Written
by Jeff Blankfort in 2000 at the height of the attempted theft of the
Pacifica network, it is reprinted here because it helps us to understand
issues we are facing today.
The present
democratic structure was created to prevent any such attempts in the
future to take control of the network away from the community.
As we see here the stations had their mission overridden, there was
an attempt to make them more commercially viable, & to be run in
the corporate manner from the top down.
Programmers
were fired, a gag rule instituted, security guards hired, massive monies
squandered, the sale of KPFA and WBAI secretly proposed. At KPFA the
station was occupied and vandalized by security guards and the GM of
the Texas station replaced programming with recordings from the archives.
As a
result of protests and lawsuits by various sectors of the community
the network was restored to community control, with listeners as the
prime funders & interested parties given a prominent role in governance
through their elected representatives to the Local Station Boards. They
chose to include the staff in governance by specifying 25% of the representatives
to be elected by staff.
Unfortunately
patterns of power had/were developed at the stations, for example at
KPFA, certain of the staff used to governing unilaterally, resisted
& are resisting sharing decision making with the LSB. A power elite
supports the programming models instituted in the Healthy Stations project,
wants to move programming to the right, and is trying to eliminate or
disempower such democratic institutions as the LSB, the Program Council,
the Unpaid Staff Organization.
A Pacifica Chronology - Jeff Blankfort
The present conflict [in 2000] between
KPFA and the Pacifica Foundation did not begin with the firing of station
general manager Nicole Sawaya on March 31 or Larry Bensky on April 7.
It did not begin with a controversial vote by the Pacifica National
Board in February that stripped the local advisory board of any representation
on the national board. And it did not begin with the election of Mary
Frances Berry to the chair of the board or the hiring of Lynn Chadwick
as executive director. For the beginning you have to go back, at least,
to September '92 and follow the thread of events.
Chronology of Abuses By The Pacifica Management &
Board of Directors.
1991-1992 "Strategy for National Programming" a plan to create
a NPR - like National Program Service funded with donations from corporate
foundations like Pew, Ford and MacArthur is drafted by Pacifica Management.
Feb. 1993 - Pacifica Board approves "Strategy for National Programming."
KPFA Manager Pat Scott, embroiled in battles with staff at KPFA, is
sent by Pacifica Executive Director David Salniker to lobby Congress,
which is threatening to de-fund Pacifica.
1994 - Pat Scott is made acting Pacifica Executive Director and begins
dictating program formats to stations. She participates on CPB "task
force" with Lynn Chadwick, Executive Director of the National Federation
of Community Broadcasters, that recommends new funding guidelines tying
stations to Arbitron ratings and higher fundraising goals. Purges begin
at WPFW (Washington, D.C.).
1995
Jan. 1995 - Pat Scott fires KPFK (L.A.) management and seizes control
of books. Contract negotiations there are suspended. Gag rules are enforced
against any staff member trying to inform the public regarding the firings.
Purges of programmers begin at KPFK. Feb. 10 - KPFK producer Al Huebner
is removed for criticizing firing of KPFK managers. His engineer, Neal
Connor is threatened with removal for not cutting Al's mic
Feb. 1995 - Pacifica Program Directors are told by hired consultants
to mainstream the programming.
March -April 1995 - A union-busting organization, American Consulting
Group, is hired by Pacifica to draft new contracts stripping workers
of all say in the organization, eliminating the right to strike, and
unpaid staff from the stations' unions.
June 1995 - Pacifica Board closes all future finance committee meetings
to the public in violation of federal communications law. Board minutes
and board meetings are now "confidential."
July 1995 - Pacifica Board Executive Committee issues a "my way
or the highway memo" announcing "vast changes" and advising
Local Advisory Board members who disagree with the new direction of
Pacifica to resign.
August 1995 - Massive purge of KPFA programmers by KPFA general manager
Marci Lockwood under direction of Scott.
Sept. 1995 - Observers, including Take Back KPFA representative barred
from National Board meeting in Houston.
Nov. 1995 - Brian McConnville, investigator from Inspector General's
office of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), learns of closed
board meetings and begins investigation of Pacifica's violation of open
meeting rules. He is fired 17 days later before he can release a critical
report after Pacifica's lawyer goes over his head to quash the investigation.
Deputy IG Director Mike Donavan, who looks into the Pacifica Board's
actions is also fired on eve of making a critical report.
1996
Feb. 1996 - KPFK producer Ron Wilkins and his guests are removed from
the air mid-broadcast and banned from KPFK for attempting to discuss
treatment of African American programmers at KPFK. Bob Marston, who
was in the building repairing equipment at the time is also banned because
he was talking with Wilkins and the others after they were cut off the
air.
Feb. 26, 1996 - "Gag rule" issued by Mark Schubb at KPFK saying
that staff will be fired if they let callers criticize Pacifica policy
on-air
.
May 1996 - Hiring of American Consulting Group is revealed. Pacifica
Management lies repeatedly as criticism mounts. Management files a "clarification
of unit" with the National Labor Relations Board to have unpaid
staff at WBAI removed from the union.
August 29, 1996 - Mark Schubb threatens to ban UE Rep John Fernandes
from KPFK
Nov. 1996 - A Pacifica 5 -Year Strategic Plan is released, after a year
and a half of secret meetings. It is a blueprint for remaking Pacifica
into a top-down corporate hierarchy. More than $60,000 has been spent
on union-busting activities
1997
Feb. 1997 - WBAI workers win at the NLRB. Pacifica appeals the decision,
spending tens of thousands of dollars of the subscribers' money.
March 1997 - Under fire from listeners and the media, Scott hires Former
Justice Dept. spokesperson Burt Glass as Pacifica's first "communications
director". He drafts a "cheat sheet'" full of lies and
evasions for use in answering questions from the subscribers. Pacifica
releases plan to reduce local representation on the National Board by
half, which would give the board the ability to appoint a 2/3 majority.This
is tabled in June when community members hire lawyer.
April -May 1997 - A "softer" CPB Inspector General's report
is released which, nevertheless, cites Pacifica for violating open meeting
laws. Scott and Pacifica Board Chair Jack O'Dell fly to Washington and
meet privately with CPB Board and lawyers. CPB disregards it own IG's
report, and praises the new Pacifica regime.
May 27, 1997 - WBAI Program Director tells the WBAI local board that
Pacifica executive director Pat Scott is pressuring Democracy Now producers
to downplay criticism of Clinton and to remove Mumia Abu Jamal commentaries.
June 1997 - Mary Frances Berry made new Pacifica Board Chair.
July 1997 - KPFA Manager Marci Lockwood resigns. Lynn Chadwick, Executive
Director of the National Federation of Community Broadcasters, is made
manager of KPFA.
August 1997 - Pacifica writes a gag clause into the contracts for affiliate
stations, many of whom have been running disclaimers about union-busting
at Pacifica
1998
Feb. 1998 - KPFK Management sends memo barring programmers from encouraging
attendance at anti-war demonstrations for Iraq.
April 1998 - Pat Scott resigns and is praised by CPB President Coonrod,
former Deputy Director of the Voice of America, and director of Radio
Marti, propaganda arm of US vs. Cuba. By now, more than 300 people have
been purged from Pacifica stations
.
Oct. 1998 - Lynn Chadwick named Executive Director of Pacifica.
.
Dec. 1998 - Larry Bensky abruptly fired then reinstated after public
outcry. KPFA's new manager Nicole Sawaya supports Bensky and allows
him to defend himself on the air
1999
Feb. 1999 - Pacifica Board, overriding the votes of local Boards, staff
and communities, makes itself a self-selecting body. WBAI staff goes
on the air to mobilize the community against the heist. Board claims
the CPB made them do it. In an unpublicized meeting of the Pacifica
Executive Committee on the eve of the meeting, it is agreed that Sawaya,
the most popular manager in KPFA history, "has to go."
March 31 1999 - Nicole Sawaya fired (technically, her contract was not
renewed) Protests begin as KPFA staff goes on the air to tell the community
what's going on inside Pacifica. The staff begins making on-air statements
demanding the reinstatement of Sawaya.
April 4 1999 - Larry Bensky replies to Chadwick's distorted press statement
and reads the speech he had prepared to deliver to the Pacifica Board
in February bit was prevented from completing, on the expansion of Pacifica
at the expense of KPFA and its sister stations.
April 9 1999 - Bensky fired again after promising on the air to discuss
Chadwick's firing of Sawaya on his Sunday Salon program. The staff continues
on the air calling for the reinstatement of both Sawaya and Bensky and
an independent mediator to deal with the underlying disputes between
Pacifica and KPFA.
April 15. 1999 - 1000 people demonstrate outside Pacifica's offices
in Berkeley.
May 9, 1999 - Close to 2000 KPFA supporters rally for staff at Martin
Luther King, Jr. Park to hear June Jordan, Utah Phillips, Holly Near,
Wavy Gravy, Barbara Lubin and many others speak in support of KPFA staff.
May 13-27, 1999 - KPFA staff has record $605,000 Spring Fund Drive.
6200 of 7000 subscribers pledge under protest.
May 19 - National Labor Relations Board files complaint for unfair labor
practices against Pacifica/WBAI
June 12, 1999 - 22-year programmer Robbie Osman exposes Chadwick's attempt
to portray station to Pacifica Board as returning to "equilibrium."
June 14, 1999 - Atty. Dan Siegel, representing 16 members of Local Advisory
Boards (LABs) of KPFA, KPFK and WBAI, sends a demand letter to Mary
Frances Berry advising her that bylaw amendments approved by the Pacifica
Board in Sept. '98 and Feb. '99 violate California Corporation law and
requesting that they be rescinded. Deadline for a response is June 25.
June 18, 1999 - Chadwick fires Osman, accusing him of having "forfeited"
his "access to KPFA/Pacifica airwaves."
June 20, 1999 - Hundreds turn out for an emergency rally at the station
as KPFA goes off the air for the two hours of Osman's program.
June 21, 1999 - After camping overnight in front of KPFA and Pacifica
headquarters, Chadwick has 14 people arrested for blocking Pacifica's
doorway. Chadwick and Pacifica's six employees remove the files to another
location.
June 22, 1999 - Several hundred again show up for a press conference
in front of the station, part of which is played live on :Flashpoints.
Speakers include June Jordan, Michael Parenti, Elizabeth Martinez, Van
Jones, Medea Benjamin .
June 23, 1999 - Janet Reno's Justice department intervenes on behalf
of Pacifica management; US DOJ staffer from the COPS Program (where
former Pacifica Communications Director Burt Glass also worked) questions
Berkeley Police Chief about their reluctance to arrest Pacifca demonstrators.
June 25 - 27, 1999 Pacifica Board meets. Attempts to deflect critics
with accusations of racism and violence - an old ploy of Pacifica management
since the Pat Scott days.
June 27, 1999 - Armed guards are brought into KPFA. The security company,
IPSA, is the 4th largest in the country and has had clients such as
ABC (against the NABET strikers) and the City of Atlanta. The bill may
run as high as $300,000 per MONTH. Who is paying for this? Not Pacifica,
becuase Pacifica doesn't have that kind of money. And if Pacifica is
paying, how can they justify lack of funds as a reason for having no
local news at KPFT and WPFW for the last 3 years. Tapes are being brought
up secretly to Berkeley from Pacifica Archive as Chadwick prepares to
shut down KPFA.
July 12, 1999 - Andrea Buffa at Media Alliance receives misdirected
memo from Pacifica Board member Micheal Palmer discussing plans to "shutdown
and reprogram KPFA and sell KPFA and/or WBAI. MF Berry comes to Berkeley
and holds an invitation-only press conference, attempting to keep out
reporters from media who have been critical.
July 13, 1999 - Dennis Bernstein broadcasts press conference where the
Palmer memo is discussed. He is pursued by Pacifica's armed goons into
the newsroom where his tussle with the goons is broadcast, interrupting
the evening news. Garland Ganter, KPFT manager brought in to enforce
the gag rule throws the switch and takes KPFA off the air. Tapes begin
playing as hundreds converge on the station. 52 staff and communty members,
including Dennis Bernstein and the news staff, are arrested.
July 14, 1999 - Staff arrive to find KPFA locked and boarded up. They
are informed that they are on "administrative leave." Democracy
Now covers the story - and is again censored from Pacifica stations.
July 15. 1999 - California legislators call for investigation into Pacifica
finances, actions Camp KPFA is established outside the now boarded-up
building
July 16 - FAIR calls for resignation of Pacifica Board and management.
Counterspin segment on Pacifica censored by GM Mark Schubb at KPFK.
Class action lawsuit filed to reverse hostile takeover of Pacifica Daily
protests continue as Communications Workers of America sets up picket
around KPFA transmitter to prevent installation of an ISDN line that
would allow programming to be fed in from another station.
July 18, 1999 - Berkeley PD swoops down on Camp KPFA in the middle of
the night and makes mass arrests. Camp is back the following day.
July 19, 1999 - Huge benefit concert with Joan Baez and others organized
on a few days notice sells out. Statements of solidarity come from many
groups, protests continue. Protests in solidarity are held at WBAI and
KPFK.
July 22, 1999 - Pacifica hires Fineman and associates - high priced
PR firm to do damage control
July 26, 1999 - Daily protests begin outside Fineman and Assoxiates.
July 27, 1999 - Berkeley City council hold special session. Calls for
Board resignations and return of KPFA to community control. City will
contribute to lawsuit, file amicus brief. Police are instructed to facilitate
peaceful protests. Pacifica Board holds conference call discussing sale
of KPFA.
July 28, 1999 National Board member Pete Bramson goes public - reveals
Pacifica Board executive committee will hold secret meeting that day
to vote on sale of KPFA. Pacifica almost bankrupt as a result of the
Boards expenditures in the cover-up. Adding insult to injury, they discuss
taking a $5 million dollars loan with KPFA's frequency as collateral.
July 29, 1999 - Foiled by the Bramson revelation, MF Berry sidesteps
mediators goes to press with statement that KPFA will reopen and staff
should return. Claims staff may "run the station."Denies sale
in progress. This is a ploy to deflect attention from sale exposure.
July 30, 1999 - Fineman quits. KPFA staff are admitted into building.
An estimated $30K's worth of damage has been done to the facilities
and studios by IPSA goons
July 31, 1999 - More than 10,000 march in Berkeley in support of KPFA
and Free Speech radio - call for removal of Pacifica Board . . . (snip)
(part missing here - a big chunk with all the dramatic events in Berkeley)
.August 18, 1999 - An ad runs in the New York Times condemning the actions
of Pacifica's Board and Management. It is signed by dozens of prominent
activists, intellectuals, journalists and other community leaders.
August 20, 1999 - California legislature holds public hearings in Oakland
as to whether Pacifica violated its non-profit status by its recent
actions. KPFA staffers testify, in spite of orders by Chadwick that
they face termination if they do. A week later, the Legislative Audit
Committee subpoenas financial records. Word has leaked out that the
Pacifia Board spent more than half a million dollars (of the subscriber's
funds) on armed guards and PR experts to support their takeover of KPFA
and Pacifica.
August 24, 1999 - Mary Frances Berry makes surprise visit to WBAI for
unpublicized meeting with staff. She displays her rancour towards KPFA
and its community, and asks if WBAI staff would support the sale of
KPFA to create a series of small stations in the South.
August 26, 1999 - National Labor Relations Board oveturns earlier decision;
rules to grant Pacifia management request to eject unpaid staff from
WBAI's union. Tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of dollars
of listener funds have been spent to do this. This action was started
by Pat Scott in 1996 to take away all rights from community producers,
to be able to purge them more easily.
September 1, 1999 - KPFK reporter Robin Urevich banned for writing an
article on censorship by KPFK management.
September 2, 1999 - Legislative Committee votes to subpoena Pacifica
financial records.
September 5, 1999 - Enfoque Latino, a Spanish language public affairs
program that has aired on KPFK for 13 years is cancelled after covering
the Pacifica crisis from a perspective critical of KPFK and Pacifica
Management.
Oct. 26, 1999 -16 Radio stations to boycott Pacifica Network Programming
on October 27: KGNU, KUNM, WJFF, WGOR, KZYX, KKFI, WRPI, KRZA, KSVR,
KMUD, WORT, WERU, KCSB, KBOO, KDUR.
Oct. 1999 - KPFA has most successful fund drive raising over $650,000.
Pacifica Board passes resolutions to not sell any stations or use any
listener contributions to pay for armed guards during KPFA lockout
Nov. 1, 1999 - Pacifica News Director Dan Coughlin is removed after
he airs a report of the one-day boycott of Pacifica Programming by 16
Pacifica Affiliate stations.
Dec. 9, 1999 - Pacifica's WPFW in Washington DC axes FAIR's Counterspin:
media criticism show canceled after three earlier instances of censorship
2000 on
[More, and
more recent events, at 34 page chronology (not as accurate as Blankfort's
but continues to 2003, with a 2009 WBAI update) at:
http://www.ominous-valve.com/pacific2.html
Also has some earlier history.]
[Best of all on recent events, though, is Maria Gilardin's 8/04 "Why
did the Staff Not Prevent the 10-Year Corporate Raid?" - in our
Contents sidebar at the left - see near the end for a summary
of the making of the bylaws, & the subsequent resistance to democratic
governance at KPFA.]
