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Without prior notice or consultation Sasha Lilley, interim Program Director, informed Women's Magazine (WM) on 1/20/09 that the show would be temporarily taken off the air for 3 months in order to run special programming “Letters from Washington” hosted by Mitch Jeserich.

Over 50 listeners filed complaints to KPFA mgmt, via email and telephone, about the abrupt cancellation of the show.

A requested meeting with Sasha and Amelia Gonzalez and WM liaison Lisa Dettmer occurred on 2/19/09. Sasha re-affirmed that the show would be back on the air at the end of 3 months and that this was only a temporary pre-emption. She stated the reason our slot was chosen had nothing to do with WM but was merely because they needed a public affairs slot that was early in the week to have the news be fresh.

At the March LSB meeting, when General Manager Lemlem Rijio was asked when the WM would return to the air, she affirmed that the show would be back on 5/4/09.

The return date of May 4th was posted on the KPFA website and the return date was announced on the air by Mitch Jeserich at the request of Sasha.

In compliance with a request by WM, a cart was prepared, just prior to the end of the 3 mo. period, informing listeners that WM would be back on the air beginning 5/4/09.

In addition, in an email by Public Affairs Director Amelia Gonzalez, to WM a week before the show was due to be back on the air, Amelia re-confirmed that Women's Magazine would return to the air on May 4th, and then would be pre-empted for two weeks for fund drive only, as has been the past practice, and would return on air after the fund drive was completed.

Also, at the above 2/19/09 meeting, Lisa told Amelia, that when WM had asked her 5 months earlier for feedback about the show, the requested feedback was only because the WM staff had never received an evaluation conducted by the now defunct Program Council over 1 year ago. Lisa emphasized that WM was only asking for feedback – not an evaluation – and that this feedback was intended to enable the WM staff to improve the show by obtaining feedback from senior programmers with greater expertise in on-air programming. This is something that is supposed to be provided to all shows on KPFA. WM was never informed that this feedback was to be used for any other purpose.

For several months prior to the above 2/19/09 meeting, WM had repeatedly asked management for feedback on the WM. This feedback was never given orally or in writing. The only feedback WM was ever given was when Amelia commented on one live program and on the special programming that WM prepared for International Women's Day.

On May 4th, just prior to the airing of the scheduled and announced WM show, with live hosts and guests waiting outside the on-air studio, and with no prior notice or consultation, Sasha informed the board operator that the WM was not being aired and to air a program that Sasha had created instead.

Reps of WM met with Sasha that afternoon to discuss the situation. She was apologetic, and said she had no idea the show was scheduled to be back on the air on that date. She still maintained that she had misread an email from Amelia confirming the May 4th air date for the show even though the WM had repeatedly been assured they were only being pre-empted for fund drive and would be back on the air at the end of the “Letters from Washington” special programming.

At this same May 4th meeting WM reps asked Sasha when the show would be back on the air. She indicated, for the first time, and in complete contradiction to all previous communication, that it would now depend upon an upcoming program evaluation that mgmt was planning to conduct and no date was given or when this evaluation would be completed.

It is the opinion of WM that the staff has not been treated fairly and has been repeatedly mislead about the return of the program.

WM also believes that the evaluation process is being used to target the WM because the show’s programmers are not considered to be supportive of the current management of the station.

IN SUMMARY THE WM IS MAKING THE FOLLOWING REQUESTS TO THE LSB:

The WM requests support from the LSB and the KPFA listening community for continued programming of the only program on KPFA specifically serving the women’s community and other marginalized communities, in conformance with the Pacifica mission.

The WM further requests that no shows be singled out for evaluation unless all shows are evaluated and that a policy be instituted, in accordance with the Pacifica bylaws, KPFA policy and the following programming motion approved by the PNB at it’s 4/26/09 meeting:

“That the LSB’s are to work with station management to ensure that station programming fulfills the purposes of the Foundation and is responsive to the diverse needs of the listeners (demographic) and communities (geographic) served by the station, and that station policies and procedures for making programming decisions and for program evaluation are working in a fair, collaborative and respectful manner to provide quality programming” We recommend to the PNB that they request, in writing, an explanation from the LSBs, GMs and PDs on how they are implementing this bylaw.”

WM requests that the LSB meet its bylaws obligation, regarding Pacifica programming policy, by ensuring that all KPFA shows are evaluated in a fair, balanced and transparent manner and that any programming decisions that are to be made by management are based on the complete evaluation of all the shows that air on the same hour or of all public affairs shows or some other manner other than one show being pre-empted prior to any evaluation.

That the LSB ensure that there is open and transparent communication between KPFA mgmt and staff, including those of the WM.

The WM requests that the LSB use this experience as a template to guide its recommendations to KPFA mgmt in its oversight role regarding programming policy that is fair, open and transparent.

The WM requests that KPFA mgmt reconstitute the Program Council which did develop a fair, open and transparent policy regarding KPFA programming and evaluations.

The WM requests that no shows be targeted for removal because of their criticism of KPFA management but rather all shows be evaluated based on their production value.

Thank you for your attention to these matters.

The Women's Magazine and friends