All the News
Father Knows Less
Jesse tells me that I'm definitely not cool. I don't dress right, he says, and I couldn't possibly beat him in a footrace. Why do I put up with such abuse, day after day, as he hits me for money or lounges around like a little king while I make his lunch?
He's a kid, that's why. My kid. And no one is more amazed than I that we've made it so far without major injuries or mayhem. "But dad," he reminds me, "I had my appendix removed. Use your brain."
Right.
"Use your brain," he likes to say, usually when illustrating why he is smarter or more in touch with reality than I am. Lately, he's become the kind of lovable smart alec you want to hug and pummel at the same time. But since he's my wiseguy, I can do that. It's one of the few privileges connected with fatherhood. That and puffing up with pride whenever he does something especially well.
That's my boy!
How did I become this dad person? In my twenties I was one of those people who stated flatly that there were already too many people in this sick world. Why condemn another being to life on this suffering globe? In 1970, I recall laughing ruefully when Kurt Vonnegut outlined the problem to the graduating class of Bennington College. He begged the women to believe a ridiculous superstition: that humanity is at the center of the universe.
"If you can believe that," he said, "and make others believe it, then there might be hope for us. Human beings might stop treating each other like garbage, might begin to treasure and protect each other instead. Then it might be all right to have babies again."
Eight years later I participated in the making of a baby anyway. Despite the fact that everything was still getting worse, I'd decided that creating a new life might actually help. At least it might help me find a purpose larger than myself but more manageable than world revolution.
In the delivery room after a full day of labor, I helped Robin regulate her breathing while the staff tried to adapt to our Lamaze demands. Jesse's emergence into the world still ranks as one of the most moving events of my life. Our friend, Doreen, put the crucial moments on film.
With such an entrance, I suppose it was destiny that Jesse would turn out to be some kind of performer. And as if to prove it, upon graduating from elementary to middle school just about 11 years later, he won the "Class Clown" award from an appreciative fifth grade teacher.
That's my boy!
No manual can prepare you for the rigors and rewards of fatherhood. It's one thing to read about waking up nightly at 3 a.m. and quite another to do it. There is also no way to capture in words the feeling of holding your infant child and knowing that, for the moment at least, his life depends entirely on you and your partner.
Even if you don't read all the books, you quickly learn the ropes. When it comes to raising kids, trial and error is virtually unavoidable. Sometimes a chance experience provides an important clue. The secret to putting Jesse to sleep, for instance, came to me while riding with him in a car. Vibration was a foolproof sleep-inducer. After the first success, anytime I couldn't rock him to sleep I'd take him for a ride.
Maybe that's why he's so hung up on Lamborghinis.
The books also won't prepare you for the strong emotions that sweep over at times of trouble or joy. This is perhaps more shocking for men, who are used to keeping their feelings under wraps. The first time Jesse wanted to climb a tree, I was frantic. Images of crushed little bones invaded my brain, forcing me to hover nearby and utter inexcusable inanities.
Equally unnerving was the absolute pride I felt when Jesse won some trophies for karate or horsemanship. It was a powerful surge of pleasure that I'd rarely felt even when winning a prize myself. And it was not the size of the victory that mattered, but rather that my kid had mastered some new skill. I realized that there was nothing wrong with taking pride in such progress – as long as you didn't mind looking a little foolish.
For me, perhaps the biggest surprise was how comfortable I became in the role of dad. It put my feet on the ground like no job ever could. Very soon I was hooked on the experience. I reveled in the responsibility, and looked for opportunities to be a role model. I also found that it was possible to be both a father and a friend. Cuddling with Jesse, talking about school or watching a film, was often the highlight of my day.
Just how central Jesse was to my life became clearest when we were apart. My frequent trips overseas meant that we were separated for months at a time. Even if I was in some idyllic setting, his face would appear in my mind's eye and I'd be lonely.
There was only one way to describe that feeling – love.
Being a dad – at least one worth having – also means being a teacher and sometimes a boss. Since I'd taught previously, the former wasn't such a stretch. But setting down rules on matters such as toys and television put my self-image through some heavy changes.
Here I was, saying things like "turn it off NOW," and "No, you can't have that $25 hunk of plastic." Who was that guy using my mouth? Had my father taken control of my body? I tried to change the dynamic by shifting into my teacher role.
"Now, Jesse, you know what commercials do?" I would explain. "They make you want to buy things you don't need."
But he, as usual, was way ahead of me. "You mean they're lying, right?"
Right.
Still, his ability to see through the lies did not prevent him from wanting to consume. Though I resisted, we did go through action figures (without the guns), Gobots, Autobots, Transformers, and a slight touch of Masters of the Universe. Later came Atari and Nintendo video games. I despised these plastic and video monsters, but what could I do but remind him that they were trash? A ban on mass culture would only have alienated my best friend.
It was a costly compromise, but we both survived without too many laser burns.
TV was more problematic. My own philosophy was that content matters more than time. Thus, I would prefer it if he spent three hours watching "Fanny and Alexander" rather than one hour glued to "The A-Team." Robin felt, on the other hand, that time limits were also important. Jesse must have found it humorous to watch his two parents arguing repeatedly over how many hours of tube time he should be allowed on weekends – especially since he could violate the rules with impunity once he was in some more "liberal" household.
If there is a right answer to the great TV debate, I sure haven't found it. But the struggle has taught me that limits are necessary, and that most kids instinctively understand they are signs of caring. Both TV and toy struggles also have made it clear that we're living in a deeply addictive culture. When a kid is hooked on video games at eight, there's no telling what he'll be into at 18.
Anyone who thinks his or her child is immune to the psychic assault of mass culture would be well advised to heed my son's advice: "Wake up and smell the rubber barf.
Since we're still friends, Jesse has been explaining a few things lately about girls. They're mostly silly and giggly, and their notes are not cool. "I think you're cute," several of them wrote recently. "Do you think I'm cute?" One even added, "I want your body."
"And what did you do?" I asked naively.
"Brain, dad," he said. "It's going to be a long process.”
I don't know if most 11-year-olds are as philosophical about pre-pubescent rituals, but I was reassured. I was also a bit shocked to learn that by 10 they know as much about sex as I knew at 15. From the vocabulary to the techniques, somehow they've covered it. One friend told me that the celebration at a birthday party her daughter attended came to a crashing halt when the 8-year-old birthday girl got a shock: her "boyfriend" had "slept with" one of her best friends.
Luckily, Jesse seems satisfied with his "long process." He's much more turned on by a solid homerun than a kiss right now. His passion is achievement, especially when it involves beating his old dad.
But he has been showing signs of rebellion lately. It's no longer enough to simply bend the rules. I get the strong impression he wants to change them. In the old days, it was easy to convince him that tagging along with the adults would be fun. Now he knows better. Meetings are boring, and all we oldsters seem to enjoy is talking. Kids thrive on action, and by 11 I guess they're ready to break away.
There really isn't a choice. To demand that your child like the things you enjoy is asking the impossible. Force only makes matters worse, deepening the suspicion that parents are out of touch. Or as Jesse puts it, "In the olden days things were less cool."
But sometimes I can still convince my friend to trust my judgment, usually by offering to meet at least some of his needs. Though force usually fails, I find that most kids remain open to persuasion and fair negotiation.
Jesse hasn't read Kurt Vonnegut yet, but I think he already shares some of the writer's pessimism. Even though he thinks he's quite different than his dad, he may have inherited some of that from me. I can only hope he's also learned to take risks and hold onto his sense of humor.
And what about dad? Well, even though I've changed from respected authority figure to poorly dressed geek, I'm still satisfied with the job.
PNB In Person Meeting - July 24 - 26, 2009
Nonviolence & the Road to Independence
Each year, as fireworks celebrate the Declaration of Independence and people discuss how the United States began, the spotlight normally turns to “revolutionary” leaders and the “armed struggle” waged more than two centuries ago. But as usual, the real story is a bit different. The movement toward independence in the “new world” actually began a decade before the “shot heard round the world” and involved thousands of people. By the time things turned violent, substitute governments and firm alliances were operating in nine colonies.
Early colonial campaigns weren’t mere passive pleading. They were demands, backed by nonviolent actions that forced Britain to change its laws. Through economic boycott and the development of new government structures, John Dickinson wrote in 1767, colonists could pressure parliament by “withholding from Britain all the advantages they get from us.” One pamphlet circulating at the time urged colonists to “bid defiance to tyranny by exposing its impotence.”
Many colonists were already following this advice, refusing to comply with the new Stamp Act, a direct tax on all sorts of licenses, publications and legal papers, by resisting use of the stamps. According to Britain, the duty would be used to finance British troops “protecting” colonists from Indian “hostility” and French expansionism. Resistance began even before the Act was official. This grassroots movement, which essentially nullified the law, involved a massive refusal to import British goods and the beginning of economic self-sufficiency in North America.
The forms of political defiance and direct action included civil disobedience and, in some cases, threats aimed at stamp distributors. No one was killed, but the threats and scattered attacked on property were effective deterrents. By November all the stamp distributors resigned, while ports and newspapers remained open despite the absence of stamps. Debts to British merchants were left unpaid. The Rhode Island Assembly resolved that only colonists could tax colonists. In order to avoid mass prosecution of resisters, however, George Washington advised that colonial courts be closed.
Despite the absence of violence, the threat to British rule was obvious. Power was swiftly being diffused through many substitute governments. Town meetings took to passing laws that were more widely obeyed than British regulations. By early 1768 more than four million pounds was owed to Britain’s merchants, who pressured the King and parliament for action. The Stamp Act was repealed, but Britain simultaneously proclaimed that the right to tax the colonies still and would always exist. What couldn’t be defended on the ground was brandished on paper.
The Townshend Acts, a 1768 attempt by new British Prime Minister Charles Townshend to impose an external levy, met just as much resistance. The new Acts placed a tax on imported goods such as lead, paint, paper, glass, and tea. This time it wasn’t merchants who initiated the campaign but mechanics, artisans and workers. The main method was non-consumption, along with development of economic alternatives along self-sufficient lines. When goods weren’t bought and those on household shelves weren’t used, merchants were forced not to import the boycotted items. Within a year the Massachusetts legislature denounced the law, calling for united action, and Virginia voted for strict non-importation, notifying other colonies of its decision.
Non-importation put a squeeze on British merchants until the Acts died in 1770. But this time Britain was a bit more clever: All taxes - except the duty on tea – were repealed. Falling short of total victory the colonists became divided about the success of their campaign. In the confusion resistance disintegrated as Britain doggedly held onto its right to tax.
Despite the setback colonial fervor persisted in other resistance efforts. The Committees of Correspondence, established years earlier as underground governments, maintained a network for expressions of solidarity, protests, mutual aid, and new ideas. In 1773, Britain provided the catalyst to test these emerging organs of popular power.
The East India Company, an early international monopoly, was in financial trouble. To help the influential business, Britain’s parliament passed an Act controlling prices in order to give East India a colonial monopoly. The law manipulated the market so that even smuggled tea was more expensive. The Boston Tea Party was an early response; Bostonians in Indian garb dumped 342 chests of tea overboard. Britain responded by closing the Port of Boston and increasing repression.
The colonies mobilized, helped by their previous experiences with united action and Paul Revere’s rides to “give you all the news.” Many communities – New York, Philadelphia, Charlestown, Wilmington and Baltimore among them – pledged moral and economic support. Money, rice and sheep flooded into Massachusetts as Britain tried to undermine self-government.
Defying Britain, a Massachusetts Town Meeting resolved to cut off imports and exports, and called again for economic boycott. Revere rode to New York and Philadelphia with news of the Suffolk Resolves, soon adopted by the Continental Congress. All coercive laws were unconstitutional, the Congress had ruled, and are not to be obeyed. People were urged to form their own governments and deny taxes to the so-called “legal” governments in their regions.
Although the Resolves raised the possibility of war, the thrust remained nonviolent – boycott, tax resistance, non-importation (sometimes including slaves), and development of substitute local governments. The Continental Association, formed at the end of 1774, incorporated these approaches and added legal enforcement of “non-intercourse” along the lines used earlier in Virginia.
As this brief review suggests, the movement for US independence emerged from the grassroots, from people in neighborhoods and communities, colonists who made personal commitments and participated in hunger strikes, non-consumption and other heroic acts of resistance. It was an enormous and sustained struggle, one of many nonviolent campaigns that have profoundly influenced world history, although “official” accounts rarely give them recognition.
Civil resistance – also known as “nonviolent action” or “people power” – has proven effective, though not always successful on its own, in many colonial rebellions, struggles for labor, civil and women’s rights, campaigns to resist genocide and dictatorship, and other battles for independence and freedom. Indian nationalists used it in their struggle against British domination, various European countries used it to resist Nazi occupation, dissidents in Communist-ruled countries used it to increase freedom – and ultimately end dictatorships in Poland, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
These movements weren’t passive or submissive, and most of the people involved weren’t pacifists, saints or natural leaders. They were ordinary people in extraordinary situations, using diverse methods – from protests and vigils to the creation of parallel or “de facto” governments – to challenge and ultimately overturn illegitimate authority. In the American colonies two centuries ago, people were well on their way to winning the War of Independence before the shooting even started. There are clearly lessons here for the domestic and global struggles we face today.
Happy Independence Day!
To learn more about recent nonviolent struggles and the potential of civil resistance, consult the work of Gene Sharp, founder of the Albert Einstein Institution, author of Waging Nonviolent Struggle and other books, and known as "the Machiavelli of nonviolence."
FTV 164 The Final Frontier
As the Pacifica Radio Archives presents its 1968 Revolution Rewind series, we have listened to critical events from 40 years ago and the voices of the key figures during that time. This week we listen to two visionary thinkers, both writers of the future who have guided humanity by daring us to exercise our imagination - Ray Bradbury and Gene Roddenberry - as they address the 1968 World Science Fiction Convention held at the Hotel Claremont in Berkeley California.
From the Vault is proudly presented as part of the Pacifica Radio Archives Preservation and Access Project.
LISTEN to this episode.
Click here to purchase a copy of this program or learn more about and purchase copies of the historic archival recordings used within this episode. To purchase a CD copy of this program by phone, please call Pacifica Radio Archives at 800.735.0230 x 262.
Click here to send an email to From the Vault.
FTV 163 Pacifica’s Juneteenth Special 2002
Juneteenth (June 19th) commemorates a significant day in African American history. Juneteenth, also known as African American Emancipation Day, is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. In 2002 the five Pacifica stations preempted regular programming to simulcast a 15-hour special Juneteenth broadcast. In this episode of From the Vault, we feature highlights from that historic day of radio.
From the Vault is presented as part of the Pacifica Radio Archives Preservation and Access Project.
LISTEN to this episode.
Click here to purchase a copy of this program or learn more about and purchase copies of the historic archival recordings used within this episode. To purchase a CD copy of this program by phone, please call Pacifica Radio Archives at 800.735.0230 x 262.
Click here to send an email to From the Vault.
Lonnie Hicks Sues Pacifica Foundation for Unlawful Termination
Read the Documents filed 9 April 2007.
FTV 162 Gay Day Time Capsule
This week on From The Vault we present an hour of this year’s KPFK Gay Day Time Capsule Broadcast. In this hour, Pacifica Radio Archives Director Brian Deshazor teams with actor and comedian Jason Stewart and KPFK Senior Producer Christine Blosdale to take a hilarious romp through our archival recordings, music, and film clips.
From the Vault is presented as part of the Pacifica Radio Archives Preservation and Access Project
LISTEN to this episode.
Click here to purchase a copy of this program or learn more about and purchase copies of the historic archival recordings used within this episode. To purchase a CD copy of this program by phone, please call Pacifica Radio Archives at 800.735.0230 x 262.
Click here to send an email to From the Vault.
Planet Pacifica: An Inside Story
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Audio: Talking to the PNB, L.A., July 2007
The Road to Berkeley
Pacifica’s beginnings, a brief history of radio and TV, and how the author became a CEO
1. When Radio Was New; 2. The Early Days of the Tube; 3. Managing Pacifica: How It Began; 4. 9/11 Theories and Pacifica’s Fear Factor; 5. Applying for the Dream Job from Hell; 6. Challenge or Folly?
In the Bubble
Constraints, conspiracies, more Pacifica history, and an early assessment
7. Marooned on the Margin; 8. The Voice vs. the Authority; 9. Considering Rumors and Pacifica’s CFO; 10. How Campanella Struck Out; 11. Why Pacifica Radio Fights; 12. Practical Idealism & Pacifica Realities; 13. Managing Pacifica: Strategy & Struggles
A Listening Tour: February-March 2006
14. WBAI: The Legend That Lost Its Way; 15. Facing Factions at WBAI; 16. WPFW: Avoiding the Tough Questions; 17. Mixed Messages at WPFW; 18. KPFT: Overhauling the “Texas Jukebox”; 19. Network or Movement?; 20. KPFA: Hanrahan v. Bernstein, et al.; 21. Roots of the Revolution; 22. KPFK: The Price of Stifling Dissent; 23. Tea & Tension at KPFK; 24. PRA: A Preservation Oasis; 25. Elections & Civic Media; 26. Following the Money; 27. Assessing Pacifica’s Deficit of Trust
Real Life
28. Rethinking the Experiment; 29. WBAI's Delicate Condition; 30. Uncovering Fault Lines; 31. War at Home; 32. End of a Media Dream; 33. What Can Be Done
Postscripts
34. Making Democracy Work, January 2008; 35. Pacifica Ponders Spending Cuts, March 2008; 36. Sawaya Goes on the Record, June 2008 37. Pacifica Tackles Bylaws & Management, August 2008 38. Quiet Meltdown on Planet Pacifica, September 2008 39. Budgeting for Triage 40. The Price of Democracy 41. Sawaya Resigns (Sept. 25, 2008: Current) 42. What Went Wrong?
Afterword: State of the News Media 2008
A Crisis of Fact; Will Newspapers Survive?; Radio’s Delicate Condition; The Future of Community Radio
Special Feature: Looking Back with Ernesto Aguilar, September 2007
Reviews by Pacifica Leaders
Greg Guma's journalistic eye precisely captures the essence of contemporary Pacifica as it stuggles with its own contradictions and the proliferation of competing media alternatives to re-establish a relevancy and significance slowly surrendered over the years in accommodation to the tantrums of strong personalities and the ethical compromises of identity-based politics…
Greg Guma's important inside narrative of a critical recent transitional period in Pacifica's complex history is an excellent read, well-contextualizing whatever chapters remain in Pacifica's uncertain future.
--Terry Goodman
What makes Greg Guma's new blog so extraordinary is that he is the first executive in Pacifica who has been willing, and able, to share his experiences….
I think that Greg's articles on his experiences at, and observations on Pacifica have been a real gift to the network. They ought to be required reading for all the PNB and LSB members.
And for me, personally, they have been a tremendous validation of all sorts of observations and concerns that I have been expressing on the discussion lists for years, so for that I am very grateful to Greg for compiling all these stories.
-- Nalini Lasiewicz
While serving on the Pacifica Radio National Board I not only developed a real respect for Greg Guma and his leadership of the network and Foundation as executive director, but I worked in a faction of the Board at that time which tried to consolidate more responsibilities in that office. We wanted to give appropriate power and oversight to the Pacifica national executive director so that decisions on the day-to-day operations of the network could be made more effectively.
--Don White
New KPFT Elections Timeline
Due to the time crunch at all the stations, the deadlines for the elections has been extended. The new timeline is:
June 1st Nomination period begins.
July 15th Nomination period ends. All candidates must have their forms turned in.
Last day to join a Pacifica station.
July 15th Candidates will be given air time at their respective stations to share their vision for Pacifica
Aug 29th Ballots shall be mailed to all 95,000 members
Oct 14th ALL BALLOTS MAILED IN MUST BE RECEIVED BY THIS DATE!
Nov 15th The election will be certified if the quorum for the election is met.
Date of Record -
To run as a candidate or to vote, a person must have been a member in the period from July 16th 2008 to July 15th 2009
A person qualifies for membership by:
1. Paying $25 to one of the stations
2. Volunteering at a station for a minimum of 3 hours
3. Obtaining a waiver from the Local Station Board.
KPFT Service Auction July 18
On July 18th, KPFT Radio hosts the “Wear That Funky Music!” Service Auction at One Americas Plaza, 2311 Canal Street.
Guests are encouraged to dress as a song title or music personality and there’ll be costume contests as well as a table decorating contest. There’ll be a silent auction, live auction and raffles. This is a great opportunity for our radio listeners to meet and interact with other listeners, support the station financially and be entertained.
Call 713-526-4000 x315 to buy tickets over the phone. You and your friends, or your business, may want to sponsor a table. If so you can buy a table at the Brown Paper Ticket link, or download the Ticket and Tables order form at this link, or call 713-526-4000 x315.
Last, but certainly not least, we are looking for donated items/services. For businesses or nonprofits, this offers bidders an opportunity to learn more about the business/nonprofit in the process of donating to KPFT — a Win! Win! Win!
Some examples of Service Auction items:
- Write a simple will for you
- Change and rotate tires
- Read a palm, cast runes
- Repair your fence
- Perm or cut your hair
- Cater a meal
- Spay /neuter your pet
or provide:
- Floral arrangements & delivery
- A stay at a beach house, mountain cabin or hotel on time-share
- Restaurant gift certificate
- Lunch at X restaurant with X celebrity
- Tickets to a play, musical event, ballet, dance, museum, with backstage tour
- Custom made boots/hat
- Murder Mystery or specialty dinner
- Cooking/dance/art lessons or tutoring
- Website/computer assistance
- Chiropractic exam, acupuncture massage
- Historical or custom-made tours
- Special entertainment for your party (singer, magician or clown)
Every service contract/donation will be assigned a song title and creatively described in terms of music in some way. If desired, the donor’s name, address, email address and phone number will be featured in the auction catalogue, on our auction website and may be mentioned in promotions for the event. We are also soliciting sponsorship ads for the Service Auction catalogue. You can get this information from the web site, or call Robin Lewis, KPFT Development Director, at 713-526-4000 x315.
2009-05-27 Elections Committee Report
2009-05-27 iCFO Report
2009-05-27 iED Report
2009-05-27 Finance Committee Report
2009-04-17 PNB Minutes
Pacifica Radio – What Can Be Done
Part Six of Real Life on Planet Pacifica
When rumors fly across Planet Pacifica or attacks get especially nasty, people often blame provocateurs and charge that the government is out to get radio’s voice of the people. There is some basis for this suspicion. The FBI had Pacifica in its sights as early as 1958, and took a special interest in 1962 when former Special Agent Jack Levine gave KPFA an interview.
Levine exposed the Bureau as a threat to democracy and a tool of J. Edgar Hoover, its vain and obsessed director. According to Mathew Lasar, who reviewed Freedom of Information Act files, the Bureau poked, prodded, and harassed the organization for years, even planting agents disguised as private citizens.
In recent times, however, charges of counter-intelligence operations directed against the organization have been speculative at best, and occasionally excursions into free-range paranoia. When messages critical of program hosts or local activists are posted on Internet lists and websites, their authors – some long-time Pacifica members – are sometimes charged as accomplices in an alleged government conspiracy to destabilize the organization. Board members and station managers aren’t exempt from insinuations that they’re part of the plot.
As Executive Director, I found no solid evidence of a government operation. But even if a disinformation campaign was being pursued, it would be overkill. The Pacifica community is capable of destabilizing itself without a federal assist. Outside forces aren’t responsible for the new bylaws or listener activist distrust of staff, the slow response to the digital age, confusion about the basic mission, programming gridlock, financial decline, or misbehavior of board members and volunteers.
Part of the problem is the version of democracy put in place in 2002. As this point, the five stations had about a million regular listeners (down about 20 percent since then). Of this total, about 10 percent make financial or volunteer contributions, qualifying them to participate in local elections. Of that total, little more than 10 percent actually return ballots in the board elections.
Due to proportional voting, it takes at most about 300 votes for someone to be elected to a local station board. In other words, LSB members draw their right to govern from far less than one percent of the listeners. And in order to win, candidates often resort to negative appeals, especially charges that the process is corrupt and Pacifica isn’t democratic enough. In general, the elections have tended to perpetuate an atmosphere of confrontation and suspicion.
They also take at least eight months to conduct, cost at least $200,000 each time, consume considerable staff and airtime, and lead to interminable legal disputes. Most non-profit boards recruit people with specific skills needed by the organization. Pacifica replaced this with an election process that perpetuates warring factions on every station board.
Board meetings have frequently featured rude outbursts and other disrespectful behavior. Roberts Rules of Order are often abused, becoming weapons of obstruction rather than tools to promote rational discussion. E-mails are used to spread rumors and promote debates of marginal relevance. In many cases, factional alliances manipulate the rules. Productivity suffers and questionable behavior opens the organization to legal liability. All this has had the effect of alienating potential supporters or future board members.
Voting is not a panacea. It is a mediated form of political engagement, and can sometimes divert energy from more effective forms of political and social action. Just because a group is elected, that doesn’t always mean it makes the best or even the right decisions.
Since the status-quo encourages competition rather than cooperation, a viable alternative would need to provide incentives for actively seeking common ground. For elections to be constructive, the process must reward helpful ideas rather than negative appeals. Pacifica also needs some at-large, appointed board members, people who have needed skills and aren’t so entangled in the internal political struggles.
In addition, the organization might benefit from some form of open-source governance, an emerging “post-national” approach that draws from the collective wisdom of a whole community. An open-source model could help de-couple setting policy from station management. A small step in this direction would be to post all the policies – local, national, financial – in one accessible public registry and update it regularly.
The current structure is, in part, a form of grassroots democracy. As much decision-making as possible is granted to the lower geographic level of organization. This sounds fine, but means in practice that power resides with local institutions – the stations – and not with individuals. In contrast, participatory systems give people equal access to decision-making regardless of their standing in a local chapter or community. The question is who and what Pacifica seeks to empower.
Beyond a fresh look at listener democracy and organizational structure, Pacifica Radio sorely needs a serious review of its 60-year-old mission statement, which adds to the confusion, an overhaul of its bylaws, and new revenue streams, including carefully screened underwriting. Individual contributions, mainly via on-air fund drives, won’t be enough, and CPB funding is unreliable.
Perhaps being the loyal opposition, covering the stories that other media ignore, is the path ahead. But if so, where and how do dialogue and national programs fit in? Is it really a network or merely a convenient umbrella for local stations that basically go their own ways? Resolving such questions will help to determine the best formats and schedules to serve the mission and attract more listeners. It might even lead to less internal warfare.
Whatever the answers are to the many questions nagging at Pacifica, one thing is certain: It needs to catch up with the digital revolution. To stay relevant, it will have to fully embrace the Internet and devote substantially more to retooling for this new form of production and distribution.
Podcasting is an ideal format for specialized information and shows with unique audiences, allowing programmers go far beyond a station's reach. With listeners able to choose the shows or items they want, relevance rather than production values and locality becomes a main factor. As search engines improve, podcasting will be more about items and less about shows. More people will also become their own producers, collecting the items or music they want and bundling them together.
Pacifica needs to produce more content specifically for podcasts, cultivating online hosts and opening opportunities for new voices to create segments and programs that won’t be aired on the terrestrial stations. It would also help to stop preaching to the choir, and offer more shows that promote real dialogue, at least the discussion of varying progressive viewpoints.
Some content will combine audio, video and text. Media players with TV screens are becoming more common, and it won’t be long before many stations have regular webcast shows. In addition, listeners will be able to participate in live, interactive video streams of talk shows, watching the on-air personalities and other listeners who are streaming themselves. They’ll be able to interact with the hosts and each other.
Two-way communication is quickly replacing one-way broadcasting as the dominant mode of connectivity. Hardwired systems dominated by proprietary radio components are becoming adaptive platforms. Just as PCs replaced mainframes and brought computing to the masses, wireless systems are replacing central transmission towers with millions of interactive end-user devices. In this new world, successful radio stations will be general online content producers.
In mid-2006, I outlined a possible future for Pacifica during a public meeting in New York. Asking the audience to suspend their disbelief and use their imaginations, I described an audio production center with multiple channels and schedules open to frequent change, a place that breaks down distinctions between listeners and producers, a hothouse for the cultivation of talent and a laboratory for new ideas, a place where people converge and contribute. To do that, however, Pacifica stations must become audio resource centers offering state-of-the-art training and a variety of platforms to get messages — news, information, opinions, music, humor, drama and more — out into the world.
Given the current state of affairs, it’s difficult to say whether anything close to this will come to pass. But before such a transformation can even begin, Pacifica needs stable management, a streamlined approach to governance, and a dramatic turn from suspicion and fear to tolerance and mutual respect.
Until then, no matter whom the board chooses to manage Pacifica it is likely to remain, as described to me back in 2005, a dream job from hell.
Previous Installments:
One: Rethinking the Experiment
Two: WBAI’s Delicate Condition
Three: Uncovering Fault Lines
Four: Pacifica’s War at Home
Five: End of a Media Dream
PS. For more detailed proposals concerning reforms and changes that could help, check out my reports to the PNB as Executive Director, particularly June and September 2006, and January 2007. For those disappointed that I haven't revealed more, please keep in mind that as a former staff member I am limited by confidentiality rules, especially those regarding personnel, executive committee meetings, and terms outlined in the agreement I signed in January 2006. Those who feel that this series has gone on too long or helped too little (or not at all) will be happy to know that it ends here. May the Pacifica community prosper and find a constructive way forward in the years ahead. -- GG
FTV 161 Gay Day 2009 Preview
In this episode of From the Vault, we listen to the fight fro gay civil rights from the Stonewall Riots of 1969 to present day. We’ll also have a sneak preview of a special Pacifica Radio Archives project designed to gather the voices of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans gender, and queer communities in all their diversity for a Gay Day broadcast from sunup to sundown on Sunday June 14, 2009 - the first such broadcast in Los Angeles since 1995!
From the Vault is presented as part of the Pacifica Radio Archives Preservation and Access Project.
LISTEN to this episode.
Click here to purchase a copy of this program or learn more about and purchase copies of the historic archival recordings used within this episode. To purchase a CD copy of this program by phone, please call Pacifica Radio Archives at 800.735.0230 x 262.
Click here to send an email to From the Vault.
End of a Media Dream
Part Five of Real Life on Planet Pacifica
Shortly after the January 2007 Pacifica National Board meeting in Houston, PNB member Berthold Reimer sent a revealing e-mail. “It is not up to the PNB to micro manage the Executive Director who should have the leverage to make decisions and implement them,” he wrote. “If the PNB is not happy with the way the Executive Director implements its directives, the PNB can decide not to renew the contract of the Executive Director or have an extraordinary session to terminate him/her. Short of that, we should let him do his job.”
I appreciated the sentiment, but the argument contained two interesting assumptions. The first was that I actually had a contract. In reality, I had been working without one for more than a year at that point, and an attempt to negotiate some basic terms had been derailed by stalemate in the Personnel Committee.
He also implied that the intent of the Board was often clear. On the contrary, there was rarely anything close to consensus. Divisions were especially apparent when the topic was “must carry,” the idea that some programs should be aired on all stations. Whether the example was Spanish language news, a national special, or a board-backed editorial, viewpoints varied and local control was a sore point. This became painfully clear when I attempted to mandate carriage of a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.
At the urging of the PNB, I had issued an editorial statement on Habeas Corpus shortly after passage of the Military Commissions Act in 2006 undermined this basic right. In adopting its motion on this topic, the board also voted for follow up, initiatives such as having the editorial posted on various websites, related programming to be developed locally, regular updates, and station broadcasts of statements by local or national experts. My editorial was aired, but local management’s response to the board’s initiative was cool and inconsistent.
Then, in mid-January 2007, KPFA host and correspondent Larry Bensky urged national coverage of the Judiciary Committee’s questioning of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. The Senators would be quizzing him in less than a week about warrantless surveillance, suspension of Habeas Corpus, torture, and extension of domestic spying by the CIA and military. Covering key hearings was a Pacifica mainstay, and this looked like a golden opportunity to pursue the issue at hand. A proposal was quickly circulated to managers and national staff members. Technical arrangements were put in motion.
Prior to the hearing, confirmation was received from managers at four of the five stations that it would be carried live. Some were reluctant, but realized we were fulfilling the board’s instruction to “use the resources of the foundation to educate and inform the public on the dangers of this legislation, specifically including… consistent on-air coverage of the issue.” As it turned out, CSPAN ignored it, mainstream media coverage was minimal, and the questioning was dramatic, essentially starting the process that led to Gonzales’ resignation. But the reaction within Pacifica was even more revealing. Several board members charged that I had over-stepped my authority.
During a teleconference the following evening, I argued that the decision reflected a broad consensus and urged the directors to support my efforts to have Pacifica “act like a network.” In response, Bob Lederer, a WBAI delegate and JUC member, argued that there was a big difference between the general principle of maximizing coverage and mandating a particular program. The Board hadn’t authorized national carriage of the hearing, he said, and therefore stations shouldn’t have been required to air it. Referring to the 1990s, the bad old days when such decisions sparked rebellion, he wanted the board to make it clear that the National Office couldn’t impose anything except the authorized editorial.
Several Board members felt that collaboration was preferable to “must carry,” and that short notice forced stations to preempt popular shows without sufficient time. One member, WPFW delegate Acie Byrd, submitted a motion that said my action wasn’t authorized and I should henceforth refrain from imposing any program on the stations, unless and until the board spoke on the issue. The motion didn’t pass, but the discussion made it clear just how limited the power of Pacifica’s CEO could be.
Quite a few national specials were produced during the succeeding months, and most stations aired them. On the other hand, more lawsuits were filed, and the board ignored most of my recommendations for reorganization and programming, as well as repeated warnings about a looming financial crunch. When managers and national staff developed a unified policy to deal more strictly with obscenity violations, unpaid staff in New York almost succeeded in getting the board to block it. Local control advocates were mobilizing to protect station “autonomy” from my network-oriented agenda, and my early supporters were falling away, at least in part because I hadn’t satisfied their desire to “clean house.”
In late 2006, rather than offering me a contract the board had decided to conduct an evaluation. The process took months and asked more than 140 people -- national staff, station managers, and every national and LSB member – to rate my work. Some of the locals hadn’t even met me, and most had little notion of what I did. Basically, it was a referendum, a vote on whether I should get a raise, keep the job, go on probation, or be fired. I took to calling it an “evalu-lection.”
The day before a scheduled talk about it with the board in late April 2007, I received the results. Most staff members had opted not to participate, apparently out of fear that I might “retaliate,” and about half of the 59 responses came from Local Station Board members. About two thirds of those who did express an opinion said I was doing all right, at least enough to keep the job. The rest thought I was unilateral, unresponsive, and presumptuous in appointing a new GM at WBAI. The comments and ratings were anonymous, but it was easy to tell that the New York-based JUC contingent wanted me gone.
I’d had about enough myself. In a letter to the board, I suggested that a search committee be formed while I relocated to the East Coast in order to focus on the stations there, especially WBAI. Reminding them that I had originally agreed to stay for no more than three years, I offered to continue until at least mid-2008, enough time to conduct a thorough search and choose a long-term replacement. What I didn’t anticipate was that the proposal would be used to show me the door as soon as possible.
For the next three months, the board spent countless hours debating what to do. Rather than giving the organization a shot at a peaceful and well-planned transition I had inadvertently provided the opening for another power struggle. The “greg-istas,” as my supporters dubbed themselves, wanted me to remain as long as possible. Their opponents wanted to pick my successor before some of their terms ran out. One Board member thought I should be fired immediately. I could have resisted leaving, but that would have plunged Pacifica into a distracting battle that brought other work to a halt. We eventually settled on September 30, 2007, and a hastily-formed search committee rushed to recruit someone in time.
In the end, Nicole Sawaya was the only candidate interviewed by the board. Still, it looked at first like Pacifica had finally found a leader the entire community could support. Two months later, despite a multi-year contract, higher salary, and broad-based backing, she resigned.
Over the winter, as negotiations proceeded to woo her back, Pacifica’s stations found it harder to keep pace with rising costs, particularly health insurance, legal fees, and governance. On-air fund drives weren’t meeting their goals, most stations had meager cash reserves, and WBAI was a half a million behind its fundraising target, mired in its internal power struggle, and unable to pay its central services fees.
In early March 2008, Sawaya agreed to return. What changed her mind wasn’t revealed, but a fight with CFO Lonnie Hicks over financial control, an issue I had raised repeatedly, did result in a Board decision to grant her the right to directly supervise the national financial staff. One of her first big decisions was to cut the budget for Free Speech Radio News (FSRN) by 25 percent. What shocked some Pacificans wasn’t so much the cutback but the fact that it was done without prior discussion. Sawaya explained that the financial crunch required strong and immediate action. The Board decided to let it stand.
The next surprises came in July, just as budgets for the next fiscal year were being developed. The National Board had voted to convene in person that month, but the managers in the national office failed to follow up and the meeting had to be cancelled. Soon afterward, without explanation, Hicks disappeared from work. The Board made no announcement, but news leaked out that he was on “paid leave to deal with family matters.” Later, there were rumors that an investigation of his activities was being pursued – and that he might sue.
Sawaya announced her decision to resign (again) in early August, but asked those who knew not to say anything for a month. At meetings, she meanwhile tried to convince the Board and National Finance Committee that Pacifica needed to act like a network and “centralize” various functions, especially accounting and reporting. Directors listened, but nothing changed. As she departed in late September, after nine months actually on the job, she pointed to "dysfunctional” governance and “shoddy and opaque” business practices that were plunging the organization into a financial crisis.
Pacifica’s Human Resources director (the second in three years) also left for a new job elsewhere in September, 2008, and the National Board began to discuss what was being calling a “national office collapse.” Some nevertheless hoped to quickly recruit a new Executive Director. That process would take months, however, and pending recommendations to re-expand the CFO’s authority and apply strict performance standards to all managers were likely to get in the way.
Even if a new chief executive could be found – and the Board overcame its divisions to agree – there were still the elephants in the room: Pacifica hadn’t figured out how to resolve its financial crisis, and, even more difficult, restructure its programming and management to reverse the long-term decline in listenership and income.
By the end of 2008, staff had been reduced at most stations, and several national positions had been cut. After another round of PNB delegation selection, the balance of power shifted again. Discussion forums speculated about receivership, bankruptcy, and breaking up the network as a new Board chair, Grace Aaron of Los Angeles, became Interim ED. She had been among the most vocal local board members demanding Eva Georgia’s dismissal during my tenure.
Hicks briefly returned to work as CFO, but was terminated early in 2009, replaced by an old nemesis, former National Finance Committee Chair LaVarn Williams. As predicted, Hicks filed a lawsuit, alleging that he was dismissed because he was African American and a whistleblower. Clearly, he had a taste for irony, considering his frequent warnings about escalating legal costs, the fact that a majority of the Board and national staff were minorities, and that he had fought as hard as anyone to hold back information from the board and membership.
In May 2009, as the network’s crisis continued and WBAI fell deeper into debt, facing eviction from its New York studio, Aaron changed the lock at the transmitter site, removed General Manager Tony Riddle, who had replaced Robert Scott Adams, as well as Program Director Bernard White, and appointed Williams Acting GM of the troubled station. Justice and Unity members and other White backers in New York threatened to protest, boycott, and possibly sue unless this latest “national coup” was reversed. All this, and the search for a new ED had barely begun.
In other words, Pacifica is still at war with itself.
Next: What Can Be Done
Previous Installments:
One: Rethinking the Experiment
Two: WBAI’s Delicate Condition
Three: Uncovering Fault Lines
Four: Pacifica’s War at Home
A Tweet A Day for Pacifica Elections
A heads-up or Twitter users:
On Monday, I began posting tweets to educate, interest and cajole listeners of KPFT (and Pacifica signal areas in the Bay Area, Los Angeles, New York City and Washington, D.C.) to run for our Local Station Board.
Follow me on Twitter to catch a daily link, fact or note on the Pacifica elections or monitor the hashtags #pacifica and #pacificaelections.
This year is a pivotal year for Pacifica Radio. Our bylaws support listener members in good standing to run for seats on our local boards of directors. A large number of board members this year have reached their term limits, per those same bylaws. Change is in the air, so why not involve technically hip and smart people like you to become board members?
With your participation, our Local Station Board in Houston and boards in all our signal areas can be forward thinking. Visit the Pacifica elections website to download a candidate petition (all candidates must get signatures of listeners to be considered a candidate) and other info. We need you. Please consider running for the board.
Pacifica’s War at Home
In the midst of a national economic decline, Pacifica, the original listener-supported radio network, has been experiencing its own financial and organizational meltdown. As Executive Director in 2006 and 2007, I was in a unique position to identify many of the dilemmas facing this important progressive media organization. This article chronicles my experiences and efforts to avert a crisis, continuing a narrative begun last year and reporting on recent developments. To read previous installments, see the links at the end or look for Planet Pacifica: An Inside Story at Maverick Media.
Part Four of Real Life on Planet Pacifica
When the Pacifica National Board met in January 2007, the prospects for a productive year looked bright. Eight new Board members were seated without incident, and the mood was conciliatory, even respectful. An informative discussion about the need to move rapidly on digital distribution led to a decision to develop a plan that would “aggressively establish Pacifica’s presence on the internet.” At the end of that weekend in Houston, resolutions on political issues ranging from the Iraq War and press freedom to Haiti and a pending death penalty case were passed.
What a difference two months can make. By March of that year, two new lawsuits had been filed – one by a staff member in Los Angeles, another by a Local Station Board member in Houston. In Washington, DC, an attempt to remove the General Manager was initiated. In Berkeley, listeners and dissatisfied staff joined forces to protest a policy restricting “calls to action” that they considered a new “gag rule.” Fundraising boycotts were being threatened in both Berkeley and L.A.
After a successful International Women’s Day national broadcast, questions were raised about the race and ethnicity of the program’s producers and other consultants. The implication was that top management lacked a sufficient commitment to racial diversity. And when a board member offered to develop the digital distribution plan, critics charged that hiring him as a short-term consultant would be unethical, if not illegal.
Looking across the network, every station manager and program director was under attack, and people were again rallying for combat over what they saw as harassment, retaliation, and new threats to democracy, transparency, and free speech. The groups mounting these challenges obviously believed their causes were just. With rare exceptions, they didn’t want to bring Pacifica’s recent, modest progress to a halt. But justifications notwithstanding, that was the danger.
A dramatic case in point was the Los Angeles lawsuit that had been simmering for more than a year. The basic accusation, leveled by KPFK Co-News Director Molly Paige, was that Station Manager Eva Georgia had sexually harassed her and retaliated when she resisted the alleged overtures. Rumors had been circulating since 2005 and contributed to the national board’s decision not to give Georgia the top job.
When Paige was hired despite her “mainstream” background and political inexperience, some people did question the decision. Due to clashes with the station’s program director and the other news director, Georgia assumed direct control over the newsroom for six months and attempted to mediate. But the initially cordial relationship between the women sparked office gossip, especially since Georgia was an open lesbian. According to Paige, things veered out of control when Georgia supposedly suggested that they become sexually intimate. Paige said she declined, and that attraction then turned into hostility.
The lawsuit, filed in California’s Superior Court in February 2007, claimed not only that Paige was subjected to numerous forms of harassment, including demeaning references to her as a “white woman,” but also that Pacifica’s management failed to do anything about her “intolerable working conditions.” One of her numerous assertions was that I had admitted that her treatment was retaliatory, yet told her I no longer wanted her to bring complaints to my attention. The latter was a distortion, the former untrue.
Reading the complaint, I noticed several pertinent omissions and misstatements in Paige’s allegations. For example, we had never met in person and only spoken briefly over the phone. At that point, she was about to file a complaint with the Department of Fair Housing and Employment, and I still hoped to mediate the dispute. She didn't discuss the alleged harassment with me, instead asking for help with stringer payments. I looked into that, but Georgia and Program Director Armando Gudino said that not all such requests could be granted because the budget was limited.
Once the complaint was filed, I sent Corporate Counsel Dan Siegel to Los Angeles to investigate the charges and report to the board. He concluded that Paige’s case wasn’t very convincing, and even if everything she said was true, it wasn’t sexual harassment. Likewise, her claims of retaliation – specifically that the format of the evening news had been changed and her requests to cover certain stories in the field had been denied – didn’t add up to discriminatory retaliation. He did, however, urge that I let him deal with her lawyer rather than continue attempting to resolve the matter myself.
Before Paige sued, Pacifica offered her a cash settlement, a common cost-saving strategy even when the charges are weak, and I agreed to make someone else her direct supervisor. But Paige wasn’t interested in settling. She wanted Georgia fired, and actively sought support for that position at the station and on the local board. During one of my visits to KPFK, a staff member recounted Paige’s attempt to persuade him to file a related complaint. Others expressed a desire to see both Paige and Georgia leave. As months passed, the national board became more intent on defending Pacifica (and, by extension, Georgia) and less interested in settling, even if that was cheaper than going to court.
Georgia had critics other than Paige, including several program hosts, staff members, and members of her local board. The hosts and staff didn’t like her brusque management style, and the anti-Eva board faction accused her of misspending company funds. It didn’t help that she was hot-tempered and often went into victim mode when attacked.
As her supervisor, I provided support, sometimes overruled impulsive decisions, and urged her to be less reactive. It was an awkward relationship. After all, she had almost been ED herself, and knew she had lost the job in part due to the rumors of sexual harassment. She was also being fed gossip that I wanted to fire her. In truth, I was approached to do just that. But I rejected the idea and eventually reached the conclusion that, despite her prickly temperament and management weaknesses, Georgia was a creative thinker who had made tough decisions, successfully modernizing the station and increasing its appeal to Latinos and younger listeners.
Beyond that, I was appalled by some of the tactics her enemies employed, particularly racist taunts and unsubstantiated charges circulated to the local news media. Perhaps the worst was a mid-2007 article in Hustler by Bruce David. Accompanied by a cartoon that depicted Georgia as a female King Kong clutching a tiny white woman and a winning publicity photo of Paige, the article alleged that white heterosexual staff members were “being terrorized by a contingent of militant lesbian women of color.” A frequent Hustler contributor, David admitted that a major source of his discontent was criticisms of himself and the magazine on KPFK programs.
Moving from the marginally reportorial to the hysterically editorial, he concluded, “It is our fervent hope that Molly Paige not settle her lawsuit out of court. Molly, we urge you to rake Eva Georgia and her sycophants over the coals just the way we believe they tried to rake you over them. Put an end to this reign of fear and intimidation that you and others have had to endure. Make them pay through the nose!”
Most of the attacks weren’t quite so blatant and offensive. But what the Hustler writer shared with some of the anti-Eva crowd at the station and on the board was an almost gleeful pleasure at the prospect that, unless they got what they wanted, the network would suffer dire legal and financial consequences.
Disillusioned and psychologically battered after four years on the job, Eva Georgia left in October, 2007 – within weeks of my own departure.
Next: End of a Media Dream
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One: Rethinking the Experiment
Two: WBAI’s Delicate Condition
Three: Uncovering Fault Lines
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