We, the undersigned, strongly oppose the new programming schedule (”grid”) adopted by management without listener input. We urge that it be swiftly replaced by a grid adopted after broad consultation with listeners about how air-time on KPFK can best be used to fulfill the Pacifica mission and meet the communities’ needs.

The new grid reflects an ongoing effort to sanitize the airwaves, silence voices of dissent outside the Democratic Party, and marginalize or eliminate grassroots community voices. It could only be imposed in the undemocratic way that it was, without engaging listeners, staff and stakeholders in an informed discussion about the station’s future.

The grid is expressly based on financial considerations and driven by Arbitron ratings, even though Arbitron is widely understood to misrepresent audiences, especially by under-counting young people and poor people, particularly people of color. The grid favors so-called “strip programming,” in which a single gate-keeping host controls a block of air-time throughout the week.

To carve out that time, management has dropped shows and cut others to 30 minutes, rescheduling them and others at hours unfamiliar to their audiences, and when talk-radio audiences are small. Intentional or not, the effect of this kind of rescheduling will reduce the listeners of these shows, increasing the likelihood of their ultimate elimination. These changes in programming correspond to other undemocratic changes in management and governance, including illegal “suspensions” of elected board members and efforts to pre-ordain the outcome of searches for new management.

These changes cannot be allowed to stand, because they will doom KPFK to irrelevance at best, exactly at the moment when economic, political, social and environmental crises cry out for a medium of communication open to the struggles and resistance of popular movements. The forces seeking to neuter KPFK as a voice of community activism, cultural and ethnic diversity, and incisive dissent have already driven away more than 10,000 listeners in the past 4 years. The new grid and other purges could destroy the station entirely.

We invite all those who share these concerns to come to a planning meeting on Sunday, November 8th to develop a grassroots community campaign to stop the sell-out and build a Pacifica-mission-compliant, community-based programming grid: 5-7pm, Echo Park United Methodist Church, 1226 N. Alvarado.

Please sign and circulate this petition and send in signatures to: grassrootskpfk@yahoo.com. Please sign the iPetition at http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/KPFK_Programming_Changes, forward this email to other supporters of Pacifica’s original Mission, and print out hard copies of the attached Petition to collect further signatures.  Thanks for supporting more diverse, grassroots, community radio!

Carta Abierta a la Gerencia y Mesa Directiva de la radio KPFK sobre su nueva programacion

Nosotros los firmantes de este documento nos oponemos categoricamente a la nueva programacion adoptada por la gerencia sin consultar a los radio oyentes. Y pedimos que sea reemplazada de inmediato por una derivada de una consulta con la radio audiencia sobre la mejor forma de usar las ondas herzianas para cumplir con la Mision de Pacifica y satisfacer las necesidades de la comunidad.

La nueva programacion refleja un esfuerzo por esterilizar las ondas radio electricas, silenciar las voces disidentes fuera del partido Democrata, y marginalizar o eliminar las voces de las comunidades de base. Esa programacion solo pudo imponerse en la forma anti democratica que se hizo, excluyendo de la discusion sobre el futuro de la emisora, a los radio oyentes-patrocinadores y a los empleados.

La nueva programacion esta basada estrictamente en el aspecto financiero y los resultados de encuestas de “Arbitron,” entidad que es bien sabido, deja fuera de sus analisis a segmentos de la poblacion especialmente los jovenes, los pobres y la gente de color. La nueva formula favorece la llamada “programacion de franjas” en la cual una sola persona controla un bloque de tiempo en el aire durante la semana. Para diseniar la nueva configuracion, la gerencia ha eliminado algunos programas y reducido otros por mitad, cambiandoles el horario de transmision a tiempos que su audiencia regular ignora, o a horas en que hay poca audiencia. Intencional o no, los cambios reduciran el numero de oyentes de esos programas, haciendolos vulnerables a su posterior eliminacion. Esos cambios anti democraticos en la programacion son similares a otros como “la suspension” de miembros electos de la Mesa Directiva y acciones tomadas con el fin de predeterminar la conclusion de la contratacion de miembros de la gerencia.

No se puede permitir que esos cambios se hagan permanentes pues eso condenaria a KPFK en el mejor de los casos, a convertirse en una emisora irelevante, en momentos en que la crisis economica, politica, social y ambiental, piden a gritos un medio de comunicacion abierto a las luchas de resistencia de los movimientos sociales. Las fuerzas que tratan de prevenir que la radio KPFK sea la voz del activismo comuntario, cultural, diversidad etnica y disencion aguda, ya han alejado mas de 10,000 radio oyentes en los ultimos cuatro anios. La nueva programacion podria destruir la radio completamente.

Favor de firmar y circular esta peticion y enviar las firmas a la siguiente direccion: grassrootskpfk@yahoo.com. Gracias. Las personas que quieran firmar y escribir un comentario pueden hacerlo en el siguiente lugar: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/KPFK_Programming_Changes.

Signed,

9/15/09

By:  Fernando Velazquez

(NOTE: Spanish follows)

KPFK’s Interim Program Director Alan Minsky has taken valuable space at the station web site in this time of economic hardships to respond to criticism regarding “his decision” to change the broadcast hours for “Informativo Pacifica” from 5.30 A.M. Monday to Friday, to week nights at 10.30 P.M. Monday thru Thursday (starting September 15, 2009), to let us know that he cares deeply about the Latino community and that he respects Informtivo’s news team.

He also has taken the time “to explain” to us how important it is for his political ally Roy Tuckman to get two extra hours of air time (hours that Minsky is taking from “Informativo Pacifica” to give them to “Roy of Hollywood”), on top of the 23 he already has, to raise money for KPFK.

And to tell us that Informativo’s change in no way will have a negative effect on the program’s distribution, its audience, or the producers.  Nothing can be further from the truth.

Let’s start with the effects on its local audience.  KPFK broadcasts its signal in Southern California.

This is the home of the largest Mexican, Central and South American communities, and the largest concentration of Spanish Language speakers in the country. This Spanish speaking community goes to bed early because it needs to get up early in the morning given its work needs.  They will be the first hit, as well as Northern Mexico’s “Radio Bemba” who airs Informativo simultaneously by taking every morning the signal off the Internet.

No one disputes that there is an economic crisis in the world (according to most economists, a crisis created by the US), at KPFK and Pacifica Radio. But to strike at the Latino community by sending them to the back of Alan Minsky’s bus, to the hours when most Spanish Language speakers are sleeping, because the Los Angeles white  middle class needs to stabilize “their station” sounds a bit punitive and in line with the anti-immigrant, anti Latino times we live in. Read more…

Fernando Velasquez, former KPFK News Director, produces “Informativo Pacifica,” a Spanish-language morning news program, and broadcast from it three Pacifica stations and across four countries.  The budget axe of November 2008 swung at KPFK’s news department, and Fernando was jobless, but he continues to produce “Informativo” as a volunteer.

The New York station’s WBAI Unpaid Staff Organizing Committee is under ferocious attack from the new interim WBAI General Manager, LaVarn Williams, who was installed after Pacifica Executive Director Grace Aaron removed the management from that station.   On July 15, the USOC wrote a letter to performers at a WBAI fundraiser, mentioning, “In Berkeley, after a baseless, public smear campaign, Chief Financial Officer Lonnie Hicks was fired. In Los Angeles, KPFK Program Director Armando Gudiño has been fired, as have News Director (and “Informativo Pacifica” producer) Fernando Velasquez, and programmer Jerry Quickley. In Washington, D.C., General Manager Ron Pinchback was fired and humiliatingly escorted from the premises.”

In response, Williams inflamed the situation when she asked the Pacifica National Board and others for help, “in countering this contra appeal to the Staff at WBAI that encourage Staff insubordination with an intent to also deleteriously impact Staff morale.”

Velasquez was the only one of the four mentioned by the Unpaid Staff Union still affiliated with Pacifica.  Six days later, “Informativo Pacifica” disappeared from its daily slot at Houston station KPFT, and the time slot remained empty of regular programming until August 19, when the decidedly English BBC World News took over the time slot.

On July 23, Velasquez spoke at an event with Tim Wise in New York City criticizing the racism in progressive media and at WBAI.  At WBAI, the show disappeared from live broadcast for several weeks, although it still appeared in the station archives, until local pressure by Take Back WBAI forced its return.

On August 27, Velasquez was informed by KPFK’s interim Program Director Alan Minsky that “Informativo Pacifica” would be reduced to a 4-day broadcast and moved to 9:00 p.m. from its 5:00 a.m. timeslot to make more time for Roy Tuckman’s “Something’s Happening.”  The new time meant that “Informativo Pacifica” would be “yesterday’s news fresh to you today” for it’s international affiliates morning news shows.

Tuckman regularly broadcasts Gary Null, who promotes his Natural Living methods and, by extension, his Natural Living products. Speculation is that Null will fill Tuckman’s new half hour, perhaps, ironically, with more of his rants against unintellectual, demented Latino Program Directors and screams that ethnic- and race-identified programs are, “Wrong, wrong, wrong!”

The Pacifica National Board established “Informativo Pacifica” in January 2005 at the urging of its Committees of Inclusion and listeners from across the network.  Motions to fund the program were never implemented, but, nevertheless, the program’s staff made the transition from the bilingual “Pueblos sin Fronteras” to the Spanish-language “Informativo” and continue to arrive at the station at 3:00 a.m. to prepare for the early morning broadcast.

Norma Martinez, host of KPFK’s bilingual program now broadcast in four countries, sent us the following letter.  Her Spanish version follows the English.

Los Angeles, California
28 de agosto del 2009.

Dear compañeros and listeners,

With sorrow and disbelief I want to inform you that last Thursday interim Program Director Alan Minsky notified us that starting September 15, the national and international Spanish newscast Informativo Pacifica broadcast Monday through Friday at 5:30 am will be re-scheduled to 9 pm Monday through Thursday.

The reason Mr. Minsky gave us is that he is restoring the half hour to Roy Tuckman’s show “Something’s Happening,” currently broadcast Tuesday through Friday, from midnight to 5:30 am.

As you may recall, some 6 years ago, half an hour of Mr. Tuckman’s 6-hour slot was assigned to a bilingual show called Pueblos sin Fronteras, which later turned into the Spanish newscast Informativo Pacifica.

For people not familiar with KPFK’s programming let me explaining to you that for the last 32 years Mr. Tuckman produced “Something’s Happening” broadcast Tuesday though Friday from midnight to 5:30 am. And also on Sunday he produces the Alan Watts show from 8 to 9 am.

So, he is actually in charge of producing 23 hours a week at KPFK. And now Mr. Minsky is planning to give him back 2+ hours and at the same time cutting Informativo on Fridays.

I salute Roy Tuckman’s hard work and commitment to the station, but I think to give a person 25 hours of programming would be very hard to justify in the corporate media.  How can community radio Pacifica explain this? We know he had built, in 3 decades, a very loyal audience, but we also want to bring to the station other communities living in los Angeles, neglected by the private, corporate media.

Let me explain to you how the changes at the time slot and the cut of half an hour for Informativo will be very harmful for our program.

We produce Informativo Pacifica on a daily basis as volunteers working during the night to broadcast at 5:30 am at KPFK.

At the same hour in Mexico (7:30 am there), Radio Bemba picks up the internet signal to broadcast Informativo in Hermosillo City in the state of Sonora.

Also at least a dozen community radios in the US, Colombia, Venezuela and Mexico broadcast Informativo Pacifica, which we put together every morning with the most relevant news of the previous day.

Our newscast covers stories from the US and Latin America, as well as other regions of the world with special emphasis on the people’s struggles and the social and political challenges in the global south. Also we cover issues related to war and peace, discrimination and persecution against the migrant community.

With the cancellation of Informativo on Fridays and a new slot four nights a week, our collaborative effort with other community radio stations will be severely damaged.

Not only that, but we don’t even receive much publicity during the day on KPFK, like the entire Spanish language programming block. Nevertheless, we are building  an early morning listenership, consisting mostly of Latino workers preparing for work or on their way to work, as some people have let us know. Those listeners will be irremediably lost.

For those not familiar with Informativo Pacifica, please don’t hesitate to listen Monday though Friday at 5:30 am or on the KPFK audio archives

We will keep you posted on the future developments for our show.

Gracias.

Norma Mtz.
Informativo Pacifica
5:30 am Monday though Friday

KPFK Radio Pacifica
90.7 FM Los Angeles
98.7 FM Santa Barbara
www.kpfk.org

Email: pwithoutborders@yahoo.com Read more…

Renowned speaker on white privilege, Tim Wise tells you what white people know and what they’ll never say. In Saturday’s presentation, he takes on the white left and its so-called “Progressive Left” media, notably KPFK Radio and the Pacifica Foundation, as these famous “progressive” institutions go on a spree of removing people of color and their programs in the name of finding a more “mainstream,” more white, audience to pay the bills.

Tim is funny, with an edge that will make white people wince, and Black and Brown people cheer to hear the truth about whiteness — from a white guy who’s not afraid to tell you what they know. At last! The unabashed truth, white secrets revealed and laid on the table for all to see. You’ll be talking about this night for months. Don’t miss it!

Read more…

It’s time to let the KPFK secret out to the world!

My name is Dutch Merrick and I am a candidate for the KPFK LSB elections of 2009.

As a long-time listener and social activist, I see KPFK as the true Progressive/ Humanist movement’s most powerful outreach tool in the region. KPFK has, however devolved into something of a “secret handshake” amongst a handful of engaged activists and devoted listeners. With one of the strongest broadcast signals in the entire U.S., it’s a travesty the only radio or TV station for hundreds of miles that would dare to broadcast the words of Noam Chomsky, Dennis Kucinich or Helen Caldicott is known by a tiny percentage of those within its range.

The message of Peace here and abroad, Justice for every person and Equality no matter our differences must go public once and for all. By deepening our resolve to touch a vastly broader audience, lessening the financial burden on the few core listener/donors and informing a much wider array of people, we can make KPFK once again a vital source of truth in the SoCal community. Read more…