The San Francisco Bay Guardian
July 2, 1997

KPFA

Jumping ship: Embattled KPFA to lose its general manager

WHEN KPFA general manager Marci Lockwood tendered her resignation last week and the progressive Internet provider Institute for Global Communications (IGC) announced it had hired her as its executive director, critics questioned both the station's fiscal health and Lockwood's managerial skills. Although the IGC press release announcing the hiring of Lockwood praises her fiscal acumen, KPFA staffers have told the Bay Guardian that management has run over its budget by $114,000 -- including $87,000 for a failed direct-mail campaign.

At the same time, distribution of KPFA's listener guide, The Folio, which is sent to subscribers, has been reduced from bimonthly to quarterly because of budget cuts.

"Based on management misjudgments and their horrific failure with the direct-mail campaign, they've taken it out on The Folio and on the low-end subscribers, who will get next to nothing for their contribution," said a staffer, who asked to remain anonymous.

Lockwood denied those charges and told the Bay Guardian that during the four years she has been manager the station has produced budget surpluses. She admitted that this year's direct-mail campaign has lost money but said the station has been doing the same type of campaign for years. Direct mail is unpredictable, she said, and the costs incurred did not represent overruns but shortfalls in returns.

"I definitely don't think [the station is] in financial trouble," she told the Bay Guardian. "And I think we're going to end our year just fine."

IGC's acting director says he is not concerned about rumors of financial instability or objections to Lockwood's management style at the station.

"We made our decision just on the whole history of her being the general manager and the improvements she's made while she's held that position," IGC acting director Scott Weikart said. He added that he had no knowledge of the station's current financial situation.

It remains to be seen whether opposition to Lockwood will surface within IGC; her hiring was decided by an executive committee, and Weikart would not disclose the breakdown of the vote.

Lockwood was suggested as a candidate by Tides Center chief David Salniker, former director of Pacifica and a close associate of Pat Scott, current director of the nonprofit radio foundation and an ally of Lockwood's. The Tides Foundation, which administers the Tides Center, funds and helps run IGC, although Weikart said Salniker bowed out of the selection process after nominating Lockwood.

Critics of Lockwood's and Scott's policies at Pacifica and KPFA are making their voices heard, however. In a letter to IGC, Geov Parrish, a political columnist for a Seattle weekly and member of the Seattle-based Nonviolent Action Community of Cascadia, said his organization's board would consider switching its account to another provider.

"Given Ms. Lockwood's record of overseeing a Pacifica station accused -- with what appears to be undeniable evidence -- of corporatization, attacks on free speech and political dissent, and antiunion activity, I am astonished and appalled that IGC has chosen her," he wrote. "Your selection is a direct betrayal of the ideals of free speech, open communication, and support of progressive institutions that IGC had previously stood for."

Lockwood is departing just as labor negotiations begin with KPFA's union. The negotiations promise to be contentious, union members say, because Pacifica has demanded major concessions at its other stations in the past year.

Lockwood said she was also committed to finishing negotiations before she leaves. "I would love to have a contract before I leave, and I'm sure the union members would too," she told the Bay Guardian.

Belinda Griswold