The following press release was issued by the Pacifica Foundation.
 

Why "NOT" a cause for celebration?

Lynn Chadwick's tenure at the National Federation of Community Broadcasters (NFCB) gives those of us resisting the loss of community involvement and the "NPR-ization"  of Pacifica Radio cause for serious concern. The NFCB under Chadwick became an evangelist for the trend of "professionalization." Together with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which funded the NFCB's "The Healthy Station Project (HSP),"  Chadwick has attempted to foist the same type of changes made by Scott at Pacifica on various community radio stations around the country. By and large, stations rebelled, and one of the results of this was the formation of the Grassroots Radio Coalition (GRC).

Marty Durlin of KGNU in Boulder, Colorado was one of the GRC founders. Marty Durlin had applied for the Pacifica CEO slot, and the fact that she was not chosen is telling in terms of the mindset of the Pacifica National Board - more of the same. As an example of the point-of-view Ms. Durlin would have brought to Pacifica, here is a statement from the GRC website following the first GRC conference in 1996:
 

The purpose of the conference was to affirm the mission and institution of grassroots radio, and to strengthen those stations still committed to the inclusion of community volunteers in programming and decision-making.

Organizers are concerned that the original vision of public broadcasting -'giving voice to the voiceless' - has been eroded and in some cases, extinguished. The present world of public broadcasting includes conference sessions on 'High Impact Selling' and 'Power Selling.' Bills introduced by Congressman Fields and Senator Pressler would eliminate 'diversity' as a goal for public broadcasting. Licensees are being encouraged to sell noncommercial frequencies for commercial purposes. Religious organizations are snatching up noncommercial frequencies in order to propagate right-wing political views. Public radio formats are ruthlessly adapted to audience expectations.

For grassroots stations, this situation is brought home by the fact that community producers are no longer central to the missions of even NFCB or Pacifica, and Arbitron has become an acceptable tool for measuring the success of community stations.

Community broadcasting at its best is a dynamic interchange among members of a community, a fertile ground for cultural, artistic and political expression. While it has sometimes been amateurish and silly, it has always had a sense of purpose that was distinct from that of commercial broadcasting. That difference is now disappearing. If community radio becomes just another format, we will have lost a rich community resource and a precious opportunity to guide our own fates.

Below, we have compiled whatever sources we could find on Chadwick and the HSP, to enable you to get a sense of what Chadwick as Pacifica CEO is likely to reflect.
 

• Excerpt from "With Friends Like These: Why Community Radio  Does Not Need the Corporation for Public Broadcasting "  by Jesse Walker
• Looking at the Healthy Station Plan - from Radio Resistors Bulletin #9
• Transcript Of Lynn Chadwick's presentation on the "Politics of Public Radio" Panel
• Chadwick's cozy relationship with the CPB

It is now common for NFCB administrators to denounce the "old hippie paradigm" of diverse
programming and volunteer-based management. Paid staff, they suggest, should call the shots.

This came to a head in the late '80s, when the NFCB and Public Radio International (then called
American Public Radio) launched the Blueprint Project, a CPB-financed "consulting initiative." When APR dropped out, the NFCB rechristened its efforts the Healthy Station Project. According to the
program's coordinator, David LePage, the HSP was simply "a curriculum designed to support and
create successful local stations," a "method of facilitation and training." It "brings no hidden plan or
agenda, no magic wands, no predetermined programming answers. . . . The HSP evaluates a
station's health based on its behavior and performance in relation to achieving its mission, not in
relation to any particular program format or organizational structure."

This was a half-truth. The NFCB's advice did vary from place to place, depending on what content
it felt would build audiences in each particular locale. But the form that content would take was
distressingly -- well, blueprintish. The HSP consistently called for reducing the power volunteers
have over both station management and the content of their shows. HSP stations were also to
embrace predictable strip programming. Their music would be more homogeneous, more
"consistent." Oddball shows that didn't immediately fit the new format -- the new "mission" -- would
be dropped, no matter how popular they may be.

The idea, derived from the research of programing consultants George Bailey and David Giovannoni, was that listeners like predictability -- that if they tune to a station Monday and hear Public Enemy,
then try again Tuesday and get a Gregorian chant, they won't come back. Obviously, there's some
truth to this, and many community stations have successfully gained listeners while maintaining their
eclectic identity by arranging a more logical flow from program to program. But it's also true that
variety can be a station's selling point, its niche, especially if those varied shows are hosted by
talented, knowledgeable DJs. Wipe out that variety and fire those volunteer hosts, and your station
will be headed for trouble.

One of the first testing grounds for the HSP was WERU in Blue Hill Falls, Maine. Just eight years
old, WERU has only six full-time and one part-time paid employees, plus about 150 volunteers.
Important decisions are made by all -- one person, one vote. Its funding comes mostly from local
sources, although it also accepts CPB subsidies.

Enter the HSP, represented by LePage, Bailey, and a handful of WERU staffers. It didn't take long
for the project to wear out its welcome. Cathy Melio, WERU's present station manager, recalls what happened: "It seems that their advice was that in homogenizing your programming, you'll have a lot
more listeners and thus you'll be more 'healthy.' And we challenged that. We said diversity is the
strength of community radio. Your community is not homogeneous, and thus your programming
shouldn't be." And: "Their advice was to let the staff make the decisions and volunteers follow them.
But we stood up for the volunteers." The interlopers were eventually ousted, and the station has
continued to prosper, recently moving to new quarters.

Less fortunate was KOPN in Columbia, Missouri. KOPN had hit financial hard times, thanks largely to problems that had beset its onetime cash cow, a fundraising bingo game. It was widely agreed that some sort of change was needed. But what kind of change? The station had operated without any
paid staff for its first two years; it then hired one manager. Then, from 1976 to 1980, the number of
paid workers jumped to 25 -- 23.5 of them paid out of grants. When the Bingo crisis hit, station
volunteer Jay Teutenberg pointed out that the previous "year the staff's salaries amounted to
$145,000, approximately half our budget. This year the station will carry forward a debt note of
$20,000, in addition to the other accounts payable. . . . [I]t has been their salaries and their decisions that have created this dire situation."

That was not the HSP's diagnosis. "They now use [the budget crisis] as an excuse to take control
away from the volunteers and community," reported Teutenberg. "David LePage has laid it out in
black and white terms, either we can lift the budget to $400,000, or we can run at $100,000 with no paid staff or CPB . . . funding. No one has talked much about what it would be like to run without
paid staff, just left it as sort of an 'unspeakable horror.'" And so KOPN took the Healthy Station
road, displacing volunteers with paid hosts and homogenizing programming along "Adult Album
Alternative" lines.

Different stations reacted to the HSP in different ways. Back in the Blueprint Project days, WRFG,
a KRAB Nebula station in Atlanta, found itself in the unlikely position of being told to throw blues
programs off the air -- in the name of "multiculturalism." The NFCB also advised it to replace
volunteers with paid DJs and streamline its programming. These changes were unpopular with the
station's listener-subscribers, prompting the station to reverse some of the changes. The NFCB then
withdrew, claiming that WRFG "wasn't serious" about becoming healthy. At KVMR in Nevada City, California, the HSP may have been ultimately beneficial for the station -- but not in the way the
NFCB intended. As one staffer reflected, "One of the positive effects of the HSP was the
fundamental problems at KVMR were brought out into the open. This was not necessarily the
intention of HSP but the anxiety of the volunteer broadcasters about HSP resulted in several
meetings of broadcasters, staff, KVMR Board and, at one meeting, David LePage. The result was
loud and clear. Not only were the broadcasters worried about HSP changing the community basis of the station, but the broadcasters did not like the content of Board decisions, the manner in which the
Board made decisions and its arrogant attitude toward the broadcasters and the public." In other
words, by threatening to make KVMR less democratic, the HSP prompted a more thoroughgoing
democratic revolution.

Several people have praised specific aspects of the HSP, particularly its requirement that individual
stations determine their exact missions. But as a whole, the program met resistance in almost all the
stations it invaded. Today, it is in remission, though HSP-like efforts continue to occur around the
country -- most notably, at the Pacifica network.
-- Jesse Walker  Seattle, WA

Looking at the Healthy Station Plan - from Radio Resistors Bulletin #9
___________________________________________________________
 

 As mentioned in the last issue of  the Bulletin, issue #9 presents a  bit more information about the
 NFCB's Healthy Station Project.  We reprint the cover article from  the organization 's newsletter
 Community Radio News.  In this  article the NFCB explains its  expectations for the program
 and provides some background.

 Following is some research  provided by KVMR's Don  Jacobson.  Don talked with 3  individuals representing stations  that have worked with the  NFCB.  Their comments shed  considerable light on the NFCB's  admittedly evolving curriculum.
____________________________________

The NFCB talks About Healthy Station Project

Reprinted  by  permission  from  the  August  1994   issue   of   "Community Radio News", The newsletter of the National Federation of Community Broadcasters.

(The August) cover story is an article on the NFCB's Healthy Station  Project  (HSP).   The project is about process, and the HSP is itself an ongoing process.  Each time we  participate  with  a
station  we  learn,  adapt, and adjust, always trying to make the HSP curriculum and the process serve the local community.

   The Healthy Station Project is a curriculum designed  to  support  and create successful local stations.  The project is based upon the theory that a healthy station is: Mission Driven, Local-
ly  Designed,  and Community Oriented.  Each station functions in its own community.  It must determine its own mission and  decide how  to best serve its local community.  The HSP brings no hidden plan or agenda, no  magic  wands,  no  predetermined  programming answers.   The HSP is a method of facilitation and training.  The HSP evaluates a station's health based on its behavior  and  performance   in  relation to achieving its mission, not in relation to any particular program format or organizational structure.

   The HSP utilizes an innovative approach to training, providing the Boards and staff, paid and unpaid, with information and  process design, in order to "train the whole  station"  rather  than
only  individuals.   HSP  prepares  the  station  for planned and designed decision and action, not merely reactive response.   The HSP is a process that works with the station to develop an organ-
izational culture with effective leadership, a collaborative work environment and shared, realistic goals.

   The curriculum and  process  strive  to  create  an  effective inter-relationship  of  Governance,  Programming and Fundraising. There are three core curriculum  components:
          *Develop  a clear and shared understanding of the mission
           and purpose.
          *Design  challenging  and  realistic  goals  and principles.
          *Create focused, measurable, and integrated performance
           benchmarks.

   The HSP curriculum developed from years of NFCB staff work  in national training programs (NFCB Annual Conference,  Building the Winning Team With NPR, and the Blueprint  Project  with  APR/PRI) and the many contacts and on-site work with member and non-member
stations.  From these experiences we were able to identify issues and  concerns  that  require  stations to plan, decide and focus. The role of the NFCB staff in the HSP process is to ask the questions and facilitate the process of answering:  "What's your purpose? How will you achieve it?  How will you measure success?"

   A three-day workshop, called  the  Leadership  Planning  Workshop,  is the core curriculum piece of the project.  This process involves: clarification of the mission; establishing goals in the areas  of  governance,  programming  and fundraising; and setting strategies, benchmarks and work plans for the goals.   The  group involved  in  this initial process is the Board of Directors, the paid staff, and other key station personnel and volunteers.   The process  is then extended throughout the station.

   A station can only be healthy if there is a clear  and  shared sense of mission and purpose, if it has a definition of its goals and   a  means  to  measure  performance.   Because  the  project directly addresses improving the areas of governance, programming and finances there is almost always the issue of change  that  is concurrent  with  the project.  "We cannot become what we want to be,  by continuing to do what we do now."  If the current activities or programming are not meeting the station's goals  and fulfilling the mission,  then change is inevitable and  in fact  required.   Change  is  always  difficult,   particularly  when the change is in the station culture and behavior.

   NFCB continues to develop and refine the curriculum  and  content  of  the Healthy Station Project.  The actual program can be the three-day workshop, or an extended  full  year  of  analysis,
planning, and implementation support.  Of course the expenses for the different levels of the HSP vary considerably because of  the variance in NFCB staff time and the related direct costs of trav-
el and accommodations.  NFCB staff do not receive consulting  par or  extra  income from the project; they are on an annual salary. All income from the project is directed to the NFCB's  budget  to cover  our project- specific expenses, and contribute to the NFCB general budget for operations and services.

   The Corporation for  Public  Broadcasting's  Development  Fund provided  support  during the past year to fund "The Launching of the Healthy Station Project."  The budget, just under $30,000 per station included a pre-workshop station snapshot/audit; the planning workshop; up to four on-site monitoring support visits;  and direct  support or training identified by each station.  Partici-
pating in the pilot were WERU, Blue Hill Falls,  Maine  (see  RRB #8);  KOPN, Columbia, Missouri (see RRB #5 and 6); and WFSS, Fayetteville State University, Fayetteville, North  Carolina.   Each station  identified  its  own goals for the year-long project and are in the process of implementation and evaluation.  KOPN is recovering  from the loss of bingo income and redeveloping a strong base of support from listeners and underwriters.  WERU is  clarifying  internal goals and policies in order to create a base from which to develop their longer range implementation  plan.   WFSS, licensed  to  an  historic  black college and recovering from the loss of major funding from the state, is  developing  methods  to integrate  both their internal mission as an educational institution and their external mission of being a public  radio  service to the larger community, and create greater financial stability.

   The NFCB was recently notified that the CPB's System  Development  Fund  will  provide for the continued implementation of the HSP.  If your station is interested in applying to participate or
if you have questions about the project please call us.

   David LePage, coordinator of the HSP, encourages readers to comment him with questions or comments about the project.     The National Federation of Community Broadcasters may be           reached at:  666 11th Street, Suite 805,  Washington, DC, 20001

        Phone: 202-393-2355         E-mail:    nfcb@aol.com

#       #       #       #       #       #       #

"Experience talks"    About the HSP.

The following is a summary of three conversations  Don  Jacobson, of  KVMR, had regarding the Healthy Station Plan between  May 24, and June 1, 1994.  At that time the management of KVMR  was  considering   participation   in  the  HSP.     All  three  stations represented by Don's research have had experience with either the HSP  or its precursor, The Blueprint Project. Only David Freedman gave the NFCB's projects a positive evaluation, but all three individuals   felt that the projects had both positive and negative attributes.

   In an October e-mail message to the Bulletin regarding permission  to use this research, Don Jacobson wrote, "One of the positive effects of the HSP was that  fundamental  problems  at  KVMR were  brought out into the open. This was not necessarily the intention of HSP but the anxiety   of  the  volunteer  broadcasters about  HSP  resulted  in several meetings of broadcasters, staff, KVMR Board and, at one meeting, David LePage. The result was loud and  clear.  Not   only  were  the broadcasters worried about HSP changing the community basis of the  station, but  the  broadcasters  did  not like the content of Board decisions, the manner in which the Board made decisions and its arrogant  attitude  toward the broadcasters and  public."

   Changes in KVMR's paid staff and Board members, as well as  an increased  awareness  about  the station among the com-munity and broadcasters, has pushed back concern about  the  HSP.   Now,  as Jacobson  wrote,   "We  are paying for the sins of the last Board with financial problems  looming over our  heads.  I  am  hopeful that once we get pulling together in the same  direction that the financial problems will diminish and we can move ahead  to  serve our community in  a  more    creative   and   vigorous way."
        Editor
_________________________________________________________________

DON'S RESEARCH
(This material appeared in an Open Letter to  the   KVMR  Board  and on the FOLK-DJ Listserv and elsewhere on the Internet.)

Chuck Taylor, manager, WTJU, Charlottesville, VA

WTJU  is a college/community radio station owned by the University  of  Virginia.  The University pays for the two salaries, rent and power. The remainder of the budget is the  responsibility  of
the  station. Education is one of the goals of the station and it is mentioned in  the  mission  statement.  Underwriting  provides 1/6th of the budget. An interesting note about their underwriting
is that in the underwriting contract it states that  underwriters cannot influence programming.

 WTJU went through the first phase of the project  but  decided not  to go forward with it. They felt that the station evaluation was a good idea and that the NFCB has useful  resources  and  the
networking  opportunities can be helpful. One of the changes that worked for WTJU was hiring professional management.  The  station previously  had no paid staff. Another helpful aspect of the NFCB involvement was the station evaluation. One helpful  change  that was implemented before the NFCB arrived was horizontal block programming Monday through Friday.

The differences of philosophy between Chuck Taylor of WTJU and David  LePage  of  NFCB  is that LePage urged WTJU to be either a college station or a community station, not  both.  Chuck  Taylor believes  that  WTJU  can do both. Taylor believes that education should play a large part in the WTJU's programming.  Taylor  also supports the concept of diverse programming, and serving the community that otherwise would not be served. He is  confident  that if  the  programming  is presented in an interesting, intelligent way it will support itself, although it may not raise as much money  as six hours of Car Talk. There are people who will become a member just for one program they like. He told me, "If  money  is the  driving  force  for your station, then your programming will
change! Community support does not necessarily mean more  money." What  is important is having a large number of people who support the station as opposed to a few supporters with  lots  of  money. LePage supported  programming changes that would appeal to people with more money.  Taylor stated that David LePage would  want  to "...cut the dead wood (from programming)."

Chuck advised KVMR to have a strong mission statement, and  he noted  that in the end the HSP  would result in a report that may or may not be adopted by the Board of Directors. Finally, he  added,  "They  came to our station to help, but we did not take all of their advice. We just have a difference of opinion."

David Freedman, manager, WWOZ, New Orleans, LA

WWOZ is owned by the New Orleans Jazz  and  Heritage  Foundation.The  station's  programming  reflects the rich cultural diversity found in the New Orleans area. David Freedman applied  to  become manager of WWOZ in order to insure that the station continued its commitment to serve the diverse community of New Orleans.

   The history of WWOZ's involvement with the  Blueprint  Project goes  back  to  1990.  In 1991 a report compiled by George Bailey was made available to WWOZ by the Blueprint Program. The  manager at  that  time  (Freedman's predecessor) held a public meeting to discuss the report's suggestions for sweeping changes.  According to  Freedman,  the  report was very derogatory towards the traditional music of New Orleans. The report was not well received  by the  listeners  and volunteers in attendance. One of those people was David Freedman.  It was that event that motivated him to  apply  for  the  manager  position when it became open a few months later.

   Freedman did, however, find the Blueprint Project to be "positive  in influence..." and "...the outcome was good." However, he offered cautions for KVMR regarding the HSP. About the NFCB  personnel,  he  warned, "I hope they have learned their lesson about recognizing the uniqueness of individual stations." He also  cautioned that the HSP can be a used as a pretext for certain people to manipulate the station for their own ends. He  said  the  NFCB can  "...give  you principles, but it cannot give you the soul of the station." Regarding the HSP he advised, "Take it a little bit at  a time," noting  that it can be only as good as the people at the station.

   The major problem that David Freedman had with  the  Blueprint Project  was  that  (the  NFCB) wanted WWOZ to change to a single format from their diverse programming.  WWOZ  refused  to  follow that  recommendation  and kept the mix the station had been  programming. The refusal to make that dramatic change occurred in an atmosphere of intense lobbying by the NFCB's Bruce Theriault (David LePage's other team member).

   One change that did take place was with the morning show.  The Blueprint  staff  worked  with WWOZ's David Freedman to devise  a new approach to the morning drive slot, which had been  woe-fully underperforming.  The  5AM to 9AM shift was declared a "construction zone" -- not belonging to any single programmer, but  to  be developed by a team of five WWOZ programmers. The "new sound" involved the use of a clock, the addition of traffic,  weather  and brief news reports, and a format which emphasized a briskly-paced up-tempo music mix, 25% of which was based on a  common  playlist of 25 CDs drawn up and refreshed by the entire morning team. Even
so, Blueprint / WWOZ did not get it right on the  first  pass  -- the music was beyond reach for a station without a Program Director, and the AP wire service was a poor choice.   The  volunteers
continued to struggle with the project.

   Eventually, a morning show emerged that had some of the original  broadcasters  back in place who worked with a single morning show producer who handled the "talk" part of the show, and  local news was added. This new format changed the morning show from the least-listened to program to the most-listened to. About this experience,  Freedman said, "Without Blueprint, we would never have had the impetus to look  at  the  reality  of  the  situation:  a poorly-executed,   poorly-devised   misuse  of  radiophonic  real estate, wasting valuable opportunities  to  build  the  station's listenership  and  revenue  base  without  betraying our mission, which is the heart and soul, the raison d'etre  of  our  station. But:  the  successful solution came from within the station. They (the Blueprint Project) should get out of the business of telling people  what  to  do and they should be in the business of giving people information."

   "We  are  fiercely  local,"  Freedman offered   about   WWOZ. "Volunteer radio is the essence of community radio." He also noted that just because a radio station becomes financially successful,  it does not necessarily mean that it is a success. However, if the station cannot pay its bills, then some serious introspection  is  necessary.  He was concerned that KVMR was rolling down the HSP road before fixing the leadership / management problems.

   Freedman shared his view of what the roles of staff should be. "A  good  Program  Director  knows radio and knows what makes the station unique. A good manager is a person who  finds  consensus, does not create an empire, and provides leadership."

Clarence Moritz,  Vice  President,  Board   of  Directors,  WRFG, Atlanta, GA

Clarence Moritz was the Chair of the Programming Committee at the time that the Blueprint project came to WRFG.

   The Blueprint project evaluated WRFG and proposed a major programming  change  from  a diversified format to consistent format in the time slot 6AM to 6PM. It was  also  recommended  that  the number  of listeners be increased as well as that the station define its "target" audience. That process led the station  to  try to  change  the racial mix of listeners from 30% African-American
to 60%. When some of these changes were resisted,  Moritz  stated that David LePage responded, "You're not serious."

   One of the helpful aspects of the Blueprint Project  was  that it  helped  the  station  think about what its mission was. (Once again, the importance of  a  strong  mission  statement  was  emphasized by Moritz.) Also, the evaluation of station policies was beneficial as was the assistance in providing  better  flow  from program to program.  ...  On the downside,  the Blueprint Project wanted to change the station's blues programming  to  R&B,  eliminate 10 different blues programmers and replace them with a single programmer. These drive time broadcasters were to be replaced
with a single paid broadcaster.

   These changes were implemented for a couple of months and were met  with  an  angry  response from the listener-supporters. They filled a Board meeting  room and presented a petition  signed  by
1300  listeners  opposing the changes. In light of that response, WRFG  reversed some of the changes.

   At that time the NFCB pulled out  saying  that  WRFG  was  not serious about making changes.

   Moritz offered some suggestions  to  improve  KVMR's  (or  any station's) health:
   --Distribute specialized program guides to  preselected  audiences, i.e. a listing of all world music    programs  at  a  world  music event.

   --Better public acknowledgement of subscribers.

   --Informal brainstorming among programmers to improve programming.

   --Better segues

   --Co-sponsor events to gain public visibility.  Look  at  concerts etc. as public relations and not only as fund raising.

   --Find out who your audience is. Arbitron ratings are  inaccurate because of the extremely small sampling.