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The next meeting of the election committee will be on November 22nd from 7pm to 8:30 pm at KPFA.
(directions to KPFA) 
There are 22 candidates for 9 available seats for listener subscriber
delegates to the Local Station Board. Every delegate is elected for a
three year term. Terms will begin January
2007.
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Conn Hallinan
My name is Conn Hallinan and I am running for the Local Station Board as a member of the Concerned Listeners for KPFA slate. I am deeply concerned about the current situation and the pressing need for independent media in these times. We are in a dangerous moment in our nation's history. We are at war with Iraq, and may soon be at war with Iran. The gap between rich and poor is the greatest it has been since the 1930's, and wages and working conditions for working people are in a downward spiral. We have an administration that ignores the legislative branch of government, undermines the Constitution, and flaunts the laws of the land on everything from torture to privacy. While the rights of all Americans are being systematically eroded, the right wing increasingly dominates a media owned and operated by powerful corporations. At the same time, millions of people have risen to defend immigrants. The war in Iraq is now more unpopular than the war in Vietnam was. KPFA is the voice of people who are fighting back, a unique resource for the progressive community. It is imperative that we ensure the health and future of KPFA, whose signal reaches millions of people and covers 1/3 of California. I am committed to represent a broad and diverse listenership, to reach out to new audiences, and to those that have drifted away. This means not only doing a better job at what KPFA now does, but also opening the station to new ideas and technology, like the Internet, pod casting and satellite radio. I believe KPFA is a venue where dialogue among differing points of view should be fostered and honored. KPFA needs to embrace change. It needs to be a powerful, progressive beacon for the 21st century, to cultivate a progressive and visionary agenda for public affairs, news, music, arts and humanities in the spirit of Pacifica's mission. I also see KPFA as an incubator for alternative journalists. For 23 years, I ran the journalism program at UC-Santa Cruz, and KPFA was an invaluable asset for our young journalists. The station always treated them as fellow journalists, not gofers, and gave them real life, on-the-job training. No other such opportunity exists for beginning journalists in Northern California. KPFA needs a board that is broad and representative of the diverse progressive community of the Bay Area, a board that is committed to building the station. If we want KPFA to be a place where political and cultural visions can be realized, a place that lives up to its mission of social justice and artistic diversity- for labor, younger people, people of color, musicians and artists, listeners outside of the bay Area, old radicals and new then we need to get involved in building the station. For more on our slate's program and endorsers, go to www.kpfalisteners.org. Endorsed by Angela Davis, Shelley Kessler, Lillian Galedo, Antonio Medrano, and Paul and Sandy Kaplan Why do you want to be on the Local Station Board? The Local Station Board can have an enormous impact on the quality of programming through its role in screening and selecting a pool of candidates for the positions of general manager and program director for the station. The Board can also influence national policy through its appointment of Pacifica Foundation directors. At the same time, the board can act as a sounding board for community concerns and interests, and help spread the influence of Pacifica through Northern California. How do you envision the Local Station Board working with the Pacifica Foundation, KPFA and the community? The Board's role should be to keep the station true to the mission of Pacifica, to inspire management and staff, and to help KPFA reach out to new communities. The Board must oversee station finances and evaluate the performance of the station manager, but not micromanage station operations and programming. Like a school board, we should guide policy, but not write each teacher's syllabus. I believe in a collaborative relationship with management and staff, and in building a Board that is respectful of different points of view and understands the skill of compromise. How can the station better serve its listeners? I think the station does a very good to excellent job of serving its listeners, but it needs to do more outreach, and it needs to face up to the technical challenges of new media. The Board should ensure there is an adequate feedback mechanism from the listeners, including surveys and forums. Describe some actions you would take to increase the influence of the station in under-represented communities and to increase the diversity of the listening audience. The station needs a more public face. It needs to sponsor forums, to hold listener meetings, and to tap into communities where we have only begin to scratch the surface. This requires board members who will promote the station and its programs, while at the same time carrying back to the station the kind of feedback every alternative media source needs. I would also strengthen KPFA's excellent but under-funded apprenticeship program that has done an outstanding job of training women, people of color, people with disabilities, and representatives of communities that have been marginalized by the mainstream media.What sources of funding, other than listener donations, do you feel KPFA should solicit? I think the core fund raising should come from listener donations, but I would advocate increasing the number of fund raising events, like the annual Crafts Fair. I also think KPFA needs to carefully - and I underline carefully - examine foundation grants for specific projects. Foundation funds are too uncertain, and sometimes too constrained, to be a reliable source of core funding. Please state briefly the skills, experiences, educational background, work history, organizational affiliations, areas of community service, areas of interest and expertise that you would bring to the Pacifica network as a member of the Local Station Board. I have been a journalist since 1970. While I have worked almost exclusively in print media, I did act as an adviser to the 24-hour radio station at UC Santa Cruz, KZSC-FM from 1982-2004. I have been a reporter and editor with the alternative press, and also a columnist for the San Francisco Examiner. I am presently an analyst for Foreign Policy in Focus, a "think tank without walls" associated with the Institute for Policy Study, a columnist for the Daily Planet (Dispatches from the Edge), and a free-lance magazine writer. Project Censored 2007 selected one of my stories as one of the most censored news stories of 2006. I was a member of the board of Directors of the Working Group, a non-profit documentary film company for 10 years. For 23 years, I directed the journalism program at UC Santa Cruz. I was an active member of the American Federation of Teachers for 38 years until my retirement, and a member of the Newspaper Guild. I have a PhD in Anthropology from UC Berkeley. Do you anticipate missing any Local Station Board meetings die to family or job-related problems or inadequate transportation? I do not anticipate missing local Station Board meetings. I am retired from UC Santa Cruz and live in Berkeley. On which Local Station Board committees are you interested in serving? I am interested in serving on the Personnel committee and the Outreach committee. As the director of the journalism program at UC Santa Cruz and as a provost at one of UCSC's colleges, I have extensive experience in hiring and personnel matters. Endorsed by: Angela Davis, Margaret Dutton, Jon and Mary Fromer, Lilian gale do, Paul & Sandy Kaplin, Shelley Kessler, Antonio Medrano, Zheny Spake, Bill Sorro |