We, the undersigned listeners and supporters of KPFA and advocates of free-speech radio,  firmly believe that since the Pacifica Foundation preaches democracy, it should practice democracy.

We believe that the present conflict between Pacifica and KPFA is a consequence of Pacifica's undemocratic structure with the members of its self-selected, self-perpetuating, governing board being accountable to no one but themselves. The current board has clearly demonstrated its willingness to destroy the nation's first "listener-sponsored" radio station, in direct opposition to Pacifica's founding principles, openly defying the attempts by staff and listeners to defend those principles.

We demand that Pacifica return to those principles, namely:

DEMOCRATIC ELECTIONS
We demand that the members of the Pacifica National Board as well  local station advisory boards be elected by the subscribers and staffs of the network's five stations, and be accountable to them, and that the mechanisms to implement this demand be developed within Pacifica's respective communities. To commence this process, we demand the immediate resignation of the Pacifica National Board and the firing of Executive Director Lynn Chadwick.

NO CENSORSHIP
We demand that the unwritten gag rule or "dirty laundry" rule, that has been used to punish staff members for discussing KPFA's conflict with Pacifica on the air, be formally eliminated and that the terminations of all staff members from KPFA and Pacifica's member stations who have lost their programs for exercising free speech, be immediately and publicly rescinded.

PACIFICA'S FINANCES
We demand that the actions by the Pacifica Foundation to enlarge its operations at the expense of the member stations by taking an ever-increasing percentage of listener contributions, now at 17.2%, be returned to single-digit levels and the size of its staff reduced accordingly.

DIVERSITY
To ensure that KPFA and its sister stations be the "voice of the voiceless," we demand that deliberate efforts be made to  reach out to all  communities underserved or ignored by the mainstream media with a view towards securing their re-involvement in station programming and operations.

EQUITY
We believe that those who produce the programs are what gives KPFA its essential value and that an equitable balance should be established between management and staff salaries.

FOUNDATION FUNDING
Embracing KPFA as a radio station and Pacifica as a network that was founded and has survived on contributions from its listeners,  we demand an end by Pacifica to any efforts to secure donations from corporate foundations and become "players and partners. Players on the same field as NPR." (A Strategy for National Programming, Pacifica, 9/92).

CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING
Finally, the present crisis can be directly linked to Pacifica's close ties to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting  (CPB) which, in 1998, provided Pacifica with $1,137,083, from which KPFA received $244,929. The CPB's collusion with Pacifica was instrumental in forcing a recent by-law change which eliminated local station representation on the Pacifica National Board.  Moreover, CPB has blocked listeners' efforts to open Pacifica's board and committee meetings to the public. We demand that Pacifica end this corrupting relationship with the CPB.
 
 

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