Currents - July 8, 1996

PACIFICA:  WE WANT TO BE EFFECTIVE, NOT BUST OUR UNION

To the editors:

In response to your article, "Workers charge Pacifica with union 
busting"  (Current, June 17), first, let me be quite clear on one 
thing---Pacifica is not out to bust any union, especially not our 
own.  The American Consulting Group was never hired to negociate 
contracts at any Pacifica stations. For the record: we are currently 
engaged in contract negociations with UE (United Electrical, Radio 
and Machine Workers of America) at two of our member stations, KPFK
in Los Angeles and WBAI in New York. It is an inevitable fact of any 
such process that there will be differences of opinion across the 
bargaining table, and frequently we see these differences aired in 
public. This is what is happening here.

In the course of doing our best to come up with a reasonable contract 
that is fair and equitable to all our workers, our critics have 
hunted for any opportunity to brand us as "union busters." Lately 
they have been using a six-year old brochure put out by a firm that 
was advising us on labor law and other matters to impugn our motives. 
We have not asked for advice on how to "bust" our unions (nor have 
they provided such advice). But for a number of reasons, including 
that brochure, we will not be renewing out $1000 contract (not 
$30,000 as alleged by [Lyn] Gerry}.

But we have no doubts that our detractors will be back in their 
search to discredit the current positive changes going on at Pacifica 
Radio and our member stations.

It is important to understand there is a very small group of 
employees and volunteers who can continue as a viable operation under 
its once well-known and well-beloved dictum--"as long as there is one 
intelligent listener and one intelligent speaker, there should be a 
place on the air for such a program."

Unfortunately, not only is this an elitist view, it is not a 
practical way to utilize radio, especially with large signals in 
large metropolitain areas. This approach is also antithetical to 
Pacifica's other long-stated committment--to act as a leader for 
progressive social change, to empower and bring together all segments 
of our diverse community, and to provide a voice for the disempowered 
and disenfranchised. As long as we speak only to ourselves, we cannot 
fullfill this committment.

So Pacifica Radio is now embarked on a course to strengthen its 
foundations for the future, to build a modern, relevant, effective 
radio network, which will challenge and impact the status quo. Our 
recent efforts have generally been well-received by our listeners, 
supporters and donors---audience share has increased since we began 
making program change over the past year.

But our opposition has chosen to couch this in terms of a moral 
struggle---as though choosing to expand our support base through 
providing strong, progressive programming, and providing all our 
stations access to analytical national programs and a national news 
service is somehow selling out.

In truth, the history of Pacifica Radio is one of struggle, debate, 
criticism and self-criticism. And not always polite, either. We have 
been harsh on ourselves simply because we are different from 
mainstream radio, and want to stay that way. And we will continue to 
struggle to find solutions which will benefit our audiences---all of 
them. We are committed to providing outstanding, thoughtful and 
accessible programming which will bring in listeners who can use the 
information Pacifica and our member stations provide to educate and 
organize around the critical issues of the day.

Pat Scott
Executive Director, Pacifica Foundation
Berkely, Calif.


next caption: DRUMMOND ROMANTICIZES UNWORKABLE CACOPHONY

To the editors:

Bill Drummond's "endangered species" view of public radio(Current May 
13) raises the right issues--what's the prospect for a vital, 
vigorous public sphere, if public radio begins to reinvent itself 
with galloping commercialism? The pressures to replace diminishing 
taxpayer financing favor commercialization:
Congressional and right-wing critics want us to sound like the 
commercial media, and be funded like them. And our own industry 
includes many important voices who welcome increased commercialism
, know it's not a free lunch, but who show scant sensitivity to the 
risks. CPB has opted for an agnostic stance, declaring no preference 
for listener support over the rising tide of underwriting, calling 
for a pragmatic approach---"whatever works." Now is when we could use 
more help from our frinds in the foundation community--but to date, 
few of us fit their glass slippers.

As always, Pacifica is in the thick of all this, but definitely not a 
la Bill Drummond.

At the recent Media and Democracy Congress in Drummond's backyard in 
San Francisco, Pacifica was honored for its leadership in charting a 
continued noncommercial path, and for its efforts to create a new 
"civic journalism" in public bradcasting that will reengage audiences 
in political participation. Pacifica's executive director Pat Scott, 
has called upon the network to move betond the very culture that 
Drummond romanticizes (one idea, one programmer) in order to live up 
to the mandate of Pacifica's mission--to impact culture and political 
discourse. Pacifica's daily new grassroots election program, 
Democracy Now, is a consious attempt to use public radio to fix the 
commercial media-induced disengagement of the citizenry. DN puts the 
action back into politics--issues, ideology, economic interests, 
featuring grassroots folks who are making a difference all over the 
country. It's an election years show focussing on activism annd 
actiivists, not horse races and punditry. This program follows last 
years national daily public affairs offering, 100 Days of Congress, 
and reflects Pacifica's insistence on using its meager resources to 
bring fresh, distinct voices to bring voices to the national radio 
political conversation.

Somewhere along the way Drummond believes KPFA (and by implication
the rest of Pacifica's owned-and-operated stations----WBAI, New York;
WPFW, Washington, KPFT,Houston and KPFK, Los Angeles) turned away 
from the "politically impertinent and the culturally threatening." 
Clearly, he hasn't been listening to Pacifca radio recently. His 
vision of our duty is to provide a place where "a programmer with 
nothing more than an idea and a volunteer's committment could walk in 
and claimm, 'I have a right to be on the air'." With all due respect, 
this high-brow vision of Public access, if seriously preacticed would 
result in esoteric and unlistenable programming that would be part 
museum of the arcane, part toy of the frivolous.

If noncommercial broadcasting was not an endangered species, such 
indulgences might be excusable. But thisis an era which is 
overwhelmed by the Goliath of large corporate interesy media 
conglomerates that monpolize and homogenize print, broadcast and 
cable media. Pacifica radio is a credible David---a smart and 
modestlysupported non-commercial network with signals capable of 
reaching 20 percent of Americans. And in that context it is clearly 
Pacifica's responsibilty to be a player in the public sphere, not 
abandon it. Drummond's formula would produce the worst kind of 
trivialization and the abandinment of political and cultural 
opportunity and responsibility.

Pacifica has not, as Drummond claims, "struck its colors." It has 
refused artsy escapism, and closed the door to the unlitenable 
cacophony of haranging ideologues who line up to be on the air. In 
contrast to Drummond's view that Pacifica is suddenly safe, look at 
scenes witnessed during the last 36 months:

* On the floor of Congress, Republican House members from Illinois 
and Colorado are introducing amendments to exclude Pacifica stations
from CPB funding, and Sen. Larry Pressler is launching a witch-hunt
in the rest of public radio with a questionnaire asking pubcasters 
"Are you now, or have you ever been a Pacifica employee?'

*In Federal Court, Pacifica attorneys are petitioning to enjoin its 
ban on "indecency" in programming --which would require us to cancel 
or heavily edit broadcasts of readings from the works of James Joyce, 
Salman Rushdie,  Alice Walker and Tom Wolfe, and would prevent us 
from rebroadcasting studio interviews with Bertrand Russell, Henry 
Miller and more than 100 20th century writers.

* At the public radio conference in Washington, keynoter Senator Bob 
Dole is singling out programming from one Pacifica station and 
implicitly signaling the industry from keeping arms length from 
Pacifica.

* Disney-ABC attorneys are threatening Pacifica with an expensive 
nuisance suit because we have broadcast excerpts (provided by 
Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting) of ABC's New York Talk show host 
Bob Grant's shocking racist diatribes against "savages."

*At the Public Radio development Conference in Atlanta, the 
fundraising leadership in public radio rushes to reinvent itself as 
the newly commercialized network with enhanced underwriting 
opportunities--many shaking their heads in disbelief that stubborn 
Pacifica radio still refuses to accept or seek "underwriting"--the 
only national player in public radio to declint to do so.

If anyone has been listening, and more have than ever before---KPFA 
(the target of Drummond's attack) will today be recodnized as 
fiercely independent,  surprising, inspiring and fully human, with 
news and information, poetry and literature, music, health and humour 
on the air everyday---and still completely non-commercial. only 
six-months after the largest retooling of programming in two decades, 
KPFA's audiences are signalling (through independent audience 
measurements)  that KPFA is listened to more, by more people, than 
ever before. By any number of standards, programming awards, audience 
measures, attacks from the right, fundraising per listener and 
development awards--KPFA is one of the most successful public radio 
stations in the country. It is not hard to understand whyUniversity 
of Oregon Professor Jeffrey Richard Land write sin his forthcoming 
book that "Pacifica is an embarrassment of riches...it is apparent 
that for the past 45 years the network has presented more programming 
on germane political issues, more detailed analysis of every variety 
of emerging social movement, more live performances of contemporary 
musical , poetic and dramatic compositions, and more educational 
public affairs shows than any other institution of American 
broadcasting."  The current programming direction pays increased 
attention to how ideas are presented (production and format), to 
insure that thereis an audience.

And the reason for KPFA's success is in part because of the listener 
support from the people of the Greater San Francisco Bay Area, who 
have a very strong interest in , and appetitie for intelligent and 
iconoclastic, warm and genuine, controversial and outspoken 
broadcasting.
KPFA listeners have shown tremendous support for programming 
thatbrings listeners into democracy's incubator---public affairs 
programs that can inspire and ignite the democratic spirit. Lewis 
Hill was looking for such a place when he left Washington, DC 
commercial broadcasting in disgust in 1945, to create a 
non-commercial alternative radio.....in the service of peace, racial 
and social justice, and the arts. His prior experience in the bay 
area led him to think this the most fertile ground to try out the 
revolutionary idea of trying to ask people to support with donations 
something thatthey could listen to for free. And that support has for 
decades been steadfast, generous and inspiring to all of us whowork 
and volunteer here. We have the extra-ordinary culture of the people 
of the Bay Area to thank for the existence and success to thank fir 
the existence and continued successof KPFA--which aspires to nourish 
that culture through its broadcast mission. To the 160,000 listeners 
and 25,ooo donors, please take a bow. We thank you. We hope to 
continue to provoke, surprise, surprise, inspire and inform you.

Dick Bunce
Director of Development, Pacifica Foundation
Berkeley, Calif.



CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS ABOUT PACIFICA COVERAGE

Pacifica radio questioned several points...

*Pacifica Executive Director Pat Scott did not give herself a raise 
to $70,000, as Current incorrectly reported. Pacifica's Board of 
Directors sets her salary. According to Scott, that salary level was 
set before she was appointed executive director.

*Pacifica has long banned on-air discussion of internal conflicts. 
The article incorrectly stated that Pacifica started banning such 
discussions under Scott's leadership.

We regret these errors.

*The article states that recent Pacifica program changes  will better 
position the network to seek underwriting grants from foundations.
Scott takes issue with this staement and Current admits it is 
speculative.

* The article states that Pacifica's General Manager salaries are now 
between 30,000 and 50,000---information that came from Pat 
Scott--Pacifca now says that gm salaries are between 45,000 and 
50,000.

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