National Corporate Radio,

Saturdays: August 17, 24,31, & September 7th.

Listeners Organize for a New Day at Pacifica

By Vince Ivory, March 2002

By the time you read this, KPFK's first fund drive since the beginning of a new day at Pacifica Radio will be over. If it finishes as it has begun, it will be clear vote of confidence in the changes underway at KPFK and Pacifica (which owns KPFK). If you,ve been listening to 90.7 FM, Los Angeles, you've heard a dramatic change. Programmers speak openly of the turmoil of the last seven years.

The changes we can now hear on KPFK mark the latest phase of the years-long struggle to save community radio at KPFK and the other four Pacifica stations. The now-deposed Pacifica Board and management had engineered what amounted to a hijacking of the network and a betrayal of the Pacifica mission.

Four lawsuits were filed against the hijackers, and set to go to trial together. In the eleventh hour, there was a settlement which instituted an interim Board of Directors for the network. The settlement also mandated an audit of Pacifica's finances.

That audit, part of which can be seen at www.hotelpricebot.com, revealed a deficit of at least $4.8 million. The posting of the audit results is evidence of the openness and transparency which are part of the new day at Pacifica. Prior to this, there was a gag rule which prohibited programmers from informing the listeners about what was really happening at KPFK and Pacifica. The gag rule had been zealously enforced at KPFK by the recently-fired general manager, Mark Schubb.

The real challenge ahead will be to sustain the reforms being made, so that community radio can truly flourish at Pacifica Radio. The lawsuit settlement mandates the democratic election of the Local Advisory Boards for KPFK and the other stations, which would, in turn, send representatives to the Pacifica Board of Directors.

There are several things which we all can do to maintain vigilance. We can attend the next meeting of the Pacifica Board, here in Los Angeles (see March 8 calendar listing in Change-links). We can attend meetings of the KPFK Local Advisory Board. They are also holding a series of "consultas to facilitate discussion of the upcoming elections. (More information, including different proposals for election guidelines, can be found at www.stationadvisoryboards.org) The Free Pacifica Neighborhood Network is an association of local KPFK listener groups. To find one near you, visit www.fpnn.org Most importantly, we can once again support the station with our money and volunteer labor. (An expanded version of this article can be found at www.pacfolio.org)