The Revolt at KPFA Continues: 
Report By Jeff Blankfort, Take Back KPFA
jab@tucradio.org

This morning Larry Bensky, on his Sunday Salon program, played Lynn Chadwick's statement regarding the firing of Nicole Sawaya and the earlier firing of Bensky himself, and then he followed that with a rebutal of Chadwick's statement that Bensky had not been fired, not had he been restored as a result of listener protest.  First, he read the terse statement of termination sent to him by Gail Christian, director of National Programming, which was unambiguous in its directness, and then he read Chadwick's own press statement when Bensky was rehired for his Sunday Salon show, crediting massive listener response for his reinstatement. The program is, presumably, is being carried on Pacifica's five stations at this very moment if the Berry and Chadwick's aparachiks at the other four stations have not switched to muzak.

Bensky continued by reading the statement by the KPFA staff denouncing the firing of Sawaya and the series of Pacifica decisions which have been designed to destroy the network's mission, and followed that by reading the statement he had prepared for the Pacifica national board meeting, but was not allowed to complete, describing the expansion of Pacifica at the
expense of its five stations.

He then announced that a new e-mail address had been established by the staff to receive supportive e-mail from listeners at
<savepacifica@hotmail.com>. and gave the phone and fax numbers and addresses for Chadwick and Mary Berry and Chadwick's e-mail address.

Bensky described the present situation as the most critical in Pacifica's history surpassing a month-long strike that occurred in
Bensky's earlier days at the station.

It is apparent that the next few days at the station will be critical. The number of programmers, both paid and unpaid, who have broken the gag-rule in violation of Chadwick's edict may run in double figures including news directors Mark Mericle and Aileen Alfandary and veteran reporter Wendell Harper and, of course, Bensky, himself.  If Chadwick, who has installed herself as general manager, acting as if she is in some totalitarian state --which Pacifica management has rapidly come to resemble -- elects to fire everyone who has broken the rule, there is sure to be a major protest at the station and Pacifica's headquarters which are adjacent to it that will far exceed the demonstration of last Friday.

Jeff

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