After more than 50 years of calling the Bay Area home, the Pacifica Foundation is moving its national offices to Washington, D.C., officials announced Thursday.
KPFA staff and supporters say the move does nothing to end the unresolved conflict between the local station and its parent radio network.
"In terms of Pacifica knowing what's going on with us, it won't help to have them all the way across the country," said KPFA Interim General Manager Jim Bennett. "It will mean they're more isolated from us, and they won't have the same opportunity to have a clear understanding of what KPFA is doing."
In a news release issued Thursday, Pacifica officials said "the move allows the national staff easier access to agencies and public interest organizations headquartered in the nation's capital. Pacifica staff often works with the Federal Communications Commission, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and other federal entities."
Calls seeking comment from Pacifica Executive Director Lynn Chadwick were not returned. She "will remain at the helm in Washington," the news release declares.
The foundation's statement says the national office makes the move back east as of Jan. 18. But according to a news release distributed by Media Alliance, which assisted in organizing many of the pro-KPFA events last summer, movers arrived at Pacifica's office on Martin Luther King Jr. way around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday. The foundation's office is located next door to the radio station. Pacifica's statement does not say when the physical move was scheduled to begin. The idea of moving the national office from Berkeley to the nation's capital first arose last summer. In a July 28, 1998, news release, foundation officials declared that "Pacifica's national headquarters will be relocated within the next few weeks."
According to Thursday's statement from Pacifica, the decision to move was formally approved by the Governing Board at its October meeting. Mary Frances Berry, chair of that board, also is head of the national Civil Rights Commission and has strong ties to the Washington, D.C., area.
Lew Hill and his supporters formed the framework for the Pacifica Foundation in Washington, D.C., in 1946, but the formal beginning of the radio network is generally seen as 1949, when KPFA began broadcasting at the 94.1-FM frequency.
The foundation's 50th anniversary activities last year were tarnished by the KPFA-Pacifica conflict, which intensified after Pacifica decided on March 31 not to renew General Manager Nicole Sawaya's contract.
On April 9, after criticizing that decision on the air, longtime Pacifica broadcaster Larry Bensky was fired for violating the foundation's policy banning on-air discussion of personnel matters - the so-called "gag rule." Tensions continued to mount through the spring and into the summer, as KPFA staff became more critical of Pacifica management on the air and in the Bay Area media.
The conflict exploded on July 13. During that evening's edition of "Flashpoints," Dennis Bernstein criticized Pacifica. After his show ended, he was immediately placed on a leave of absence for violating the "gag rule." His cries of protest were picked up by the news staff, which had just begun that evening's news broadcast, and at 6:07 p.m., Pacifica pulled the plug on local programming.
A series of major protests were held over the next few weeks, before Pacifica agreed to reopen the station. Local programming resumed on Aug. 5, but many outstanding issues between the foundation and the station remain, including two lawsuits: one filed by members of several Pacifica Local Advisory Boards and one filed by Pacifica listeners.
In addition to KPFA, Pacifica holds the broadcast licenses for four other stations around the country, including one in Washington, D.C.
From the Berkeley Daily Planet, January 7, 2000.