RadioPoetics.org

Between the Minutes on March 14, 2009

by Daniel Borgström

KPFA's General Manager, Lemlem Rijio, paid a rare visit and gave a manager's report at the public Local Station Board (LSB) meeting of March 14th. Actually, it's part of the manager's job to attend every LSB meeting.

Some of the board members seem to have no problem with Lemlem Rijio's noncompliance in this and other matters. The Sherry Gendelman faction, which call themselves the "Concerned Listeners" (CL'ers), give uncritical support to Lemlem and the rest of the KPFA management.

Pacifica National Board - Teleconference (Open Session)
8:00 pm Eastern Time, 7:00 pm Central Time, 5:00 pm Pacific Time
Sunday April 5th, 2009

AGENDA

1)
* Pacifica has ordered the changing of locks on the WBAI transmitter today. It appears that neither the station manager nor engineer was part of this decision. This comes as WBAI continues to operate at a financial loss and lose audience.

===========================================================================
2)
* From Robert Knight:

I have posted to Radio4All an MP3 file of the final 19 minutes of WBAI's "Wake Up Call," long a sanctuary for JUC/CEMOTAP partisans of "program director" Bernard White.

The audio clip is available at:

*http://www.radio4all.net/index.php/program/32476*

In this excerpt (2 April 2009, 8:40-9:00am EDT), Errol Maitland, Bernard White and Ester Armah make the following disingenuous claims (among many others) during the course of the 3-hour morning show:

Thursday, April 2, 2009

We have received complaints about programming that may be threatening the financial and legal health of the Pacifica Foundation. Therefore, following legal advice, we are taking preparatory measures to secure our broadcast signals should we need to prevent legal liability as a last resort. These precautionary measures will be taken at all five stations under advice of Counsel. Pacifica is the license holder for all five stations and is ultimately responsible for everything broadcast over all of them.

Streamed at
http://kpftx.org/pls/kpftx6280.pls
The direct link is
http://kpftx.org:6280

Agenda:
Pacifica National Board – Teleconference (Open Session)

AGENDA

I. Call to Order and Opening Business.
5:30 pm (PT)

Where: Humanist Hall
27th St, between Broadway and Telegraph, Oakland

When: 11 am

The LSB page on the KPFA website is busted so, go to the link below to get info directly on the LSB.

http://lsb.kpfa.org/

Please come to witness the shenanigans and let your voice be heard during the public comment period. FYI we have not received the agenda to date.

Chandra

From: *Lemlem Rijio*
Date: Mon, Feb 23, 2009 at 10:11 AM
Subject: Note from GM

Good morning,

I received a call from a listener this morning asking why KPFA was choosing not to provide coverage of the Oakland 100 and JR Valrey's arrest at a protest following the killing. Unfortunately, it seems
management's notice to on-air staff regarding Pacifica Foundation's broadcasting and editorial policies has been misconstrued as KPFA management discouraging coverage.

"Fellow KPFA programmer, JR, of Flashpoints Block Report and asst. editor of the SF Bayview Natl Black newspaper was recently arrested during the Oakland protests of the Bart station killing of Oscar Grant.

As JR was leaving the demo, he was tackled by police and arrested. Many of the others detained that night, known as the Oakland Hundred, were mostly charged with misdemenors. But JR despite the fact that he was covering the event as a professional journalist with camera and note book- was charged with a felony. This means three years in prison if he is found guilty.

FREE THE MANAGERS —OR MAYBE NOT

The following 33 staff, local board members and long-time listeners
at KPFA urge you to vote Against this motion from the Finance
Committee. While we can't know its implications at every station,
we feel it would be very harmful to the financial health of KPFA.

MOTION: "We also recommend that the PNB suspend for 3 months any
procedures that might encumber station Managers from taking
quick and decisive action regarding programming changes in order
to increase revenues to address the current financial crisis."
(Passed 7 for, 1 against, 1 abstention)

The KPFA Winter fund drive ended last Friday about 15% short of goal,
raising $716,000 against a budget goal of $850,000. (Based on past
trends, we expect another $5,000-$10,000 to come in before we take the
pledge link off the website).

There's been no drop in the number/ /of people pledging only the pledge
amounts . Last year's winter fund drive--which raised $875,000--brought
in 6,612 pledges. This year's has brought in 6,641 (and counting), but
the average pledge amount has dropped from over $112 to just over $90.

--
Chandra Hauptman