I second michael's remarks. This is an excellent account of the dynamics at kpfa. Joe w. Sent via BlackBerry from Cingular Wireless -----Original Message----- From: Michael Costello <jmc@xxxxxxxxxxx> Date: Sat, 31 Mar 2007 09:38:43 To:NewPacifica@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, Fulcrums of Change <fulcrumsofchange@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Subject: [fulcrumsofchange] Re: Bensky show - Pacifica Governance Absolutely excellent description of the situation at KPFA Mara. Once in a while someone clearly sees and can put into words the reality of our struggle to truly democratize Pacifica. Each station in the network has its own unique problems. You've nailed KPFA's perfectly. Michael Costello Northbay for KPFA Folio (circa 2000) At 07:32 PM 3/30/2007 -0700, Mara wrote: It *was* a democratic takeover - mandated by the court - if you can call power reverting to the community a "takeover" - but it was subverted. At KPFA it was subverted by the "entrenched staff" - those who, in the long absence of committed management, had been running their own affairs for their own benefit - air time, maybe a salary, a professional career - & would not give up that power. They de facto had the power & would not share it. (To those who work in organizations this may be a familiar situation.) And this is where it stands today at KPFA. Half of the listener reps go along with the entrenched in resisting the ability of the LSB to have a hand in governance. They block the LSB from moving forward effectively. As others struggle to get something done, they characterize them as hostile, divisive, & having bad manners. They characterize the LSB as incompetent. To have a non-elitist station you need to have the programming not be in the hands of the staff. The listeners are needed to open the programming to the community & to have a variety of viewpoints. The staff have a conflict of interest in that they want to maintain their programs, & at KPFA this group, of which Bensky is a part, see their viewpoint as appropriate & the only reputable one for the station. The programming they want is a moderate progressive one - no "conspiracy theories": these are not reputable, & supposedly are not researched, 2-sourced, responsible, & professional. Programs like Flashpoints & Guns & Butter are disliked by this faction but continue because they are so popular with the listeners. They may be harassed, however, as Flashpoints has (& in fact it has moved its HQ out of the station, as Amy Goodman had to do). The entrenched faction will not allow this view of the situation to go out, however. The slate of listener reps that Larry & others promoted in the last KPFA election characterized its opposition as hostile & bad mannered, incompetent to fulfill their role in accomplishing things at LSB meetings, not wanting professional programming, wanting to take over all the programming with super radical programming, micromanaging instead of letting staff & GM manage, neglecting their real duties like fundraising & trying to meddle in programming by supporting a decision of the Program Council which the entrenched rejected. The listeners do not generally have a grasp of the issues at the station, since there is very little communication with them about this: no folio, LSB on air reports infrequent & not at a prime time, minutes & audios of LSB meetings months in arrears & possibly uninformative (n minutes), few meetings in outlying areas, meetings may be painful due to obstruction by entrenched faction. Elections, their cost & efficacy, are questioned by these people, & election information is scarce - few or no debates, few candidate meetings, mailings bought by those with the resources, etc. The listeners do know & love their programmers, & rely on them for their point of view about governance. And they are the ones with air time. Then there are the 2 General managers pushed out by those staff, when they would not do exactly as the staff wished. But this doesn't mean democracy will not work - those of us who are social/political activists don't give up on achieving justice; our approach to such problems is to use our power & creativity to solve the problems, not to give up. Where there is democracy there is a chance to struggle for truth & justice. -- Mara New Pacifica Working Grouphttp://www.egroups.com/group/NewPacifica'Save Our Stations!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NewPacifica/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NewPacifica/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:NewPacifica-digest@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx mailto:NewPacifica-fullfeatured@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: NewPacifica-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/