ANOTHER LOCAL RADIO STATION BOARD ELECTION CYCLE IS COMING TO YOUR LOCAL NON-COMMERCIAL PACIFICA RADIO
– FIVE NATIONWIDE STATIONS!
Meanwhile, according to the current Pacifica Radio Foundation’s National Board controlling majority since 2016 (also predominant majority at local LA Station Board of KPFK-90.7 FM) has recently entered the Foundation into a chopping block/free fall situation as collateral from its Radio Licenses and R/E holdings for a substantial high loan, in the neighborhood of $3.2 Million, with unreasonable payment terms and undisclosed to the Foundation membership!!!
Now the looming question is: What if Pacifica cannot come up with the money to satisfy this loan demand. Then what? This entire loan process was kept hush, hush till recently.
The CPB-Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funded the Foundation for many years to the tune of 20% >, but pulled this substantial aid in recent years, due to two factors:
- Continued membership/support decline since 2009, and
- Poor on air programming representation covering second language communities within radio signal areas.
However, these two issues are sewn at the hip! A reality overlooked or avoided by the current Pacifica National Board ruling majority! Since 2016 has reversed all efforts made to return KPFK to its founding Mission!
Low membership support, a reflection of radical changes made in 2009 by some of these Board members in power then. The historic on-air open Fundraising format, where each program appealed to its cultivated listening audience, in return offered a modest low-cost premium or gift for each donation over $25.00 (the annual membership).
This pattern was then changed by pre-empting many on air segments during the fundraising drive, in-order to just provide a selected hand full of programs on repeater mode, playing the same programs nonstop. Moreover, offering very, very high premiums, or products not related to the Mission of the Foundation, as high as $1,000.00 and higher. These premiums as well carry a high cost to the station (s)!
This switch has been detrimental to Pacifica Radio, whereas the many small donations were replaced with fewer pledges. No longer honoring the Mission, where the many participate…
Another change in 2009, was the conversion of four to five volunteer programmers to Employee/ paid staff, pension, child support and Union qualification status!
Today, this Union is suing Pacifica-KPFK for payment arrears to their pension fund to the tune of $750K…
This action also placed into motion a programmer class division system at the Pacifica-Radio Station such as KPFK in L.A.!
Board elections getting underway at KPFK
Resentment immediately ensued from the other programmers as volunteers without fringe benefits as the selected few above…
But wait, the Pacifica Foundation Mission Statement, asserts clearly that no one associated with this entity will profit in any way, especially when the mechanism that created Pacifica Radio Foundation in 1949 is based on the volunteer concept, with exception of the management team.
In a recent email communique sent by Jan Goodman (Attorney, KPFK Board Member & PNB) to a selected group of folks, announcing the future solicitation of funds from station members to meet a personal goal of $15,000.00 for her clan’s private use on the next election run by Sept/2018 for the same board at KPFK and help other buddies at other Pacifca Stations win races as well…
Mrs. Goodman is key player with the current controlling brew at Pacifica Radio Foundation and the Local Station KPFK’s Board in L.A.…
So, is there any justice here? How can this Election be Democratic? You may recall my expose in the April Change Links Issue, where I listed the Bylaws changes made to suit this crew… Several dealt with the rules of how to qualify to run for the LSB-Loal Station Board. It seems to me, this may possibly be the last LSB Election, since this controlling crew may further trim away the election process all together… Besides, when there’s a need to raise $15K, to get elected to a Non-Profit Origination like Non-Commercial Pacifica Radio Stations’ Boards, is tantamount like running for public office, no sanctity there…
Bella De Soto <bella@bellads.info>
As a Concerned Pacifica listener:
I agree that Pacifica is straying far from its mission statement. These changes, I think, will be more apparent when the 156 Page loan agreement with FJC- is made public. For example, according to the loan summary recently released by Pacifica’s chair, Nancy Sorden, FJC Foundation may be entitled to run ads by a N.Y. optometrist on the network. This could be a step toward commercialization of the network possibly leading up to a sale of the network to a commercial broadcaster like Clear Channel Communications.
Can’t happen you say? That’s what happened to the National Geographic – a nonprofit which was recently sold to Fox which immediately terminated its Pulitzer Prize winning journalists.
So, expect no more articles from the National Geographic on climate change, fracking, pollution of our air and water, etc.
Unless appropriate action is taken, I’m afraid that it won’t be long before the network is sold or transferred to an entity like FJC and changed to a commercial format probably replacing programs like Democracy Now! and Ralph Nader with Rush Limbaugh and his ilk. If that is not what members and the public want, they need to stop drinking the cool aid served up by Jan Goodman, Grace Aaron and Nancy Sorden.
Concerned Pacifica listeners are forming a committee to see what can be done about Pacifica’s plight.
Concerned listeners need not be members of a Pacifica station to join the committee. For more information contact: Bill Eisen <billeisen@billeisenforschoolboard.org> or Bella De Soto <bella@bellads.info>
