Report on the Status of Flashpoints

from: Maria Gilardin

Date sent: Tue, 7 Jan 1997 23:06:15 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Flashpoints

When asked by Bay Guardian reporter Belinda Griswold whether KPFA intends to eliminate the popular investigative reporting show: Flashpoints, KPFA manager Marci Lockwood said that she would neither confirm nor deny it. Most of us read that as a not so veiled YES.

Today, January 7, on a KPFA call-in show Marci stated that there is no intention of eliminating Flashpoints although it might move to a different slot and she accused the Bay Guardian of having its facts wrong. Why then, we wonder, did she not tell the reporter that Flashpoints was going to be maintained?

We heard from several sources inside the station that plans of at least reducing and relocating the show are being discussed. Flashpoints now has editorial autonomy and a small staff. If it gets relocated to the Morning Show it loses editorial control (as it will come under the Morning Show Producer Andrea Kissack) and most certainly staff.

At the most recent KPFA advisory board meeting Flashpoints was explicitly excluded from the line-up of 7 Pacifica programs that had just been chosen for national distribution via the KU Band satellite.

This is not the first attempt to eliminate Flashpoints. Pat Scott, as manager of KPFA, tried to take the show off the air as of January 1, 1993. "Save KPFA" was founded to help prevent that cut and was successful - in conjunction with hundreds of individuals.

Flashpoints is the only investigative reporting show on KPFA. It is also liked and respected by the listeners whose donations place it among the stations three top fund-raisers. To remove a politically radical and successful show is not just fiscally irresponsible, it shows a frightening determination by Pacifica's to pursue it's long march towards political mediocrity.

The impact of the August 1995 elimination of KPFA's labor, Native American, bi-lingual, prison and other community programming was tempered by the appearance of Jerry Brown, Democracy Now and by the fact that Flashpoints remained on the air. It now seems that these programs veiled the fact that Pacifica is moving to the right with trivia quizzes, horoscopes, endless author promotions, advice on investment, cooking and health for yuppies.

If Flashpoints falls Pacifica's purpose will become clear. Pacifica wants to restore "people's faith in government" that they claim has been undermined by the mass media. (Quote from the 1996 Strategy Paper) Flashpoints however instills the much needed mistrust in government that is essential to the functioning of democracy. We must make every effort to keep it on the air.

This will be a test of the internal integrity of the remaining KPFA staff and union. Anonymous sources say that Larry Bensky is slated to take over the Flashpoints time slot for a daily talk show. Will Larry Bensky damage his reputation by taking over a slot that is vacated for him against the will of the programmers AND the audience?

Maria Gilardin