broadcast?
Feature it on Sprouts: Radio from the Grassroots!
Sprouts: Radio From the Grassroots is a 29-minute weekly program coordinated out of the Pacifica Affiliates office, dedicated to showcasing radio content produced at community radio stations and independent production groups. Sprouts celebrates grassroots voices and is renowned for bringing diverse topics to national and international audiences. It is an open door for grassroots radio producers who wish to easily get widespread attention for a particular production, story, or issue.
Participating producers are provided with Sprouts Production Instructions, including the introduction and closing script and music, as well as assistance, if needed. A variety of topics and styles are acceptable, from mini-documentaries, to cultural themes, to breaking issues of national importance. Radio producers are encouraged to send us local stories that have national relevance and are presented in a way that a national audience can appreciate.
Sprouts is distributed by Pacifica Radio and is free of charge to all radio stations. It is aired regularly by 40-50 radio station in the United States, Canada, and Europe. The program is also aired by many other stations on an irregular basis, depending upon the topic.
Contributing a production to Sprouts is an excellent way to bring a worthwhile production piece to a wider audience and to let people know about great production and reporting in grassroots radio. It is an excellent way to get an important story or issue to a wide audience.
Episodes of Sprouts can be heard below, through the SoundCloud audio widget.
For more information, contact Ursula Ruedenberg / Ursula@pacifica.org / 510-812-7989
-
pacificanetwork – Sprouts: Election Eve at the Grassroots
-
- 8 plays8
pacificanetwork – Sprouts: Disaster Radio -
- 12 plays12
pacificanetwork – Sprouts: Sports and Social Justice
Nov6
KPFA excellent article by Bill Thomas
This must have been written when KPFA’s building was new, maybe 1994?
A Passion for Radio
Radio Waves and Community
For full artcle go to: http://comunica.org/passion/pdf/chapter5.pdf\
Sep3
Non-profit Funding Vendors or “Underwriting”
Whole article: http://www.raise-funds.com/2001/should-your-organization-sell-products-services-to-raise-money/
[Here is an excerpt from the comments, that I am putting here before the main article: ”
-
Tony Poderis on April 7, 2015 at 10:31 am
Should Your Organization
Sell Products & Services to Raise Money?
I am made increasingly aware of the conflict non-profit organizations experience when faced with choosing between:
- Raising the money they need using a traditional philanthropic process.
- Making a profit from selling and endorsing commercial products and services.
The number and variety of selling opportunities presented to non-profit organizations, especially through the Internet, is growing rapidly. All too often, the advertisements for those products and services make outrageous and misleading promises of big and easy money to needy and vulnerable non-profits.
There is nothing wrong with selling a commercial product or service to help support a non-profit organization if:
- The time expended can be justified by the profit gained.
- It neither restricts nor replaces the far more effective and time-proven philanthropic process—a process that has seen billions of dollars raised over decades of time.
- An organization institutes a product or sales program as additional and complimentary to their regular fund-raising, not as a replacement or alternative to it.
“Girl Scouts Can’t Live on Cookies Alone”
Raising contributed income for non-profit organizations requires much more than selling commercial products and services to make money. Such programs have their place, but most organizations simply cannot generate enough income from them to meet all their needs. A number of years ago the Girl Scouts proved that point with their highly visible campaign to let the public know that “Girl Scouts can’t live on cookies alone,” and that the organization required additional major support in the form of philanthropic contributions.
Selling products and services to generate income seems an easy way to make money. Some commercial vendors of products and services even tell their prospective non-profit customers, “all of the money you’ll ever need,” can be raised this way. That “sales pitch” is very attractive to non-profits which are unable to fathom how they can undertake the hard and sometimes frustrating work of recruiting volunteers, identifying prospects, managing campaigns, and asking for money.
It seems easier and less painful to sell products and services to their constituents and to the general public. The “make more money than you’ll ever need” sales hype they hear from some commercial vendors is quite attractive indeed.
While there are many reputable vendors of products and services now in the marketplace who seek to help non-profits develop new sources of income, they do not always apply a customer-first attitude to their non-profit customers and clients:
- They are not assessing the real needs of the non-profits to see if the proposed product or service-related program has a place in the organization at that time.
- If it does have a place, how it can be a good fit.
Well meaning vendors of merchandise and services often fail to realize that many charitable organizations are likely to embrace a sales program because they perceive it as a way to provide quick and promising rewards while being less stressful and labor-intensive than fund-raising campaigns.
A non-profit organization must always prioritize and put into meaningful perspective opportunities to generate contributed income. In the main, they must always strive to raise the greatest amount of money from the fewest funding sources in the shortest period of time. This simple premise is absolutely critical to most non-profits to employ because of their constantly imminent needs and limited resources. All fund-raising efforts should be measured in those ways.
When considering selling a product or service, officials of a non-profit organization should ask themselves:
- If we sell a product or service to help support our organization, will the effort be justified with the time expended relative to the profit gained?
- Will we assure that the selling program neither restricts nor replaces the far more effective and proven philanthropic process we should be employing?
- What marketing plans can we develop which will maximize our chances for real profit?
- Will we attempt to sell to the general public which does not know our organization? If so, do we really believe we will make money by selling a commercial product available elsewhere? In short, what compelling reason do these persons having no relationship whatsoever with our organization have to buy from us?
- If we sell to our regular donors, will we run the risk of annoying them and perhaps losing their charitable support because of what they may see as yet another solicitation? Contrary to what the vendors say, our regular donors will see their purchases from us primarily as charitable support of our organization.
- When we promote the products and services of one company, will we risk the loss of traditional philanthropic support from other competing companies?
- Is the product or service of a type and quality we would want to associate with our organization?
- If the product or service is to be purchased via the Internet access, what do we know about how Internet-capable our constituents are and how receptive they may be to buying online?
- Are we willing to take the chance that the product or service we are selling can be withdrawn by the provider at any time leaving us high and dry?
. . . .
And please remember, the good name of your organization is far more important than any financial gain. Whenever you associate your organization’s reputation to a particular vendor or service provider, or the type of product and service you will be presenting to your constituencies, be certain to avoid embarrassment for less-than-tasteful associations and watch for any hidden potential for controversy. If at all possible, seek to match the commercial enterprise with your mission for a more acceptable and logical “fit,” such as the Heart Association has with the maker of “lean cuisine” and the Arthritis Foundation has with the maker of aspirin.”
[And there are comments at the original posting site.]
Jun8
From 2012, Coalitions vying
Progressives scratch heads over Pacifica radio hire of Jackson Lewis
The KPFA Worker website says that the Pacifica Foundation has retained the law firm of Jackson Lewis to manage some of its legal affairs. The foundation owns listener supported station KPFA in Berkeley, and four similar non-commercial stations in Los Angeles, New York, Washington, D.C. and Houston.“We see the entry of Jackson Lewis as a declaration of war on the unions that represent Pacifica workers,” wrote KPFA’s union stewards to their employer last week. “We fear it will lead to unnecessary legal expenses the network can ill afford, sour Pacifica’s already dismal relationship with its union workers, and alienate many listener-supporters who do not want their donations to be handed over to one of organized labor’s greatest enemies in the United States.”
KPFA’s paid staff is represented by the Communications Workers of America. Jackson Lewis is widely regarded as a management law firm that practices “union avoidance.” The pro-union American Rights at Work website cites numerous instances of the aggressive stance that the firm allegedly counsels for its clients, among them Borders Books.
[Go here for the full article: http://www.radiosurvivor.com/2012/03/20/progressives-scratch-heads-over-pacifica-radio-hire-of-jackson-lewis/
May29
KPFK Michelle Alexander frequently featured
|
|||||
Mar16
Note: David Barsamian-Alternative Radio
Just ahead of a speaking engagement in Kansas City, David Barsamian will be on the phone on a pledge drive edition of Tell Somebody on October 9, 2014, 9:15 – 10:00 am Central Time on 90.1 FM KKFI, streaming at www.kkfi.org.
https://www.facebook.com/events/707444282663151/?ref_notif_type=plan_mall_activity&source=1
OCT9
Thu 9:10 AM in CDT · on your radio dial 90.1 FM KKFI
4 people interested · 15 people going
Regular Producer for Pacifica and KPFK
Mar15
Article: Fairness Doctrine in media
Grassroots Radio Conference added a new photo.
·
From Facebook
Jan30
Article on WPFW fighting or . . .
http://www.counterpunch.org/2006/06/02/can-pacifica-live-up-to-its-promise/
”
Telling Facts and Naming Names
Since 1993
JUNE 2, 2006
Can Pacifica Live Up to Its Promise?
Pacifica was founded by radical pacifists who refused to fight even in World War II; nor were they content to wash their hands of the situation and be quietly hidden away in camps. Rather they wanted to disseminate their ideas; so after World War II, they established Pacifica radio, in the words of its mission, to “gather and disseminate information on the causes of conflict between” and to “contribute to a lasting understanding between nations and individuals of all nations, races, creeds and colors.” Hopefully the Pacifica board, which meets this weekend in New York City, will live up to this legacy.
In the late 90s and early in this decade, problems long-festering Pacifica spilled out and resulted in a series of lockouts, lawsuits and conflicts that gripped the network, which owns five stations. By the time the cataclysmic events of 9-11 happened, the network was in a state of internal war; crucially, its flagship program, “Democracy Now!”, was eerily being censored from Pacifica’s stations in New York City and Washington, D.C.
This occurred largely because “Democracy Now!”, unlike much of the other programming on those stations, sought to report on moves by the Pacifica national board, which seemed intent on mainstreaming the network, and possibly selling off parts of it. There was some indication that these actions could even have been motivated by goals of personal profit for board members (the stations are now worth hundreds of millions of dollars). . . .”
for more go to: http://www.counterpunch.org/2006/06/02/can-pacifica-live-up-to-its-promise/
Dec7
KPFA, Pacifica, sell building?
The Daily Californian
NEWS
Berkeley-based radio station network strategizes financial solutions in threat of default
BY ALOK NARAHARI | STAFF
A strategic planning working group — formed by the Pacifica Foundation Radio National Board of Directors, which oversees a network of nonprofit radio stations headquartered in Berkeley — held a planning meeting Thursday to try to keep its business alive.
At the meeting, the board’s leaders discussed the financial struggles ailing the company and potential contingency plans in case of short-term default. Jose Luis Fuentes-Roman, a member of the Pacifica National Board, or PNB, mentioned the selling of the Berkeley office — which serves as the national office — and financial swaps of broadcasting rights as possible ways to raise money in the face of mounting debt. …
Oct30
Article KPFK Pacifica decline (3/2014)
http://www.laweekly.com/news/left-wing-darling-pacifica-radio-is-sliding-into-the-abyss-4521218
3/21/14
“NIMBY-ism, but with microphones”
The LA Weekly‘s piece about the decline of Pacifica is a really terrific read. I’ll pick out a few choice bits at random. First, the ratings:
Pacifica has a long and storied history, and still features such leading liberals as Amy Goodman, the widely known host of Democracy Now! (on which journalists Glenn Greenwald and Jeremy Scahill are frequent guests), but it has fallen on hard times of late. Listenership, according Reese, is “extraordinarily low.” During an average 15-minute period, just 700 people listen to its Los Angeles station, 90.7 FM KPFK, for at least five minutes, according to Nielsen Audio, which monitors radio ratings.
For L.A.’s other public radio stations, KCRW and KPCC, that number is 8,000 and 20,000, respectively. KPFK draws roughly one one-thousandth of all radio listeners in the Metro Los Angeles area.
Pacifica’s New York station, WBAI, is even worse off, with too few listeners to register on the Arbitron rankings, and is all but bankrupt. Last year, most of the staff was laid off, including the entire news department.
Facebook and twitter followers will have heard me complain incessantly about the local NPR station’s pledge drives, which rather than what might think is the mutually beneficially arrangement of interspersing the pledge drive with listenable content like news updates, consist of nothing but people asking for money for days on end. (Does anyone listen to this for more than 3 minutes at time?) But, at least, we’re spared Alex Jones-caliber conspiracy theories:
The rest is here: http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2014/03/nimby-ism-but-with-microphones
[I, Sue, still want to remind us all that Arbitrons are racist and classist, and don’t give a realistic look at what the “have-nots” are listening to. Plus at KPFK we are terrible at “branding’. Listeners focus on the particular show names and don’t always identify KPFK, Powered by the People. And the Arbitron ratings depend upon a few perfect matching names and slogans only.]
http://www.laweekly.com/news/left-wing-darling-pacifica-radio-is-sliding-into-the-abyss-4521218
Sep23
Article Pacifica’s Andrew Leslie Phillips, veteran Program Dir. and iGM of WBAI and KPFA
~6 pages_
“Riding the waves at Pacifica radio, by Andrew Leslie Phillips 8/13
Andrew Leslie Phillips has written a short history of the Pacifica radio network, published below. He is interim general manager of Pacifica station KPFA in Berkeley, California.
Phillips is a native of Australia. He spent seven years in Papua New Guinea as a government patrol officer, radio journalist and filmmaker before coming to New York in 1975. He produced award-winning investigative radio documentaries on a wide range of environmental and political issues for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and for Pacifica station WBAI in New York City. He taught journalism, radio and “sound image” as an adjunct professor at New York University for 10 years.
The Pacifica foundation was founded in 1946 by poet and journalist Lewis Hill and a small group of pacifists, intellectuals and experienced radio people. They did not have the same political or economic philosophy but shared a vision which supported a peaceful world, social justice and creativity. ….
FM was a new, technology and Pacifica was backing the future, inventing an entirely new funding mechanism – the theory of listener sponsored radio. . . .
Equality of access to airtime has always been at the center of controversy at Pacifica and community radio everywhere. Most on-air people at Pacifica were not paid until the mid 1990’s. They volunteered and they made money to support the Foundation by pitching their programming on free-speech Pacifica radio. That was the deal. It was a tacit agreement – Pacifica provides opportunity and access whilst producers agreed to pitch and encourage on air pledges. By far the largest percentage of financial support for Pacifica still comes from listener donations.[2]. . . ”
http://www.radiosurvivor.com/2013/08/06/riding-the-waves-at-pacifica-radio-by-andrew-leslie-phillips/
?
September 16 2015
-
Andrew Leslie Phillips [in a negative mood]: “I know many who follow this page [https://www.facebook.com/groups/PacRadioSupporters/] are, have been or aspire to “run” Pacifica but most of you are not qualified and there are too many of you on overcrowded ineffectual boards. I know why this clumsy governance system was originally implemented but it has not worked. We all know that now. Pacifica as an institution was always a tenuous affair but never more so than now. There seems little point to the institution any longer. The audience is old and growing older, the programming in most cases, second rate. Most information Pacifica carries is available elsewhere. Pacifica has been nit-picked to death by competing factions. I believe there maybe a place for individual stations to strike out on their own but the governance structure stands in the way of that. I spent some great years at WBAI (1979-1993) and in those days WBAI and Pacifica meant something. We did ground breaking programming and produced many fine producers, a lot of whom can now be heard on NPR (since there was no future even then at Pacifica, for talented broadcasters so they moved on). Amy Goodman may have been the best “thing” to come out of Pacifica (and Amy was forced out by noxious WBAI management) and when Amy say’s “From Pacifica” in her DemNow intro she is not really saying it as it is because DemNow comes “from Pacifica” only because Michael Yoshida at KPFA ensures DemNow get on the satellite on time every day. During my tenure at KPFA (2011-2013) I came to like and respect many in that community. But I too was skewered by some who came to disagree with me and manipulated me out of my position with unfounded accusations and deception. Unfortunately Pacifica under its current charter breeds a kind of Machiavellian environment and John Proffitt is just another victim.”
Sep23
Article by a long-time skilled, experienced Volunteer, still relevant
The following is an interesting article-response that I mostly disagree with:
“PNB and staff criticized in LA Indymedia article, response with info is here:
30 September, 2009 – 20:09 — maryjanie
This is a reposting from an article in www.la.indymedia that was in response to allegations and accusations made by another author who chose to remain anonymous – while freely making declarations against both the PNB, specific staff and board members, and named individuals who may need to realize their names are thus used.
Title of that article is :
Pacifica’s Current Board Structure is Destroying the Network
written by Concerned Pacifican
Monday, Sep. 28, 2009 at 5:19 PM {URL is below}
the article can be found at :
http://la.indymedia.org/news/2009/09/230683_comment.php#230721
http://pacificana.org/2009/09/30/pnb-and-staff-criticized-la-indymedia-article-response-info-here
Title: Network
by Terry Goodman Wednesday,
Sep. 30, 2009 at 4:05 PM
tgoodman4@roadrunner.com
As is typical of anonymous Indymedia acticles about Pacifica, the piece “Pacifica’s Current Board Structure is Destroying the Network” is biased, presenting misinformation as fact to manipulate opinion. Such articles reflecting a narrow ideological interpretation of historical events commonly appear in the middle of each Pacifica delegate election period. This refutation attempts to balance those distortions with accuracy.
There is certainly little doubt that Pacifica’s current board structure has problems or that the network is in distress, but the true causes of the network’s disfunction actually predate its democratization. The original article is also generally correct in its central claim that a long-sought purge is underway. But what those primarily responsible for the network’s problems now call an assault on everything good and decent is viewed by others as the long-delayed remedy to persistent mismanagement and the long-needed implementation of needed reform — i.e, the success of the democratic governance model.”
Sep21
KPFT Founder Ray Hill and history of FM Radio
October 14, 2014
History in a box:
History in a box:
“About my returning to The Prison Show this Friday: www.kpft.org is in its Fall fund raising mode and I want all of you to consider offering your $$$ help. In 1968 in a small office on Bissonet four of us: Larry Lee, Don Gardner, Debra Danburg (then just a child prodigy U of H student) and I were plotting to give Houston a vehicle of free speech on the radio. From that came KPFT. The station became the vehicle for Wilde n Stein our pioneering GLBT program (evolved now into Queer Voices and After Hours) In 1980, I became the first openly gay and first ex-convict to be authorized to be general manager of an FCC licensed station in the country and began The Prison Show, an iconic effort at expanding to an otherwise neglected audience. The station needs and deserves your tax deductible support and you can support The Prison Show now on the KPFT web page or listen Friday and call a pledge into the station.”
~Ray Hill
Tune in Houston’s community public radio station- KPFT 90.1 FM
May 9, 2014
This today from KPFT founder, Ray Hill:
This today from KPFT founder, Ray Hill:
“I borrowed this note from Writer’s Almanac and would add that in 1949 Lewis Hill and a few friends began non-commercial FM broadcasting in the San Fransisco Bay Area leading to the founding of KPFT, Houston in March 1970. She is still there globally at www.kpft.org Where The Prison Show will be broadcast tonight at 9:00 pm Houston Time. Listen up and support.
On May 13, 1939, the oldest commercial FM radio station in the United States made its first broadcast from Meriden, Connecticut. FM — or “frequency modulation” — radio was the brainchild of Edwin H. Armstrong, a radio pioneer who had been designing technical improvements to radio broadcasters and receivers for many years. Radio signals were transmitted using “amplitude modulation,” and although AM radio signals traveled great distances, they were full of static and the quality was poor. Armstrong tried varying the frequency of the radio waves, rather than their amplitude, and the signal became much clearer. Armstrong received a patent for FM radio in 1933, and in 1934 he broadcast an organ recital from the top of the Empire State Building over both AM and FM frequencies, so people could hear the difference for themselves.
While FM was being perfected, a few experimental radio stations were trying to increase the quality of the AM signal. These were known as “Apex” stations, in part because their transmitting antennas were so tall. One of these Apex stations, W1XPW, was licensed to Franklin Doolittle in 1936. He built his station atop West Peak, in Meriden, Connecticut, and first began his test broadcasts on this date in 1939. By the time the station began full public programming six months later, it was broadcasting on the new FM band, under the call letters WDRC-FM. It’s still on the air, serving listeners in the Hartford area, 75 years later.”
Sep19
KPFA co-founder Richard Moore passes
http://www.mercurynews.com/entertainment/ci_27864338/poet-filmmaker-richard-moore-co-founder-kpfa-and
Poet and filmmaker Richard Moore, a co-founder of public radio station KPFA and a former president and chief executive of public television station KQED, died of natural causes March 25 at his home in Mill Valley. He was 95.”
MERCURYNEWS.COM
Sep14
Pacifica 2015-09-14
“September 15 at 10:30pm · Fresno, CA · Edited
The full email from John Proffitt to Stephen Cohen.
—-Original Message—–
The full email from John Proffitt to Stephen Cohen.
—-Original Message—–
From: John Proffitt < ed@pacifica.org>
To: Stephen D Cohen < patfansdc@aol.com>
Sent: Tue, Sep 15, 2015 9:41 am
Subject: Re: OUR COLLECTIVE SADNESS AT YOUR DEPARTURE AND HOW YOU CAN HELP US
Dear Dr. Cohen,
Thank you for your letter — I do appreciate hearing from you.
My reasons for departing are fairly simple and twofold: (1) family responsibilities and (2) a clash of culture between Pacifica and myself. That clash makes it impossible for me to be effective in this job, thus my decision to resign.
In my opinion, the historic and deep-seated problems of Pacifica can only be addressed through consensus within the Pacifica family, which is not going to happen given the current poisonous factional atmosphere, burdened with personal attacks, paranoia, obsession with conspiracy theories and other historical baggage that has, in effect, rendered Pacifica ungovernable.
I care very deeply about the history, legacy and role that Pacifica should be playing in American life, so perhaps after some of the dust has cleared I will go into detail as to my recommendations and thoughts for a way forward.
Regards,
John Proffitt
Lydia Brazon will become iED on or before Oct 14th.
From: John Proffitt
Sent: Sep 14, 2015 1:09 PM
To: Pacifica National Board , Janet Kobren , Quincy McCoy , Berthold Reimers , Duane Bradley , Leslie Radford , Jerry Paris
Subject: My departure
To the Pacifica National Board
To the Pacifica General Managers
Today I have submitted my letter of resignation as Executive Director to the PNB Chair, Lydia Brazon. My last day will be on or before October 14th.
I am deeply appreciative of the opportunity — the privilege — I’ve had to work with you as your Executive Director. I’ve come to know and appreciate many for your professionalism and dedication to Pacifica, and I want to thank in particular my National Office colleagues Lydia Brazon, Margy Wilkinson, Jon Almeleh, Efren Llarinas and LaSchele Moseley.
I wish the very best for Pacifica, its staff, volunteers and supporters!
John
John Gladney Proffitt
Executive Director
Pacifica Foundation Radio
1925 Martin Luther King Jr Way
Berkeley CA 94704-1037
Office – 510.849.2590 x 208″
Sep12
Video-The Extreme Detail and Subtlety of Marketing That We Don’t Know
Pacifica depends upon presenting ourselves on radio (and online) for listenership, donations and Arbitrons. But we know so little about marketing:
Go see this video for some detail on marketing: http://www.msnbc.com/the-last-word/watch/why-the-oscars-really-lack-diversity-630844995608
Sep11
From 1999, History
Excerpt from: “FAIR Fairness And Accuracy In Reporting
Oct 1 1999
Selling Off Pacifica
The U.S. media system has very few places where dissenting voices can be regularly heard, unconstrained by the interests of corporate owners or the censorship of advertiser dependence. There may be no more important exceptions to this rule than the five radio stations owned by the Pacifica Foundation–the Bay Area’s KPFA, Los Angeles’ KPFK, New York’s WBAI, D.C.’s WPFW and Houston’s KPFT. But how long these stations will continue to exist is very much an open question.
Pacifica has long been torn by charges that its national board, led by U.S. Civil Rights Commission chief Mary Frances Berry, is bent on taking the network in a more timid, ratings-driven, commercialized direction. Tensions mounted in February 1999, when the board completed a centralization of power that stripped away any governing role from the stations’ local advisory boards. Further protests were provoked on March 31, when popular KPFA station manager Nicole Sawaya was let go, and when long-time Pacifica host Larry Bensky was fired for discussing Sawaya’s ouster on-air, in apparent defiance of Pacifica‘s “dirty laundry” rule.
But perhaps the most damaging crisis at Pacifica was sparked by the accidental release of an email message from Pacifica board member (and Berry ally) Micheal Palmer–a message indicating that the sale of one or more stations might be on the Pacifica agenda. . . . ”
Sep7
Article on History & HUAC by Arcane Radio Trivia
Arcane Radio Trivia http://arcaneradiotrivia.tumblr.com/
The HUAC investigation of Radio
Everyone remembers the Hollywood 10. Over 300 media people were named in the anti-communist investigation. But it was only 7 men and women in radio that got the same thumbscrews.
External image
(HUAC) the House Un-American Activities Committee began the investigation of 7 radio commentators on November 6, 1945. This list includes: Bertolt Brecht, Norman Cousins, Carey McWilliams, Dorothy Healey, and W. E. B. DuBois… most of them worked for Pacifica.Starting in the year 1946, HUAC issued general reports on subversive activities, based on its research and hearings. Their first report contained a very partisan section on the radio broadcasts of “certain unnamed liberal commentators.” The committee found the radio commentators to be pro-communist based on their comments regarding the State Department, presidential appointees, foreign governments, and General Douglas MacArthur. [Yes, the far right has really been trying to convince America that liberals are communists for that long.]
Three ex-FBI agents in 1950 published a booklet titled Red Channels: The Report of Communist Influence in Radio and Television. This tome listed people, organizations and publications purported to have ties to communism. Among those people cited for their ties to communist organizations the following peopel in radio: Rod Holmgren, Lisa Sergio, William S. Gailmor, William Shirer, Johannes Steel, J. Raymond Walshand even Orson Welles!
By the time the book was published, all six commentators listed in its pages had been forced off the air. More here:http://www.moderntimes.com/palace/huac.htm
This crap went on for more than a decade with the FCC withholding the license renewals of KPFA, KPFB, and KPFKpending its investigation into “their communist affiliations.” but after McCarthy Sputtered and crashed like the paranoiac alcoholic that he was, the whole movement loast steam. He had been reckless and like a gambler on a winning streak he had not planned for failure. He imploded and drank himself to death. The radio men he ran out of the buisness mostly met sad ends as well, but some found new work writing under psudonyms.
At the end HUAC offered lines of poetry by Sir Walter Scott in defense of their witch-hunt in their final report. I think they misread him myself. Poem Here:http://www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/50s/scott-quote.html
great documentary here:http://radfilms.com/huac.html
Sep7
Away from a radio? You can always listen to KPFK.org Listen Live, or ANY PACIFICA STATION on the Pacifica App
Away from a radio? You can always listen to @KPFK live at
http://kpfk.org/index.php/listen-live#.Ve3yuRFViko
or just go to KPFK.org and select Listen Live
The Pacifica App for SmartPhones: 
or go to KPFK.org & select the Pacifica App
http://kpfk.org/index.php/content-slider/7489-pacifica-app#.Ve4LiRFViko
| The Pacifica Radio App version 5 is now available! Now you can listen to your favorite Pacifica stations anywhere you have a cellphone or WiFi signal! News feeds from around the Pacifica Network, updates and more… NOTE FOR APP USERS : |
|
Download the Pacifica Radio App For iDevices For Android devicesLive Streaming of Pacifica’s Public Radio Stations Read and listen to news and stories from around the Pacifica network. Monitor live Twitter feeds from around the Pacifica Network from stations and other listeners. Note –
|
 this app is free New iPhone 5 version now available
|
Sep2
From Time to Time folks try to show how we have been influenced by Cointelpro, the CIA, etc.
Here is an example from about 2003, I think:
For the Whole Article: http://acksisofevil.org/cointelpro/list.html
Excerpt:
“The COINTELPRO-Type Operation Against Pacifica and KPFT Progressive/Leftist Broadcasters
Table of Contents
- Disclaimer
- The Story So Far
- The Targets Of The Smears
- Propaganda Techniques Used
- The Perpetrators Of The Smear Campaign
- Their Previous Disruptions Of Progressive Organizations
- Major COINTELPRO-type Actions Of The Gang and When They Began
Disclaimer [top]
The comments on this Web page represent only my own opinion. That’s
because Dan Jones has already closed down a public KPFT communication
forum and has threatened to sue or otherwise harass many fine people for
talking about what he and his collaborators have been doing. — Mark S. Bilk
Please examine the evidence for yourself and reach your own conclusions.
The evidence is the over one hundred messages that can be read below.
The descriptions are my opinion of the message content, but the messages
themselves are reproduced verbatim from their public forums, exactly as
written by their authors. If those who originally posted the messages
claim that their reproduction here is defamatory, then they have defamed
themselves.
The Story So Far [top]
Since January 2002, a handful of people in Houston have posted hundreds of
derogatory propaganda messages on Pacifica mailing lists and chatboards.
These messages contain vicious and unsupported lies about some of the
finest Progressive/Leftist broadcasters in Pacifica, and those who support
them, including many people who were instrumental in freeing the Network
from the anti-Left hijackers. If the smears from this group are believed,
and their recommendations followed, the result would be the abolishing
from Pacifica broadcasting of accurate and uncensored news and analysis.
This was clearly the goal of the Pacifica National Board hijackers, working on
behalf of the wealthy oligarchy that controls the U.S. economy and government, ….”
Aug28
Pacifica By-Laws Amendments to be voted upon
To be taken up by the Pacifica National Board for acceptance or rejection on September 24, 2015, and then to go to the Local Boards for approvals by Nov. 22. 3 of the 5 must approve.
http://pacifica.org/documents/amendments_150731/ArticleFourSectionTwoProposedBylawsAmendment150731.pdf
http://pacifica.org/documents/amendments_150731/RemoteParticipationAndAccessibilityAtInPersonMeetings150731.pdf
http://pacifica.org/documents/amendments_150731/ByawsAmendPNBQuorumArticleSixSecFive150731.pdf
http://pacifica.org/documents/amendments_150731/LSB%20QUORUMArticleSeven150731.pdf
http://pacifica.org/documents/amendments_150731/BylawsAmendmentReplacingOneTownHall150731.pdf
http://pacifica.org/documents/amendments_150731/ArticleFourSection8TermLimitsProposedAmendment150731.pdf
http://pacifica.org/documents/amendments_150731/RegularMtgsByTelArticleSixSec3_150731b.pdf
How proposed bylaws amendments are approved
For most amendments to be approved, they must pass the Pacifica National Board by a majority of its membership, and then be passed by a majority of delegates at each of 3 of the 5 stations. Particular types of bylaws amendments also require approval by the members via written ballot, and some bylaws amendments may be approved directly by the members even if the boards do not approve them.
For more on amending the bylaws, see Article 17 of the Pacifica Bylaws, the most current version of which is here.
This is from Pacifica.org
The following is the amended version of the by-laws they suggest, on the last of the listed amendments:
Article Six, Meetings of the Board of Directors, Section 3: Telephonic Meetings The Board may hold regular and special meetings by telephone conference, video screen communication or other communications equipment, provided, however, that telephone appearance at meetings scheduled as “in-person” meetings is not permitted. Participation in a telephonic meeting under this Section shall constitute presence at the meeting if all of the following apply: A. Each Director participating in the meeting can communicate concurrently with all other Directors. B. Each Director is provided the means of participating in all matters for the Board, including the capacity to propose, or to interpose an objection to, a specific action to be taken by the Foundation. C. The Board has a means of verifying that the person participating at the meeting is a Director and that all votes cast during said meeting are cast only by Directors.
This concerns me because it might limit testimony by public/community comment sections of meetings. Sue
Jul12
Articles & Audio: Greg Guma of Vermont was CEO of Pacifica
Burlington resident for 40+ years; member, Burlington Telecom Advisory Board; and mayoral candidate in 2015… editor, business owner, author and civic leader; former Pacifica Radio CEO & Editor of Toward Freedom, Vermont Guardian, Vanguard Press, Public Occurrence, and Vintage. And he writes about Bernie Sanders as he progressed.
http://muckraker-gg.blogspot.com/2008/03/when-radio-was-new.html
Audio 12 mins.: http://www.kpftx.org/archives/pnb/pnb070727/friday/pnb070727_greg_rpt.mp3
http://muckraker-gg.blogspot.com/2008/07/planet-pacifica-inside-story.html
http://muckraker-gg.blogspot.com/2008/03/managing-pacifica-how-it-began.html
http://muckraker-gg.blogspot.com/2008/04/managing-pacifica-in-bubble.html
http://muckraker-gg.blogspot.com/2008/04/practical-idealism-pacifica-realities.html
How WBAI came to be:
http://muckraker-gg.blogspot.com/2008/06/wbai-legend-that-lost-its-way.html
Jul12
Article: KPFK and Pacifica National Board member Don White passed 2008
https://pacificaradio.wordpress.com/2008/06/25/pacifica-mourns-the-passing-of-don-white/#respond
I knew Don White primarily in his capacity as a member of the Pacifica National Board, and I was always struck by how up-front and genuine he was. In Board activities, he had a knack for disagreeing without being disagreeable. In conversations, he was charming and kind. It was several months later that I learned about Don’s other activism and his connections with progressive and radical movements throughout the hemisphere. He was a great guy, and his passing is a sad loss to us.
Jul3
Audio: Dick Gregory on Pacifica
Less than one minute-
Jul3
Video on Elections at Pacifica
Jul2
On corporate underwriting, Ralph Engelman, Pacifica radio, WBAI, and on satirical cartoons
Chair, Journalism DepartmentSenior Professor of Journalism & Communication StudiesFaculty Coordinator, George Polk Awards; Faculty Athletics Representative; Administrator, Theodore E. Kruglak Fellowship in International Reporting.
B.A., Earlham CollegeM.A., Washington UniversityPh.D., Washington University
Dr. Ralph Engelman is Senior Professor and Chair of Journalism & Communication Studies at LIU Brooklyn, where he has received the top awards given by LIU for scholarship and teaching: the Abraham Krasnoff Award for Lifetime Scholarly Achievement and the David Newton Award for Excellence in Teaching. He is faculty coordinator of LIU’s George Polk Awards.
He serves as journalism consultant and member of the academic advisory board for the Archive of American Television, a digital history project of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation. In this capacity he has conducted long-form interviews with Morley Safer, Sidney Lumet and Geraldo Rivera, among others. Since 1980, he has been a participant in the Summer Fulbright Institute on the Civilization of the United States, Multinational Institute of American Studies, New York University.
Dr. Engelman is a former member of the board of directors of the Pacifica Foundation, which operates five community radio stations. He is also a former moderator of Reporter Roundtable, BCAT, carried on Time Warner, Cablevision and RCN in the New York metropolitan area. [Pacifica does not operate the 5 stations and 180 affiliates, it owns the licenses and the stations even when they were built by the local stations-SCJ]
Professor Engelman is the author of “Friendlyvision: Fred Friendly and the Rise and Fall of Television Journalism,” with an Introduction by Morley Safer (NY: Columbia University Press, 2009) and “Public Radio and Television in America: A Political History” (Sage: Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1996). His “The Origins of Public Access Cable Television,” Journalism Monographs (No. 123, October 1990), has been translated into Japanese and Portuguese.
-
- Molly Crabapple
- Ralph Engelman
- Jules Feiffer
- Ron Rosenbaum
- Garry Trudeau
| Ralph Engelman
LET ME QUICKLY INTRODUCE OUR PANELISTS. TOMORROW, GARRY TRUDEAU WILL RECEIVE THE GEORGE POLK CAREER AWARD. HIS COMIC STRIP HAS ATTAINED THE STATUS OF A GREAT AMERICAN INSTITUTION. FOUR 45 YEARS, HE HAS SPARED NO PUBLIC FIGURE OR ILL-CONCEIVED POLICY IN A UNIQUE SATIRIC APPROACH TO POLITICAL COMMENTARY. HE STANDS ALONGSIDE SUCH LEGENDARY CARTOONIST SUCH AS OUR NEXT PANELIST, JEWELED PFEIFER –JULES FEIFFER. JULES http://www.c-span.org/video/?324923-1/discussion-role-satire |
Jul2
Pacifica elections results 2012
http://elections.pacifica.org/wordpress/2012-election-results/
We didn’t make quorum at KPFK in 2012. Shame on us.
“One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your INFERIORS” – Plato, 427-347 BC
?
Jun17
Pacifica National Board passed the following with amendments 6/13/15
I DON’T KNOW WHAT THE AMENDMENTS NOR THE FINAL FORM OF THIS WAS:
Taskforce Motion:
The SLTF urges the IED to direct GMs now to institute the Spanish Language Programming motion and to request a plan of action from GMs by March 15 and implementation by April 15, 2015.
Amendment to be made at the in-person meeting:
The date of action for this motion having passed, move to amend the date for the plan of action
1. Time : after 6 am and before 9 pm
2. By the PNB June 2015 meeting to be fully noticed to all radio station managers and PDs
3. New Spanish language programming committees to be develop right after, no later than 1 week after PNB meeting AT ALL radio signals. Managers make the call for the formation of such committees thru PSAs, websites and thru community forums and organizations.
4. To be implemented no later than Monday August 31 2015
5. Be national, to say each radio station should have it
6. “each weekday in the Spanish language” at least 5 hours additional to existing Spanish Language programming (some radio signals do not have any).
7. New programming will vary according to the radio signal demographic and geographic, conditions, per example, in Los Angeles might be added to the existing strip of programming, in Washington (if no programming in Spanish is offered at this time) might have to be only at weekends (strips or blocks of programming) or at any given best day during the week, so each station will decide as long as it is after 6 am and before 9 pm
8. Each radio have to develop a committee (collectives) in charge of such programming and report to the PNB’s task force as to guarantee that such programming will be permanent.
9. Brief introduction in English might be considered at certain signals.
10. Must take in account women, African descent communities, programming for youth and by youth, indigenous, activists, alternative music or art programming, environmental issues, political movements around the continent or the world etc. alternative Health programming, Chicano Mexicano programming as well as Puerto Rican resistance, Central or south American issues, inmigration issues, black liberation movements. white supremacy, gender, race, neo colonialism, culture/art, poverty, etc. news from all over Latin America with stringers in the USA as well as from Latin America and the Caribbean.
11. Pacifica outreach committees must develop in coordination with the Spanish Language task force, management and programming committees a well prepared promotional plan for such new programming as to guarantee self sustainability as much as possible.
12. Management, LSBs and parties involved will develop community forums with their respective communities to get the word out.
13. IF there is any radio signal that needs programming because no collectives are formed yet, such programming can be elaborated and provided by other collectives from sister signals.
14. National meetings to be planned among Spanish language programmers to be in well coordination and maintain programs improving.
15. Every new programmer and volunteers MUST be totally willing to raise funds, work in collectives and be part of the of the National Association of Spanish Language programmers and volunteers which will be created to keep always good communications among the new programs.
16. Existing programmers to provide workshops as needed for those collectives in need.
Jun16
Article: KPFA’s founding engineer
Jun10
Audio: Barbara Jordan covered on Pacifica
Barbara Charline Jordan (February 21, 1936 – January 17, 1996) was an American politician and a leader of the Civil Rights movement. A Democrat, she was the first African American elected to the Texas Senate after Reconstruction, the first southernblack female elected to the United States House of Representatives, and the first African-American woman to deliver the keynote address at a Democratic National Convention. She received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, among numerous other honors. She was a member of the Peabody Awards Board of Jurors from 1978 to 1980.[1] On her death, she became the first African-American woman to be buried in the Texas State Cemetery.[2]
Jun10
Pacifica National Board meeting in LA, part of the schedule (Sat.?)
FROM THE PNB SCHEDULE:
PNB motions: Motion #2
The PNB Programming Committee recommends to the PNB that all action on the creation of “Program Councils” pursuant to a previous motion from the Programming Committee to the PNB, be held until after the Committee is able to receive and review information about station program operations (pursuant to motion passed by the Committee on 12/19/14) and provides recommendations to the PNB.
The provision of said feedback to the PNB will be a priority of the Committee and our expectation is that the report will be sent to the PNB by March 13, 2015.
Old Program Council Motion approved by 2012 PNB [Bolding of keywords in an attempt to enhance readability added by me, Sue}
The PNB directs the executive director to set up Program Councils as management committees, at each station.
The composition of the committee shall consist of 1/3 staff, selected by stv election, 1/3 members of the LSB, also selected by an stv election, and 1/3 listeners, approved jointly by the LSB and the Program Director by a procedure satisfactory to both. Terms shall be for the maximum of 2 years, or for an LSB member, the term on the LSB, whichever is less.
The Program Councils shall serve to provide a collaborative nexus between the board, the listeners, the staff and the management of the station for the purpose of implementing the programming policies of the LSB and PNB. Specifically, they shall have the power to review programs and vet new programs, including for compliance with the mission, and recommend changes to schedules. They shall also provide for adjudication of programming issues arising between programmers and management, where no other means of doing so exists. They will set their own agendas in these regards.
Program directors will serve as non voting ex-officio members of the Program Councils. The Programming Councils are charged with making recommendations to the Program Director. If the program director declines to act on such recommendations, he/she shall report his/her reasons and respond to dialogue on the issue from the Council. Such dialogue shall be made widely available to the listeners. If consensus cannot be reached on a course of action between the Program Director and a majority of the Council, the Council can appeal the decision to the GM with a vote of 2/3 of its members.
All meetings of the Program Council will be in public session, with the exception of those that are required to be in Executive Session by the Pacifica Bylaws. The Council shall determine by majority vote whether any given meeting must be held as an Executive session.
(Passed in committee 7-0.)
Public Comment 10 minutes
12 noon Lunch
1 pm Board reconvenes
Spanish Language Task Force – 15 min.
IMPLEMENTATION: MOVED BY SPANISH LANG TASK FORCE
Taskforce Motion:
The SLTF urges the IED to direct GMs now to institute the Spanish Language Programming motion and to request a plan of action from GMs by March 15 and implementation by April 15, 2015.
Amendment to be made at the in-person meeting:
The date of action for this motion having passed, move to amend the date for the plan of action
1. Time : after 6 am and before 9 pm
2. By the PNB June 2015 meeting to be fully noticed to all radio station managers and PDs
3. New Spanish language programming committees to be develop right after, no later than 1 week after PNB meeting AT ALL radio signals. Managers make the call for the formation of such committees thru PSAs, websites and thru community forums and organizations.
4. To be implemented no later than Monday August 31 2015
5. Be national, to say each radio station should have it
6. “each weekday in the Spanish language” at least 5 hours additional to existing Spanish Language programming (some radio signals do not have any).
7. New programming will vary according to the radio signal demographic and geographic, conditions, per example, in Los Angeles might be added to the existing strip of programming, in Washington (if no programming in Spanish is offered at this time) might have to be only at weekends (strips or blocks of programming) or at any given best day during the week, so each station will decide as long as it is after 6 am and before 9 pm
8. Each radio have to develop a committee (collectives) in charge of such programming and report to the PNB’s task force as to guarantee that such programming will be permanent.
9. Brief introduction in English might be considered at certain signals.
10. Must take in account women, African descent communities, programming for youth and by youth, indigenous, activists, alternative music or art programming, environmental issues, political movements around the continent or the world etc. alternative Health programming, Chicano Mexicano programming as well as Puerto Rican resistance, Central or south American issues, inmigration issues, black liberation movements. white supremacy, gender, race, neo colonialism, culture/art, poverty, etc. news from all over Latin America with stringers in the USA as well as from Latin America and the Caribbean.
11. Pacifica outreach committees must develop in coordination with the Spanish Language task force, management and programming committees a well prepared promotional plan for such new programming as to guarantee self sustainability as much as possible.
12. Management, LSBs and parties involved will develop community forums with their respective communities to get the word out.
13. IF there is any radio signal that needs programming because no collectives are formed yet, such programming can be elaborated and provided by other collectives from sister signals.
14. National meetings to be planned among Spanish language programmers to be in well coordination and maintain programs improving.
15. Every new programmer and volunteers MUST be totally willing to raise funds, work in collectives and be part of the of the National Association of Spanish Language programmers and volunteers which will be created to keep always good communications among the new programs.
16. Existing programmers to provide workshops as needed for those collectives in need.
Jun9
Pacifica, join, become an Affiliate, carry Pacifica programs
Jun9
KPFK, Pacifica, informative, and some embarrassing articles
http://www.amazon.com/Uneasy-Listening-Pacifica-Radios-Civil/dp/1900355450
http://www.salon.com/2002/06/20/pacifica/
http://www.radiosurvivor.com/2013/09/26/why-free-speech-radio-news-is-dependent-on-pacifica/
http://www.radiosurvivor.com/2014/03/18/pacifica-board-fires-exec-dir-summer-reese-is-this-a-war-with-no-winner/
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0814793827/reasonmagazineA/
http://reason.com/blog/2014/03/19/another-war-breaks-out-in-the-pacifica-r
http://www.laweekly.com/news/left-wing-darling-pacifica-radio-is-sliding-into-the-abyss-4521218
http://www.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2014/03/24/ousted-pacifica-radio-executive-director-barricades-herself-in-kpfa-staffers-say-update
http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_25417865/fired-director-refuses-leave-office-that-runs-berkeleys
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/17/business/media/pacifica-radio-fires-its-executive-director.html?_r=0
Jun8
KPFK LSB committees members
By a loyal Volunteer:
Just wanted to remind folk that ANYONE can attend and JOIN any LSB committee. You do NOT need to be an elected LSB member to be invited to join the membership of a committee.
Committee membership is regulated by the chair and LSB member of the given committee.
The easiest way to join a committee is to attend the very first committee meeting after the beginning of a new calendar year.
A Volunteer asked me about this the other day so it occurred to me that we need to remind listeners and staff members that they can attend, and often join any LSB committee.
The next Finance Committee meeting is at the station at 7:00pm on Tuesday the 16th.
Jun2
KPFA Pacifica History essay Lengthening Shadow
May25
Articles on the Pacifica takeover of 2000
Apr26
Pacifica Foundation Records, 1949-1987, Wisconsin Historical Society
Tons of historical info-not sure yet how to access.
Apr15
Link: Pacifica History many articles
Apr15
Link: On History by Jeff Land
Apr6
Link: KPFA & Pacifica History by Years
Apr3
Link to bio of new Chief Executive Officer of Pacifica & Link to 5 min. speech audio
Mar26
KPFK plays D.T. Suzuki
-
In accordance with restrictions specified in this section, the following synthetic substances may be used in organic crop production: Provided, That, use of such substances do not contribute to contamination of crops, soil, or water. Substances allowed by this section, except disinfectants and sanit…ECFR.GOV
Mar24
Links: Fairness Doctrine struck down in 1987, & Equal Time Rule
The Fairness Doctrine was a policy of the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC), introduced in 1949, that required the holders of broadcast licenses to both present controversial issues of public importance and to do so in a manner that was, in the Commission’s view, honest, equitable and balanced. The FCC eliminated the Doctrine in 1987, and in August 2011 the FCC formally removed the language that implemented the Doctrine.[1]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairness_Doctrine
The equal-time rule specifies that U.S. radio and television broadcast stations must provide an equivalent opportunity to any opposing political candidates who request it. This means, for example, that if a station gives one free minute to a candidate in prime time, it must do the same for another candidate who requests it. The equal-time rule was created because the FCC thought the stations could easily manipulate the outcome of elections by presenting just one point of view, and excluding other candidates. It should not be confused with the now-defunct Fairness Doctrine, which dealt with presenting balanced points of view on matters of public importance.
There are four exceptions to the equal-time rule. If the airing was within a documentary, bona fide news interview, scheduled newscast or an on-the-spot news event, the equal-time rule does not apply. Since 1983, political debates not hosted by the media station are considered “news events,” and as a result, are not subject to the rule. Consequently, these debates may include only major-party candidates without having to offer air time to minor-party or independent candidates. Talk shows and other regular news programming from syndicators, such as Entertainment Tonight, are also declared exempt from the rule by the FCC on a case-by-case basis. [1]
This rule originated in §18 of the Radio Act of 1927; it was later superseded by the Communications Act of 1934. A related provision, in §315(b), requires that broadcasters offer time to candidates at the same rate as their “most favored advertiser”.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal-time_rule
Mar22
Featured on Pacifica, Danny Schechter has passed
Sad news, Independent filmmaker, Author and Media Critic Danny Schechter has passed away.
“That is definitely Johnny [Clegg] next to Danny. Here’s what he just wrote on my FB page about Danny: “‘So sorry to hear of the passing of Danny. He was a great strategist and friend of South Africa during the dark days of Apartheid and his contribution in aiding the formation of the South African Musicians’Alliance and other progressive cultural organizations is remembered with appreciation. Later in his career he was a brilliant media analyst and fighter for alternative communication platforms, promoting a media free from money and political interests. He will be sorely missed. Hamba kahle Danny.'” In photo below: 1 unk., JohnnyClegg, DannySchecter, 4 unknown
Independent filmmaker. Author. Blogger. Media Critic.
ALTERNET.ORG
READ DANNY’S LATEST BOOK, When South Africa Called. Free pdf download of the complete book at http://coldtype.net/africabook.html
F“…From there it was on to Cornell, Syracuse, the London School of Economics, and Harvard as a Neiman Fellow. But this is only a small part of his life’s journey. He joined the Northern Student Movement in high school and became actively involved in the Civil Rights Movement, going down to Mississippi in 1964. He became a leader in the movement to end the Vietnam War, was a member of SDS and began a lifelong commitment to South Africa in 1967 as an original member of the “London Recruits.” He fought tirelessly against Apartheid from then on. Danny never hesitated to put his convictions on the line. In the 1970s, he turned back to his first love—journalism–and became the “news dissector” at radio station WBCN in Boston. He wove news and music together in collages that not only reported the day’s events but also helped explain how the world worked. He was a huge influence on those who valued his independent perspective—and trusted him. He went on to become a prolific, Emmy award-winning TV producer and filmmaker, who made “South Africa Now”, 6 films about Mandela, and spent decades criticizing and cajoling the media to do a better job covering the news. He interviewed Bob Dylan. He walked with Jesse Jackson. He embraced the Dali Lama. Malcolm X nicknamed him “Danny X….”
Mar21
Chris Hedges on Pacifica
On the air, The Sunday Show with Philip Maldari. Chris Hedges, Keynote speech at the Fertile Ground Institute’s Earth at Risk 2014 The Justice and Sustainability Conference; and Robert Scheer, author of “The Great American Stickup: How Reagan Republicans and Clinton Democrats Enriched Wall Street While Mugging Main Street.” #KPFAPassItOnwww.kpfa.org
Dear Vera,not Verna,
Seriously, as they say, yours is a question for the IRS, though its Director recently stated that they do not answer about 60% of the calls made to the IRS.
That’s about as helpful as I am, but my excuse is that I am not a non-profit attorney or IRS-regulations-skilled.
However, what I think I do know, is the Paul Newman salad dressing sales/charitable foundation was threatened recently by the IRS for a huge payment of back taxes because the IRS rules state that a non-profit cannot own a business–as the PN Foundation apparently does.
Can a pet food/supply company simply donate a percent of sales to such a national umbrella animal humane society?
Yes, it seems, as some national commercial product-makers seem to do from what I have seen in the past with a “lean cuisine” product and aspirin, to name but two.
So, such a hook-up would be great with Iams or Friskies — or better still, with such as PetSmart as the overall distributor.
Another thing, should such sales be conducted, the IRS again has rules regarding limits of income in a percentage of what other funds the non-profit raises.
I believe there is a rule about standard donations—that a non-profit organization cannot receive more than 30 percent of its funding from any one source—and it can reasonably be deduced that includes sales of products.
So, you can see the waters here are murky and could be hazardous. Thus, the need for an attorney skilled in non-profit law.”