Month: November 2010

Thousands of listeners have called or written Pacifica’s executive director, Arlene Engelhardt, objecting to the mass layoffs of KPFA’s Morning Show staff earlier this week. “As a KPFA listener-supporter since 1966, I am shocked,” wrote listener Saraswathi Devi. “Why would you terminate the staff of the station’s best money maker? …Have you forgotten the original mission of Pacifica and KPFA? It seems that you have and if so, shame on you.”

Another, Michael Eisenscher, noted that Pacifica’s action “demonstrates utter contempt for the workers, paid and unpaid, who produce the programming, for the listeners who fund the station, for the union that represents the staff, and for the very concept of ‘free speech radio.’ KPFA has not struggled to survive all these years only to be dismembered by Pacifica’s corporate-minded fools. The listeners will not stand for it.”  | READ MORE LISTENER MAIL | SIGN PETITION TO RETURN MORNING SHOW

A protest called for Tuesday drew hundreds of concerned listeners on very short notice. Meanwhile, Sonali Kolhatkar, host of the program Uprising, which is being piped in to replace KPFA’s locally produced Morning Show, declared her solidarity with KPFA staff on Wednesday, interviewing Brian Edwards-Tiekert about layoffs on Wednesday and then Engelhardt on Thursday. Engelhardt told Kolhatkar that she had been given her “marching orders” by the Pacifica National Board to slash the show, and she would not say whether the Morning Show’s union staff would be replaced by volunteers. Web audience graphs already show the loss of Morning Show listeners.

Engelhardt claims she supports diversity at KPFA, but the majority of Morning Show workers she laid off are women and people of color. All 7 staff members who have stepped forward to take voluntary severance are people of color, according to a post on KPFAworker.org. One of those, Weyland Southon of Hard Knock Radio, gave this interview on why he’s leaving KPFA.

Station management has called off a fund drive scheduled for next week. Meanwhile, CWA Local 9415 (which represents KPFA paid staff) is demanding an apology from Pacifica for what it calls false charges against the union published on the network’s website.

Press coverage of the situation this week included the San Francisco Chronicle, the Huffington Post, the San Francisco Bay Guardian, as well as a lively debate between Bensky and Engelhardt on KQED’s Forum.

KEEP UP THE PRESSURE: You can reach Engelhardt at (510) 849-2590, ext 208 or cell (510) 402-9880, or write her here. Consider writing a letter to the editor or make blog postings about the KPFA situation. And be sure to sign up for SaveKPFA’s mailing list (upper right of this page) for future action alerts. AND PLEASE JOIN SaveKPFA in front of Pacifica’s offices at 1925 Martin Luther King Jr Way in Berkeley (next door to KPFA) FROM NOON TO 1 PM EVERY FRIDAY. This Friday, November 19, we will read aloud some of the thousands of messages we have received from outraged KPFA listeners objecting to the cancelling of the Morning Show. Please join us!

KPFA’s Morning Show today covered Pacifica’s laying off of the entire program’s staff, live on the air. If you missed it, here is the archived version. Morning Show staff interviewed Pacifica management live, and there were also guest appearances from Pacifica historian Matthew Laser and former Pacifica national affairs correspondence Larry Bensky were featured. Listeners calling in were outraged at the news of the firings. The photo at right is of Brian Edwards-Tiekert and Aimee Allison right before they began the day’s broadcast.

In the discussion, it became clear that under the guise of a budget crisis, Pacifica is targeting staff who have spoken out. Pacifica’s chief financial officer LaVarn Williams was unable to cogently answer questions about the budget she is in charge of, instead focusing attacks on those who have opposed her politically. Pacifica’s Arlene Engelhardt appeared not to understand the KPFA staff union contract, or have any clear understanding of KPFA’s history and listenership. Here’s video of Morning Show producer Esther Manilla putting pointed questions to Engelhardt.

SaveKPFA has called a protest today at Pacifica’s offices next door to KPFA for Tues, Nov 9 at 11am, 1929 Martin Luther King Jr Way in Berkeley. You can also call Engelhardt at (510) 849-2590, ext 208 or cell (510) 402-9880. Or write her here. | UPDATE: Thanks for coming out! Here’s a video by KPFA unpaid staffer Judith Scherr and coverage in the Daily Cal

Events will be ongoing – please sign up for our mailing list (top right side of page) to keep informed.

PRESS COVERAGE OF TODAY’S DEVELOPMENTS: Bay Citizen | San Francisco Examiner| San Francisco Chronicle blog |

Pacifica’s executive director, Arlene Engelhardt, has axed KPFA’s Morning Show, dismissing its entire staff, and ordering it replaced with piped-in programs from KPFK, the network’s Los Angeles station.

The KPFA Morning Show is the station’s most popular locally-produced program. The show’s staff — Aimee Allison, Brian Edwards-Tiekert, Laura Prives and Esther Manilla — bring in more money than any other KPFA program.

“This move shows utter incompetence,” said newly-elected SaveKPFA board member Margy Wilkinson. “KPFA desperately needs all the funding it can get. Targeting the station’s highest revenue-producing programming makes no sense at all. It is clear politics are at work here, not common sense.”

Manilla gave a first-hand account on tonight’s KPFA Evening News, saying the move came directly from Pacifica management, bypassing local KPFA managers. Manilla is a shop steward with KPFA’s staff union, CWA Local 9415. The union filed an unfair labor practice charge on Friday, charging Pacifica with unlawfully failing to bargain over alternatives to cuts.

Unpaid KPFA programmer David Bacon, who broadcasts a long-running labor segment on the Morning Show, had this exchange with Engelhardt. Morning Show staffer Brian Edwards-Tiekert posted this account.

The cuts follow less than a week after a spirited rally outside KPFA, in which listeners asked the highly-paid Engelhardt to reveal her own salary. This informative 7-minute video by KPFA reporter John Hamilton shows Engelhardt’s reaction, and clearly explains the key issues at stake.

Pacifica’s national board last week overruled KPFA’s local elected board, which had voted to support a Sustainable Budget drawn up by station staff that cuts the network’s bureaucracy instead of programming. That budget would net over $250,000 worth of cost-saving measures.

ACTION ALERT: Demand the return of the Morning Show! COME BY KPFA on TUESDAY at 11 AM. You can also write Engelhardt via this page. Call for her resignation immediately and reinstatement of the Morning Show staff. While you’re at it, demand the adoption of the Sustainable Budget. Engelhardt’s office number is (510) 849-2590, ext 208 and her cell number is (510) 402-9880.