KPFK Manager Mark Schubb responds to Amy Goodman's Memo on Censorship at PacificaIn the memo below, KPFK Station manager accuses Amy Goodman of lying. This is his standard charge, but who's the real liar? Below, we have provided links to documents and writings that contradict Schubb's points. You decide.
October 24, 2000 Dear Listener:
KPFK is the only Pacifica station - indeed the only station anywhere --
that chooses to broadcast Democracy Now not once, but twice each day
during prime radio time.We support Democracy Now To air the show twice is a decision I made as
General Manager, so if my goal was to somehow muzzle Amy Goodman -- as
misreported elsewhere -- local programming could have long ago replaced
half her current air time. I don't supervise Democracy Now, or its staff,
and I've never been asked to do an evaluation of the program. Please
forgive my plain language, but any implication that I suggested Amy
Goodman not report on police abuse (or any other story) is nothing short
of a bald-faced lie.KPFK and Pacifica National Programming have strong union contracts. If an
employee feels wronged, grievances are ultimately subject to independent,
binding arbitration Pacifica -- by law -- cannot freely comment on
personnel matters. When workplace issues are taken out of context, blown
to alarmist proportions and then politicized in a public campaign -- all
before the first grievance has been filed -- all sides lose And listener
beware -- you are likely being used -- in a matter where you don't have
the whole story.**KPFK has a very weak union contract thanks to Mark Schubb's collaboration the union busting firm, The American Consulting Group. The contract forced down the throat of KPFK workers, and which WBAI workers refused to sign, prohibits strikes and job actions, workers' most powerful tool, and instead mandates binding arbitration, an expensive procedure which gives management the advantage. Grievances have also been ignored by Schubb, and those filing them have been subject to a campaign of harassment. The present contract at KPFK also creates at-will employment, and destroyed the previous egalitarian contract that also gave workers the right to participate in decisions and review the finances of the station.
For a year and a half now we've been hearing that Pacifica would sell one
of its stations We heard that a Democratic Party coup was underway. That
programming would be gutted. And most viciously that we were engaged in a
hunt for corporate funding Those have always been lies and they continue
to be lies.**What a deceptive piece of writing! By analogy, because nuclear war has not broken out, anti-nuclear activists are liars and have always been liars! If a radio license changes ownership, the FCC must approve. This is usually pro-forma, but not when thousands of people are demonstrating. Here's some documentation on the station sale issue:
- Pacifica Director Micheal Palmer (now Treasurer!) on his sale feasability study
- Pacifica Director Pete Bramson, who gave a press conference stating that Mary Frances Berry had lied, and that sale of stations was being discussed.
And here's some info on the Democratic Party ties:
- As early as 1997, Democracy Now! was being given directives to go easy on Clinton.
- Mary Frances Berry, and her predecessor Jack O'Dell, are both part of Jesse Jackson's organization, and Berry donates.
- Berry used her administration connections to get the Justice Department to try to lean on the Berkeley Chief of police to crack down on KPFA demonstrators.
- Another of the primary architechts of the coup, Roberta Brooks (who resigned in 1999) was on the staff of Democratic Congressmember Ron Dellums
- The Corporation for Public Broadcasting Directorate whitewashed their own investigators report, when he concurred with some of the charges filed by Take Back KPFA, that the Pacifica Board was holding illegally secret meetings. Two previous investigators lost their jobs suddenly and mysteriously when on the even of issuing reports that confirmed that Pacifica Board had been holding illegally closed meetings.
- And then, the CPB conspired with Pacifica CEO's Pat Scott and her successor Lynn Chadwick to bully Board members to vote for the by-laws change that placed control of the Board of Directors in 1999 in the hands of Berry and her aliies..
I'm just hitting some of the highlights here, there's more.And now on to the corporate funding part...Dan Coughlin, removed from his position for reporting on protests against censorship by Pacifica affiliates, revealed what''s going on behind the scenes.
The hard working staff and volunteers of KPFK just concluded the most
successful Fall Fund Drive in history. They worked day and night to raise
record amounts of funding -- not from corporations and foundations -- but
directly from listeners Last Friday broke all records by raising almost
$90,000 in one day. (Five years ago, the daily average was $14,000.)**Five years ago, there were 13,000 subscribers to KPFK, now there are 11,000. What this means is fewer people are donating more. Speaking of not gutting the programming, programs by and for members of poor communities and working class communities of color have all been axed: homeless people, are no longer allowed in the parking lot, or to volunteer during pledge drivs and work for food.
KPFK raised this money not by pandering to the center, or to the
Democrats or anybody else. We highlighted our strong political
programming critical of free trade and critical of the two major
presidential candidates. We featured programming about the history of the
US-led coup in Chile. We featured Noam Chomsky and Edward Said on the
Middle East. We featured Gore Vidal and Barbara Ehrenriech. We featured
a live interview with Ralph Nader.This is the programming we do year round. Your listener support is what
makes our local -- and national --programming possible. We urge you not
be taken in by disinformation, name-calling or divisive faction fights and
to continue to support this important program service.Thank you
Mark Schubb
General Manager
Indeed, we urge you not to be taken in by disinformation! In fact, Shubb has expressly instructed producers to "pander to the center" . Here is what Schubb said to a meeting of KPFK Producers...
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