In what appears to be a potential case of institutional identity theft, an outside organization has sent a series of deceptive emails to subscribers purporting to be from KPFA.
The “KPFA Morning Mix” emails listeners received February 28 and March 7 advertised upcoming guests on the controversial morning program. The slick emails appeared to be from KPFA and feature station contact information and a soothing photo of the Golden Gate Bridge. However, the emails were actually sent by Media Alliance, a third party organization controlled by Pacifica National Board member Tracy Rosenberg — one of the architects of the removal of the Morning Show.
Listeners trying to reply to what they thought was an official kpfa.org email address were instead directed to a gmail.com address. Other source code (click on the first URL in this screen shot of the email) directed recipients to Media Alliance’s email database, where their link viewing or subscribing activities were recorded.
TO LODGE A COMPLAINT ABOUT THE DECEPTIVE EMAILS AND MISUSE OF YOUR PRIVATE INFORMATION, write to Salsa Labs, the marketing company that Rosenberg used, at support@salsalabs.com, and please cc votesavekpfa@gmail.com. Send Salsa Labs a copy of the email you received (if you still have it), tell them you never signed up to receive it, that you would like to know where they got your name, and point out that the email is not KPFA email. You can demand that Salsa Labs drop Media Alliance for such conduct, or at a minimum, block it from sending any further emails. You may also file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, which prohibits the sending of fraudulent emails.
Rosenberg has admitted sending the emails, but has not yet answered how she obtained access to KPFA subscribers’ email addresses. KPFA’s local station board will discuss this misuse of the subscriber list at its April meeting. The location will be announced here.
Morning Mix-up
So, what’s Tracy Rosenberg been promoting via her support of the Morning Mix? Shortly after reports emerged that Japan’s Fukushima reactor was melting down, listeners of that program got an uncritical interview with a “market risk analyst” who heavily promoted nuclear power. A week later, they got to listen to a wealthy Haitian art collector bash exiled Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide on the day of his return to Haiti.