In the San Francisco Bay Guardian --April 9, 1997

RADIO

MORE storms are brewing at listener-supported progressive radio station KPFA, and this time the dark clouds are swirling over the station's -- and its parent network, Pacifica's -- leadership.

Two top station managers appear to be on their way out, amid rumors that commercial broadcasters are eagerly making offers to buy Pacifica's oldest radio station.

Program director Ginny Berson told the Bay Guardian last week that she will be leaving the station this summer. And station manager Marci Lockwood has interviewed for the job of director of San Francisco-based Institute for Global Communications (IGC), according to sources at the progressive organization. (Lockwood could not be reached for comment.)

Berson said she was leaving for personal reasons. But critics are wondering if there is any connection between the two managers' departures and the possibility that the station may be sold. Pacifica officials deny any such connection.

"There is no truth to the rumors," Pacifica spokesperson Burt Glass said. "From time to time we get inquiries, and the board and our executive director have rejected them all, and will continue to reject them."

But from radio broker Chester Coleman's perspective, the possibility of a sale is not so remote. Coleman told the Bay Guardian that Pacifica receives offers to buy KPFA almost every week, some of them as high as $60 million.

"Up until now no one has been successful in getting Pacifica to take the money and run," Coleman said. "But I don't think that plan has been presented correctly to them or they would have done it."

Critics of station management say that even considering a sale is inconsistent with the station's mission and history. "To privatize community assets would be a betrayal of the mission of Pacifica," Maria Gilardin, of Take Back KPFA, said.

Meanwhile, another twist has developed in the sometimes strained relations between Pacifica's national board, whose secretive tactics have infuriated critics, and local advisory boards.

The national board -- which sets overall policy for all five network stations -- has moved to slash local board representation at the national level.

That news has not officially been made public, but the Bay Guardian has obtained an internal memo detailing what amounts to an overhaul of how local boards interact with the national board, and what kind of say local boards will have in national issues.

Glass said Pacifica could not comment on the changes because they are still "in flux."

Under the new plan local representation on the national board will be halved. One of the two spots reserved for local board members will now be filled unilaterally by the national board. The new regulations would also prohibit station staff from serving on local boards, a move that would silence the official voice of staffers in what is becoming an increasingly centralized decision-making apparatus.

How the latest governance changes will play out on the local level is unclear, since the local board chairs of both the New York and the Berkeley stations have said they will continue to seat staff at board meetings. And staff resistance is said to be building, particularly at New York's WBAI.

But even KPFA management finds the process by which the governance changes were made disturbing. The changes were approved in a closed committee meeting of the national board, without explicit approval in an open session by the full board and without input from the affected parties. The new rules also state that the national board may dissolve the local boards at will.

"Something should be done about the process and the way that change is handled," KPFA local board chair Hank Levy said.

Others put it a bit more strongly.

"To remove the last vestiges of democracy and to exclude anybody with any knowledge of radio and programming is outrageous," Gilardin said. "Corporation for Public Broadcasting rules are very clear that the local board is to serve at the will of the community. These new rules turn it around: now they serve at the will of the national board."

Meanwhile, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is auditing Pacifica in response to a number of complaints about closed meetings.

CPB investigator Joe Arvizo came to town last week to check into the network's financial matters and secrecy practices. He told the Bay Guardian that a report detailing his findings and making recommendations to Pacifica is forthcoming this week.

Belinda Griswold