INSIDE:
JUST PUBLISHED ON JUNE 15!
Labor Stumbles:
A chronicle of the dismal reign of John Sweeney as head of
the AFL-CIO, including a post-mortem on the union's disastrous failure
to win union status for strawberry workers in Watsonville, California.
Air Power: Will War Always Be
So Risk Free For the Bombers?
Clinton and his advisers are gloating over their triumph
against Serbia, saying it proves that troublesome regimes can be brought
to heel by long-distance bombing and cruise missiles. But CounterPunch
tells the other side of the story, suggesting that future air wars might
be much riskier for the laptop bombers.
Recent CounterPunch Stories Now Online:
Larry
Summers' War Against the Earth:
Read the memo urging the export of polluting factories
and hazardous waste to the Third World, written by the man Clinton has
tapped as the new Sec. of Treasury.
CounterPunch's
Coverage of the War On Serbia
Did
the CIA Drug Paul Robeson?: New documents suggest that
the black actor and activist may have been a victim of the Agency's MK-ULTRA
program.
The
War at Pacifica's Flagship Station: Open war has broken
out over the future of the Pacifica station. The general manager and popular
hosts Larry Bensky have been fired. Others staffers are risking their positions
by violating the station's gag order.
Driving
While Black: Every day police across the country pull
over black drivers based on racial profiles. The stops lack probable cause
and often result in illegal searches and arrests. CounterPunch surveys
the latest evidence from across the nation.
During Bill Clinton's term as governor, the Arkansas prisons made money
by selling tainted blood from inmates to international plasma dealers.
Now thousands are dying around the world from AIDS and hepatitis.
Sidney Gottlieb, the CIA's master chemist, died on March 10. During
his tenure, Gottlieb performed the tasks of assassin, poisoner and pimp.
CounterPunch rounds up ten of the best progressive groups in the country
and tells why they do such a damn good job. |
July 13, 1999
Are Pacifica Stations for Sale?
Explosive Pacifica Radio
Memo Raises Storm
Here at CounterPunch we have always predicted that the end
game of Pacifica's national board would the sale of some or all of the
5-station network's assets, worth some $300 million. Such a sale would
finally destroy the listener-subscriber basis of this once progressive
radio network.
Latest evidence of the Board's bad faith comes in the
form of an email, purportedly from Micheal Palmer, a real estate broker
in Houston who is treasurer-elect on the governing board. The text of the
memo follows. Palmer's email to Pacifica national board chair Mary Frances
Berry puts forward a plan to destroy grassroots opposition and raise money
to pay for the voracious cash needs of the national superstructure by selling
either KPFA, the network's flagship station in the Bay Area, valued at
around $70 million, or WBAI in New York, probably worth even more. Thus
far Palmer has not responded to CounterPunch's phone messages left at his
office, home and cell phone, explaining clearly the reason for our calls.
There are a couple puzzling features in the address panel
of the email. Berry's name middle name is incorrectly spelled, though Micheal
is the proper spelling of Palmer's first name. How can such an explosive
memo be seeing the light of day instead of remaining locked in Mary Frances
Berry's safe? The truth is ironic and extraordinary. The IGC internet service
provider did a trace and confirms that the email originated at Micheal
Palmer's email account. (Click
here to read the IGC trace of the email's origins.) But it was sent
to the email address of Andrea Buffa, director of the San Francisco Media
Alliance and one of the protesters on whom Pacifica manager Lynn Chadwick
had conducted a citizen's arrest for demonstrating outside the Pacifica
national offices in Berkeley. Buffa was arraigned on July 13 directing
the attention of the press to the text of the letter on CounterPunch's
website. (Click here
to read press release from the Media Alliance.) It seems that Palmer
in one of the most momentous Freudian slips in recent memory managed to
direct his email to an active opponent of all the schemes being hatched
by him and Berry.
The memo shows that a small clique on the national board
has been planning all along a strategy which even many people disapproving
of the Berry strategy had regarded as inconceivable. Here at CounterPunch
we are not in the least surprised. A year ago we were told by an entirely
reliable source that the notion of selling one of Pacifica's frequencies
has long been debated inside the high command. Four years ago, then Pacifica
national director Pat Scott and others were actively lobbying for the sale
of WBAI's prized frequency on the New York FM dial, arguing that the proceeds
would in part purchase a less valuable frequency and be otherwise invested
in projects dear to the board's heart. In sum, the content of Palmer's
damning email is well within the bounds of credibility. Its inadvertent
release promises to raise the Pacifica battle to a new level and draw in
many previous fence sitters in the struggle against Berry and her clique.
From: Palmer, Micheal @ Houston
Galleria, mpalmer@cbrichardellis.com
To: 'Mary Francis Berry', ma@igc.org
Hello Dr. Berry,
I salute your fortitude in scheduling
a news conference opportunity in the beloved Bay Area regarding one of
the most pressing issues of our time............
But seriously, I was under the
impression there was support in the proper quarters, and a definite majority,
for shutting down that unit and re-programming immediately. Has that changed?
Is there consensus among the national staff that anything other than that
is acceptable/bearable? I recall Cheryl saying that the national staff
wanted to know with certitude that they supported 100% by the Board in
whatever direction was taken; what direction is being taken?
As an update for you and Lynn I
spoke with the only radio broker I know last week and his research shows
$750,000-$1.25m for KPFB. There would be a very "shallow pool" of buyers
for a repeater signal such as this and it would be difficult to do a marketing
effort quietly due to the shortage of buyers. So there is no profound latent
value to that asset. The primary signal would lend itself to a quiet marketing
scenario of discreet presentation to logical and qualified buyers. This
is the best radio market in history and while public companies may see
a dilutive effect from a sale (due to the approximate 12 month repositioning
effort needed), they would still be aggressive for such a signal. Private
media companies would be the most aggressive in terms of price, which he
thinks could be in the $65-75m range depending on various aspects of a
deal. It would be possible to acquire other signals in the area, possibly
more than one, to re-establish operations, but it could take a few years
to complete if we want to maximize proceeds from the initial license transfer,
or leave only $10-20m in arbitrage gain when purchase(s) is complete. None
of this reflects tax consequences. This broker, just like any other that
would undertake such an effort, would need certain agreements in place
prior to starting.
Mary I think any such transfer
we would ever consider requires significant analysis, not so much regarding
a decision to go forward, but how to best undertake the effort and to deploy
the resulting capital with the least amount of tax, legal and social disruption.
I believe the Finance Committee will undertake a close review of the Audigraphics
data provided recently to determine what it is costing us per listener,
per subscriber, per market, per hour of programming...in order give the
Executive Director and the General Managers benchmarks for improvement.
Even with that data my feeling is that a more beneficial disposition would
be of the New York signal as there is a smaller subscriber base without
the long and emotional history as the Bay Area, far more associated value,
a similarly dysfunctional staff though far less effective and an overall
better opportunity to redefine Pacifica going forward. It is simply the
more strategic asset.
With this in mind I would encourage
frank description of the realities of the media enviornment we operate
in and of Pacifica's available resources to participate and have impact
in the evolving media world. The Executive Committee, at a minimum, should
have access to experts (whether from Wall Street, NPR/CPB, Microsoft or
otherwise) to get a strong reality check (me included) about radio and
Pacifica's position in it so that informed decisions can be made. My feeling
is that we are experiencing a slow financial death which is having the
normal emotional outbursts commensurate with such a disease. We will continually
experience similar events, in fact we have been experiencing similar events
over the past several years, primarily because we are not self supporting
through subscriber contributions and have a self imposed constraint on
asset redeployment that leaves us cash starved at a time when our industry
is being propelled in new directions, each requiring capital outlays of
consequence. We're boxed in at our own will. This board needs to be educated,
quickly, and to take action that will be far more controversial that the
KPFA situation. How can we get there?
So, now I've exhaled more than
I should, but you know where I'm at. Let's do something.
MDP
For more information on Pacifica visit these sites:
http://www.radio4all.org/freepacifica
http://www.savepacifica.net
An afternoon panel discussion on the Pacifica crisis will
be held Saturday, July 24 from 1-4 p.m. at the Sepulveda Unitarian Universalist
Society, 9550 Haskell Avenue in North Hills. Panelists include former Pacifica
board president Peter Franck, fired Pacifica national programmer Larry
Bensky, KPFK local advisory board chair and litigant David Adelson , and
long-time KPFK programmer Roy Tuckman. Dr. Helen Caldicott will also address
the issues via a pre-taped presentation. |