Category Archives: Analysis

KPFA Community Input Meeting – Please Attend

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Attend a KPFA Community Input Meeting
Saturday March 26, 2016, 2 to 4PM
Tarea Hall Pittman South Berkeley Public Library — Meeting Room
1901 Russel Street, Berkeley CA 94704
Cross street @ Martin Luther King Jr. Way, one long block from Ashby BART.

kpfaThe KPFA Community Advisory Board (CAB) invites community journalists, KPFA programmers, staff, activists, writers, artists, musicians, volunteers and listeners from throughout the KPFA signal range for a lively exchange about the station. We urge you to attend and share conversations and proposals about how KPFA 94.1 FM and kpfa.org can address the issues that you and your organizations care about.

The Community Advisory Board wants to hear your ideas about:
* what issues you want covered on KPFA
* suggestions for news, arts and cultural affairs, and other programming
* station operations, governance, priorities, policies etc…
* diversity, racial equality and KPFA’s mission
* how the station relates to communities in its Bay-Area-wide signal range
* what role you and others can play in supporting KPFA
* how you’d like to be involved with the station
* KPFA’s use of live streaming, podcasts, social media and new technologies

Topic suggestions, community literature and participation in small and large groups are welcome.

This meeting is free to the public and wheelchair accessible. The KPFA Community Advisory Board gathers information to give to the KPFA Local Station Board and management as we help to strengthen our KPFA and Pacifica community network. For more information or to send written feedback about KPFA email cab.kpfa@gmail.com

United for Community Radio (UCR) members work with the Community Advisory Board and other UCRorganizations to support KPFA and Pacifica. We value them as irreplaceable, strategic and transformative resources for amplifying the voices of millions who are overlooked, marginalized or silenced by corporate media in the face of police militarization, racism; and housing, health, water, economic, educational, and environmental depredation.

Issues UCR MEMBERS may bring to the CAB meeting
* Promote a morning mix of community-sourced, local, daily prime-time programming – making news together. This includes addressing attacks on immigrants, violence directed at people of color and discrimination based on race, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, age, and disability.

* Join the global media revolution by:

Updating KPFA website technology so that KPFA reporters can generate news headlines and stories that challenge corporate media’s dominant narratives on the Worldwide Web,

* Provide free real-time video streaming of demonstrations, rallies and other news events. Offer low-cost access to recorded videos of lectures and other cultural activities.

* Provide a transparent and sustainable budget that aligns spending with actual income; decrease the number of pledge drives. No underwriting/advertizing.

* Re-establish a program council with decision making authority and broad-based listener and staff participation to evaluate existing programs and new proposals.

* Counter the influence of corporate political parties’ monopoly on opinions and assert a clear anti-war perspective. Honor the value of drama and humor and include them in our programs.

* Improve access to resources and training for unpaid staff and provide all staff, paid and unpaid, the right to unionize.

* Participate in a network-wide process to further democratize Pacifica/KPFA and improve financial stability. We are committed to preserving the 5 stations, the national archive and affiliate services.

 

 

Despite Declining KPFA Membership, UCR Stays Strong and Steady

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United for Community Radio and all the candidates say “THANK YOU” to all our supporters!  UCR candidates Scott Olsen and Sharon Adams were elected to the KPFA Local Station Board.

Sharon Adams

Sharon Adams

Scott Olsen

Scott Olsen

tmT.M. Scruggs was the first runner-up and will replace Andrea Pritchett at the first meeting of the new KPFA Local Station Board, scheduled for January 23, at 11 a.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center.  This means that UCR will have 4 new representatives on the LSB.

United for Community Radio candidates won 3 seats, and so-called “Save KPFA” candidates won 6.  Although SK candidates won more seats, we at UCR believe that the election results show that UCR is moving in the right direction.  And we believe that UCR can obtain a majority of the LSB seats in the next election, currently scheduled for later in 2016.

 

UCR’s message is resonating with the KPFA members. 

UCR maintained its support, despite a large decrease in voter turnout and a decrease in overall KPFA membership. This is good news for UCR, as it means we have a chance to WIN the next election.

The number of listener-members of KPFA has been decreasing over the last 10 years:
YEAR—–Listener-Members
2005  —–  24,000
2006  —–  22,000
2010  —–  20,000
2012  —–  18,000
2015  —–  16,0000

 

Likewise, the number of voters has been decreasing, although not as much as the decrease in members; reflecting the fact that the people who continue to contribute to KPFA are massively committed to the well-being of the station.

Despite the decline in members and in voters, UCR has maintained a steady base of approximately 1000 votes.  This means that support for UCR is growing within the KPFA community!  This is great news for UCR and means that we are on the right track.   In contrast, SK has been losing voters as the membership has declined.

Election Year Total Voters SK Votes UCR Votes
2010 3,457 ~ 2,400 ~ 1,000
2012 3,257 ~ 2,200 ~ 1,000
2015 2,300 ~ 1,300 ~ 1,000

For more details click here.

Notice:  Some may recall that Janet Kobren ran on the UCR slate.  By mutual consent, Janet Kobren is no longer affiliated with United for Community Radio.

Beleaguered KPFK Workers Need Support in Election; Union Member Says, “Vote UCR”

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BY ANTHONY FESTvote-661888_1280

NOVEMBER 30, 2015: KPFA subscribers have five more days to vote in the election for KPFA’s governing body, the Local Station Board.
 

Meanwhile, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is hearing multiple grievances from unionized staff members at KPFA’s Southern California sister station KPFK, grievances prompted by the actions of KPFK’s recently-appointed manager. The KPFK workers say management has violated their union contract, cut their hours, and failed to pay thousands of dollars in pension contributions and union dues.

Is there a connection?
Indeed there is, and KPFA voters should take heed:
Leslie Radford, the KPFK general manager responsible for the workers’ grievances and the widespread listener complaints, was appointed by none other than KPFA board member Margy Wilkinson. And Wilkinson is now running for re-election to the KPFA board.

What’s Going On?
KPFA and KPFK are two members of the five-station Pacifica Foundation network. Each of the five stations elects a Local Station Board; then the five local boards each send four members to the Pacifica National Board (PNB), the legal “board of directors” of Pacifica. The network and its stations are supposed to be overseen by a full-time Executive Director, hired by the PNB, but the current PNB seems unable to keep an ED on the job; two have departed after short stints in the post. In the absence of an ED, the Chair of the PNB is acting ED. It was in that role that PNB Chair Margy Wilkinson appointed Radford as manager of KPFK this past June. Incredibly, Wilkinson installed Radford in the KPFK job one day before a newly-hired ED began work. Evidently, Wilkinson didn’t want to leave the hiring of a station manager in the hands of someone with actual radio experience. And Radford’s apparent qualification for the general-manager job was being a member of the KPFK board faction that’s allied with Wilkinson’s “Save KPFA.”

In only four months on the job, Radford has so alienated KPFK workers and listeners that a no-confidence petition on Change.org has garnered 250 signatures. The signatories include listeners, present and former KPFK staff, former KPFA staff members Esther Manilla and John Hamilton, and Uprising host Sonali Kolhatkar, whose program is heard on both stations. The no-confidence statement cites labor-contract violations, fundraising blunders, “disastrous programming decisions,” and other problems. It concludes, “ We believe Radford is a liability to KPFK and will lead the station to bankruptcy and/or numerous lawsuits until KPFK is no more.”
 
Some of the KPFK staff members have also created a Facebook page to publicize their issues; Facebook users can find it here.

Throw the Bum(s) Out?
Under Pacifica’s bylaws, the KPFK LSB could begin the process of firing Radford, although the ultimate authority is the Pacifica National Board. This month’s election could swing the balance of power on the local boards and thus the National Board. Therefore, KPFA voters should consider this advice from long-time KPFK staffer and union member Ali Lexa:

As a current SAG-AFTRA member, I can tell you the union busting at KPFK going on right now is real, and Margy Wilkinson is no friend of our union. If we don’t get the Pacifica National Board into better hands immediately, our station in LA which is the biggest non-commercial radio signal west of the Mississippi River and the most important free speech voice in Southern California, is done. So please vote UCR. It’s the pro-labor vote.

United-for-Community-Radio (UCR) is supporting a well-qualified team of nine candidates for the nine KPFA LSB seats to be filled by KPFA subscriber votes. The UCR team includes a union leader for home care workers (Marilla Argüelles), and a former organizer and shop steward (Don Macleay); they’re part of a diverse group of individuals advocating for peace and social justice.
 

To support both KPFA and KPFK, please vote for the nine UCR candidates! To be sure of meeting the voting deadline of Friday, December 4, KPFA subscribers should vote online using the access codes that came with their paper ballots.

PAST: United For Community Radio Postcard 2015

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pc_photos

 

 

 

United for Community Radio Candidates.

 

Make Your Voice Heard

Vote in the KPFA Local Station Board election!!!

 

Paper ballots have been mailed, so if you haven’t received one, please contact the KPFA election supervisor,  kpfa-les (at) pacifica.org

 

 

 

Some of the many endorsers of UCR Candidates:  postcard2

Pacifica National Board Already Decided — Bequest Should Have Been Sent to Pacifica!

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By:  UCR Candidate Sharon Adams

Our opponents have been claiming that United For Community Radio “cost KPFA $400,000“, implying that KPFA was actually entitled to a $400,000 bequest.  Of course, that is the exact issue — KPFA was not entitled to the $400,000 bequest — the Pacifica Foundation was entitled to this bequest.  Our opponents inappropriately decided, WITHOUT CONSULTING PACIFICA, that this bequest was intended solely for KPFA.  The reason we know that KPFA was not entitled to the $400,000 bequest is because the Pacifica National Board (PNB) has determined that the bequest was actually supposed to go to Pacifica.
Bequest_Check

The PNB’s decision is supported by the evidence.  First and foremost, both the bequest and the check were specifically made out to “Pacifica Foundation Radio”.  There was no mention of KPFA in the bequest documents.

Pacifica LogoAnd, even assuming there was ambiguity in the identification of Pacifica Foundation Radio, the proper response would have been to contact the PNB to mutually discuss and decide how to deal with the bequest.  It was our opponents failure to ask Pacifica that is at the heart of this matter.   To the extent that our opponents felt there *was* ambiguity, they should have checked with the Pacifica National Board.

Interim Executive Director (and SaveKPFA candidate) Margy Wilkinson later apologized for this failure to disclose — after the fact and when the bequest funds were already comfortably residing in the KPFA bank account.  It really would not have been that difficult to send this information to Pacifica prior to depositing the check in the KPFA bank account.

FBOKPFA

~Screen shot of kpfa.org website

As the image above shows, it is quite easy to make a bequest that is for KPFA, and the KPFA website provides clear instructions on how to do this.  Of course, Pacifica must be mentioned in the bequest instructions because Pacifica is the parent organization of KPFA.  Significantly, the KPFA website makes clear that the phrase “for the benefit of KPFA” or “fbo KPFA” must be added.  This is not difficult to do, and is standard operating procedure for attorneys working in estate planning who are trained to make clear and unambiguous bequests.

Now that our opponents have been exposed, they start the mudslinging, with personal attacks on UCR candidate Janet Kobren who found the documents showing that the bequest was intended for the Pacifica Foundation.  However, Janet Kobren was simply doing her duty as a board member and secretary of the PNB.  This is in stark contrast to other KPFA members on the PNB, Brian Edwards-Tieckert and Margy Wilkinson.  They have shown that they are willing to “Save” KPFA — at the expense of the entire Pacifica network.

United for Community Radio is not into assigning blame.  UCR wants to ensure that the entire Pacifica network remains strong, including KPFA and its sister stations.  UCR’s opponents must stop cannibalizing Pacifica to allegedly “Save” KPFA.

Vote for the entire UCR slate in the KPFA Local Station Board election.

RESCUE KPFA from Save KPFA

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For another perspective on the bequest, read Frank Sterling’s article here about how We Are All One!
Frank Sterling is KPFA’s Technical Director of First Voice Media program.