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Activist Editorial
As you may know, the Pacifica radio network is in a deepening crisis that strikes at the heart of the Pacifica mission and could conceivably result in its dissolution. The loss of Pacifica would decrease the organizing capabilities of tens of millions of people within range of the network’s five stations (KPFA, Berkeley, CA; KPFK, Los Angeles; WBAI, New York; WPFW, Washington; and KPFT, Houston) and of millions more who listen to smaller community stations that use Pacifica’s news and its public affairs program, Democracy Now!. The War Resisters League has a special interest in the future of Pacifica. Like many, we count on it to bring us news, viewpoints and culture not readily available elsewhere—and to amplify our voices, put out our perspectives and promote our events and programs. It was also a WRL member, World War II conscientious objector Lew Hill, who founded the network. We consider Pacifica one of our most successful stepchildren. And, like any parent, we are pained when our offspring are troubled. At the heart of the crisis are two questions: What programming best serves the Pacifica mission of promoting “cultural diversity and pluralistic community expression … [and] freedom of the press” and maintaining “independent funding”? And who has the right to answer that question: Pacifica’s board of directors and staff, the stations’ paid staff and (mostly volunteer) programmers, the network’s network of listeners, or a combination of the three? The foundation has been involved in a seven-year effort to centralize decision-making—and, according to its critics, to “mainstream” and depoliticize Pacifica’s programming to silence right-wing congressional opposition that could decrease public broadcasting funds. The two smallest stations, KPFT and WPFW, have substantially exchanged public affairs programming for music; the Pacifica board has ordered the suspension and dismissal of programmers and station administrators who protested the trends. Last summer, tensions around those questions—and around a network policy of not airing internal disagreements—escalated to the point that a KPFA programmer was suspended live on the air for covering such a disagreement and then arrested, also live on the air, for refusing to leave the station. The Berkeley community erupted in protest, demonstrators were arrested, and the station played old tapes for two weeks. Since then, although the board chair at the center of the Berkeley crisis has resigned, the situation has deteriorated. This spring, a number of freelance contributors to Pacifica national news went on strike. None of this is healthy for the communities that depend on Pacifica. WRL’s Houston members have described the debilitating impact of the gutting of KPFT’s public affairs programming on the progressive community in Houston. The struggle in the Bay Area over KPFA’s news department’s efforts to cover internal Pacifica matters, widely reported in mainstream media, has distracted that community from confronting the powers that be. Whether or not Pacifica’s future has been put at risk by actions by all sides—and we at WRL believe it has—the network’s usefulness to activists has already been severely impaired by the crisis. Pacifica must be healed. To that end, the network must be run with the broadest democratic governance. The national Pacifica board has often acted in a heavy-handed manner and from unclear or dubious motives. The board may have had a legal mandate for many of its actions, but too often it has broken faith with the broader community it is meant to represent. The deployment of security guards and failure to squelch rumors of selling stations has hindered dialogue and in some cases may have put broadcast licenses in jeopardy. However, the fault isn’t entirely with the board. Over the years too many of us have been negligent in monitoring the board’s actions, ensuring the best people joined it, and facilitating reasoned dialogue on Pacifica’s flaws and future. Intemperate language by board members, national and local staff, and some listeners have obscured and escalated conflicts rather than helping to solve them. Calls for legislative hearings and government investigations have never brought Pacifica anything good in the past and are unlikely to do so now. Community radio stations belong to the communities in which they broadcast. Members of those communities should have the greatest say in their programming. While national programming is necessary to building a national progressive community, the basic direction of local stations and the bulk of their programs should be local in origin and not imposed or regulated from outside. The Board has shown bad faith by banning discussion of Pacifica’s internal problems on its own air. We are well aware that Pacifica has lost too many listeners in the past by dwelling publicly on internal manners, but the wider community must be kept informed if it is to contribute to solutions and face the challenges ahead. Air time must be set aside to discuss and simply report on the debates concerning the future of the network. The programming on Pacifica stations, while occasionally exciting, has often grown stale, turning off even dedicated listeners. People and organizations with current shows have no inherent right to their air time, and the abilities of all programmers must be constantly re-evaluated. While efforts to make their presentation more exciting and listenable must be encouraged, this must not be at the expense of the diversity of alternative news and views. Seeking a broader audience is worthy goal, but having the broadest audience is not necessarily possible or desirable without becoming an imitation of its National Pubic Radio and commercial radio neighbors. Along with many other Pacifica constituencies, WRL has endorsed the stringers’ strike. But we also entreat all concerned—including Pacifica’s true owners, its listeners—to turn off the invective and return the network to its function: letting the nation’s alternative voices hear each other. |
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army may travel (as Napoleon said) on its stomach, but a movement runs on its
media. A new and radically decentralized movement—like the rising resistance to
globalization that shows such promise—needs all the media it can get. And one
of our oldest and best is in serious trouble.