KPFK, located in Los Angeles, is one of the five radio stations that make up the Pacifica network. KPFK’S Interim Program Director, Alan Minsky, has been given an order to change programming in an effort to increase revenue. (Attached is a copy of his semi-apologetic rationale) The program changes Minsky has proposed further reveals the long range intentions and direction of the new Pacifica National Board (PNB) majority. I am not adverse to change. Change is necessary if Pacifica is going to survive. However this proposal is based on an enormously flawed premise.
Over the years I also have been approached by dozens of untutored media watchers who make pronouncements about what Pacifica, more specifically what WBAI, should do to increase audience and revenue. Their claims were made without any real investigation, study or experience in organizing a creative and diverse program grid that actively pursues the Pacifica mandate. To these prognosticators their proposals appear to be a perfectly logical and obvious solution. But without the benefit of study and research, what they are actually expressing are their personal feelings. Although personal feelings cannot be totally disregarded in formulating a schedule, they can neither be the sole nor the primary consideration in evaluating or changing a program grid. Among other things, a radio station’s program schedule reflects its identity, ideals, direction and how it perceives its role in society. To organize a compelling program grid for a listener-sponsored radio station is an extremely important task. To be successful requires a deeper analysis and a more comprehensive discussion. However, these are activities that for this writing will have to wait.
It is very important that we understand what this seemingly innocent action portends for the future of the Pacifica Foundation. There is an indisputable way to characterize the changes: the renegade PNB majority is “imposing” a corporate commercial model on the network and the first victim is KPFK. And next in line will be occupied WBAI.
If they are successful with their plan, it will surely mean certain death for the nation’s only listener-sponsored community radio network. The corporate commercial model is not neutral; it has predictable consequences. You cannot impose a right-wing commercial media model and maintain left credentials.
The corporate model is based on profit - not people, community issues or community struggles. It is intrinsically racist and exclusionary in its construction, and this is certainly true for its outcomes. The goal of this model is to fashion a broadcast schedule that targets a white middle class listenership with the goal of capturing a portion of their discretionary capital.
Pursuing this course of action represents the adoption and projection of the philosophical change that the new leadership has brought to Pacifica. The new leadership is led by Scientologist, Grace Aaron on the West coast and multimillionaire junk mail marketer Steve Brown on the east coast. This top-down corporate monetarist model is incapable of supporting genuine people’s concerns and movements. One of the more odious aspects of this format is the incentive to severely restrain giving voice to the voiceless, the marginalized and people of color as a fundamental part of its on-air product. The primary focus for this model is the accumulation of capital, not the amplification of marginalized voices residing in our community and in other countries. The adoption of this path necessitates the abandonment of Pacifica’s historical mission and the decimation of local autonomy.
The corporate model is based on the belief that poor people don’t have any money and therefore they can’t monetarily support the stations; thus, it follows, broadcasting to them is a waste of precious airtime. Of course, that is not true. Poor people in the aggregate are by far the major donors to Pacifica and comprise the largest percentage of listeners to the Pacifica network. Pacifica has no way of accurately measuring their presence. Poor people are routinely ignored by audience measuring devices like Arbitron and its latest incarnation, the Personal People Meter (PPM) because the system isn’t designed to track their listening habits. This under-monitored group comprises a major portion of the listenership who relies on Pacifica stations for news, information and entertainment. However they will not be a part of discussions about changes, and their presence will not be factored into the new strip programming time slots. The audience rating system has become the new bible, providing an unchallengeable rationale to selectively eliminate progressive programmers and hosts with close ties to community struggles. The schedule will of necessity have a “whiter” presence as it reshapes itself to appeal to a richer, wider, whiter audience. Alan Minsky is already using the language of Arbitron and PPM as he refers to KPFK’s potential listeners as the “Southern California Metro Radio Market.”
All of this is being done under the rubric of increasing audience and revenue. The twin questions of “what kind of audience is being sought?” and “how much is Pacifica willing to dilute its programming to acquire audience and increase revenue?” will soon be revealed.
I am speculating that this action kicks open the door wider for further impositions. Will we soon see the imposition of multimillionaire Steve Brown’s multimillionaire business partner Gary Null on the entire network so that jointly they can make multimillions of dollars from our listeners? When the broom gets to WBAI, will Robert Knight be one of the strippers imposed on New York’s program grid? Is that why he has been hanging around the station lately?
Anyone can see clearly that Minsky’s announcement marks a dangerous shift in Pacifica policy and that in order to sell this plan he has begun to make promises that the Interim Program Director knows he can’t insure will be kept. After all, this entire action isn’t even his idea. It came down to him by fiat from on high. It is the Pacifica National Board majority and their ACE allies who are the architects of this major step away from Pacifica’s history and its mission.
You must join in the effort to stop them. If not they will surely destroy the network.
For additional information check out the following websites: www.takebackwbai.org,
http://www.facebook.com/pages/takebackwbaiorg, http://www.livestream.com/wbix,
http://bernardwhite.blogspot.com/
First they came for KPFK, but I lived on the east coast…
Please read Minsky’s email several times and pay close attention to what he says and how he frames it.
Bernard
-------- Original Message --------
Subject:
About KPFK's Programming Changes
Date:
Sun, 25 Oct 2009 17:24:35 -0700
From:
Alan Minsky Error! Bookmark not defined.
To:
Error! Bookmark not defined., "staff" Error! Bookmark not defined.
Dear KPFK Programmers, Staff, and LSB Members,
I will be releasing the new KPFK Programming Grid tomorrow. I am writing in advance of announcing these changes, which commence on Monday, to explain some of my thinking that has informed the moves being made.
My primary responsibility at this time is to increase KPFK’s audience; and I feel this is an urgent need. KPFK has the most powerful FM signal in Southern California ; and I believe, because of KPFK’s uniquely humane mission, it is the most important media outlet in the region. Yet, all evidence suggests that few people even know about the station, and very few are listening. This has to change.
In order to achieve this, I will be taking what in my mind are some drastic measures. I will be introducing three new “stripped” shows on the week-day grid at prime hours: 7am, 5pm, and Noon (which will be shifting to a new 10am public affairs slot in three weeks). While all three of these stripped shows will actually be partial strips (i.e. not five days a week), I am doing this because every radio professional I’ve consulted with suggests that stripping popular programmers at key (previously un-stripped) hours is the quickest way to reverse the downward trend in listenership.
I want to be clear to the KPFK community that these moves – especially in the form they’re taking – runs counter to the vision of KPFK that I hope can be achieved in the coming years. But, as a measure to draw people to KPFK, I think they are necessary – and, unless KPFK increases its audience, the station is in serious jeopardy of having no future.
What I, personally, hope KPFK can evolve into is something that is both a journalistically responsible media outlet and a vibrant social center, a hub for the expression of the political, social, and cultural needs of the people of Southern California . I recognize that handing key stretches of programming over to a small handful of people will not achieve that. Therefore, I want to explain clearly to you how I plan to proceed.
If these moves prove spectacularly successful (e.g. a doubling of our audience at the stripped hours), at most what I will do is create one more mini-strip in February. If the success is more moderate, I will cut back the days of one of the new strips and try a talk-radio mini-strip in the 3pm hour. If they fail to build audience, it’s back to the drawing board.
If strip programming proves a success for KPFK (building audience, raising funds etc.), then I will work to make sure that the format evolves into a more participatory, community model than our current talk-shows. This will be achieved by having regularly appearing co-hosts and non-host segment producers on the stripped shows. In this manner, KPFK should be able to have many more people regularly producing on-air content, than is the case with the model of “one host for one hour” that is the standard for most of our current talk shows.
I very much believe in expanding the number of people regularly involved in producing content on KPFK, and following this round of programming changes, I will see to it that KPFK’s programming trends in that direction – if it doesn’t, I expect to be held accountable as iPD.
Lastly, I truly want to hear from as many people as possible about the direction they hope the station will take. There are 12 to 15 million people in the Southern California Metro Radio market – and given the strength of our signal, perhaps as many as 20 million people within our range – and that doesn’t even take into account the internet. Given the global significance of Southern California as one of the world’s greatest and most influential population centers – it’s not an overstatement to say that KPFK, which stands apart from every other media enterprise in SoCal, can profoundly influence the course of history. But what it will take, moving forward, is a clear sense and a solid dialogue about how to organize this station so that it truly serves the needs of the people of this region.
KPFK’s current situation requires immediate measures, and bold experimentation. While changes this sweeping understandably evoke apprehension, they also represent an opportunity for us to revitalize our programming and attract new audiences. I ask for your patience, participation, and insight as we proceed.
sincerely,
Alan Minsky
KPFK interim Program Director
Since the takeover of radio station WBAI’s air waves led by a California-based invasion party from the Pacifica Foundation, WBAI’s parent organization, arbitrary program changes designed to appeal to a wider, whiter audience have been put into place by fiat. Although this newly imposed administration claims that it is going to increase community participation in WBAI’s daily broadcasts, their practice has been the direct opposite. Since the deceitful removal of the station manager, Anthony Riddle, and the callous firing of the program director, Bernard White, in May of this year, the new regime at WBAI has taken away a total of seven hours of locally based programming per week.
“Wakeup Call,” WBAI’s locally produced morning drive program— which is the station’s largest fundraiser and has arguably the largest listener base—has been reduced by an hour each day for a total of five hours per week. Inserted into the evacuated time slot is “Democracy Now,” a program that focuses on national and international issues. A collective of producers from sister station KPFK in California has been placed in the 10 a.m.-11 a.m. hour. All of these interlopers are white, predominantly male and spend their hours bantering with other white “experts,” pundits, politicians and pontificators about their particular view on issues of national and international import. Seldom will you hear the voice of a person of color and you will not hear a discussion about local issues from a local perspective.
“Under the Learning Tree,” hosted by Kamau Khalfani, an African American producer, was suspended by Interim Station Manager LaVarn Williams.I know from personal experience that for these usurpers, suspend and terminate has the same meaning when it comes to African American males. I’m certain that he will not be allowed to return to the airwaves. The reasons for Khalfani’s removal are outrageously unfair, but thus far, fairness has not been a hallmark of this regime. The elimination of his program constitutes the removal of a total of seven hours of locally produced, community-focused programming hours per week.
As a result of this and similar actions taken at KPFK in Los Angeles and WPFW in Washington, D.C., the goals of the new regime have become crystal clear. Over the last eight months, the Pacifica Foundation has terminated or removed eight producers and administrators, and all of them are male, African-Americans or Latinos. Programming produced by, for and about poor people in general, and people of color in particular, are being systematically decreased across the network to appeal to a richer, whiter audience.
The new management is now actively engaged in a pre-election propaganda campaign to make listeners feel that everything is great and to keep the “ACE” faction of the board in power. We have been told ad nauseum that the last two fund drives were an enormous success. This alleged success is being characterized as a positive listener response to recent management changes. However, on September 24 and 25, just two weeks after these two “whopping” successes, an “emergency” fund drive was held. In the days leading up to the drive, the rationale for conducting the drive kept shifting. First, it was going to be a three-day drive. Then it turned out to be a two-day drive. First, it was to raise $120,000.Then it was to get rid of “excess” stock in the premiums department. Then it was an end of year sale. Some of the producers leaked what appears to be the most credible explanation. They’ve said that the reason for going back to the well so soon was due to a lack of listeners fulfilling their recent pledges. I believe that the giggling and the incessant reports of success are merely a part of the pre-election propaganda campaign. In about two weeks, the new management will have to go into a full-fledged fund drive.This effort will last for at least three weeks. Will we be lied to about the outcome of that one too? Stay tuned.
There is, however, is an action subscribers can take to maintain WBAI as a diverse, progressive, community radio station. In this current board election, the Justice and Unity slate provides a departure from the lies, distortions and racism that has become the modus operandi of the new local board majority and the Pacifica Foundation. If listeners and WBAI producers continue to sit on the sidelines and not intervene quickly to put a stop to this race-based takeover with its neo-colonial face, then WBAI and Pacifica will soon be transformed into an entity that closely mirrors commercial media in both structure and content. Decision making will emanate from the top and people of color will have little opportunity for input. The ability of poor and marginalized people to tell their stories in their own voice will be severely diminished, and so will the relevance of Pacifica and WBAI.
Until next time: Stay Strong and Pay Close Attention,
BERNARD WHITE, former WBAI Program Director
For up-to-date information about this ongoing struggle to save community radio, visit: www.takebackwbai.org, www.takebackkpfk.org, www.wbixradio.org and www.bernardwhite.blogspot .com.
“Wakeup Call,” WBAI’s locally produced morning drive program— which is the station’s largest fundraiser and has arguably the largest listener base—has been reduced by an hour each day for a total of five hours per week. Inserted into the evacuated time slot is “Democracy Now,” a program that focuses on national and international issues. A collective of producers from sister station KPFK in California has been placed in the 10 a.m.-11 a.m. hour. All of these interlopers are white, predominantly male and spend their hours bantering with other white “experts,” pundits, politicians and pontificators about their particular view on issues of national and international import. Seldom will you hear the voice of a person of color and you will not hear a discussion about local issues from a local perspective.
“Under the Learning Tree,” hosted by Kamau Khalfani, an African American producer, was suspended by Interim Station Manager LaVarn Williams.I know from personal experience that for these usurpers, suspend and terminate has the same meaning when it comes to African American males. I’m certain that he will not be allowed to return to the airwaves. The reasons for Khalfani’s removal are outrageously unfair, but thus far, fairness has not been a hallmark of this regime. The elimination of his program constitutes the removal of a total of seven hours of locally produced, community-focused programming hours per week.
As a result of this and similar actions taken at KPFK in Los Angeles and WPFW in Washington, D.C., the goals of the new regime have become crystal clear. Over the last eight months, the Pacifica Foundation has terminated or removed eight producers and administrators, and all of them are male, African-Americans or Latinos. Programming produced by, for and about poor people in general, and people of color in particular, are being systematically decreased across the network to appeal to a richer, whiter audience.
The new management is now actively engaged in a pre-election propaganda campaign to make listeners feel that everything is great and to keep the “ACE” faction of the board in power. We have been told ad nauseum that the last two fund drives were an enormous success. This alleged success is being characterized as a positive listener response to recent management changes. However, on September 24 and 25, just two weeks after these two “whopping” successes, an “emergency” fund drive was held. In the days leading up to the drive, the rationale for conducting the drive kept shifting. First, it was going to be a three-day drive. Then it turned out to be a two-day drive. First, it was to raise $120,000.Then it was to get rid of “excess” stock in the premiums department. Then it was an end of year sale. Some of the producers leaked what appears to be the most credible explanation. They’ve said that the reason for going back to the well so soon was due to a lack of listeners fulfilling their recent pledges. I believe that the giggling and the incessant reports of success are merely a part of the pre-election propaganda campaign. In about two weeks, the new management will have to go into a full-fledged fund drive.This effort will last for at least three weeks. Will we be lied to about the outcome of that one too? Stay tuned.
There is, however, is an action subscribers can take to maintain WBAI as a diverse, progressive, community radio station. In this current board election, the Justice and Unity slate provides a departure from the lies, distortions and racism that has become the modus operandi of the new local board majority and the Pacifica Foundation. If listeners and WBAI producers continue to sit on the sidelines and not intervene quickly to put a stop to this race-based takeover with its neo-colonial face, then WBAI and Pacifica will soon be transformed into an entity that closely mirrors commercial media in both structure and content. Decision making will emanate from the top and people of color will have little opportunity for input. The ability of poor and marginalized people to tell their stories in their own voice will be severely diminished, and so will the relevance of Pacifica and WBAI.
Until next time: Stay Strong and Pay Close Attention,
BERNARD WHITE, former WBAI Program Director
For up-to-date information about this ongoing struggle to save community radio, visit: www.takebackwbai.org, www.takebackkpfk.org, www.wbixradio.org and www.bernardwhite.blogspot .com.
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