Here’s a sampling of the thousands of letters sent by SaveKPFA supporters to Pacifica’s and KPFA’s management. We thank those listeners who gave us permission to publish your letters, as well as all the others who have written to the KPFA Local Station Board and the Pacifica National Board. You can write Pacifica management here. Please see this page for more ways to help.
Name: Mary Ann Gardner
Subject: PNB
Banning disloyal members from holding office at Pacifica? Who decides what is loyal and what is not? Maybe we don’t need a board, just a Decider. You could start a binder of deciders with the recently outfoxed Karl Rove. Or you could do what Pacifica has always done best, listen to the people, its staff, listeners and supporters. It’s a sad day when it can be said that the young Occupy movement has been the exemplar of free speech and not the venerable Pacifica.
Name: Michael W Evans
Subject: Stop the witch hunt
Pacifica, ENOUGH! The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts.
Name: Elly Larsen
Subject: can’t believe it
What is this, the 1950s at Pacifica?!?! You all should know that putting forward rules about “loyalty” under the guise of financial duty is a trick that Joe McCarthy himself would have been proud of. It’s embarrassing to have Pacifica and KPFA associated with this kind of move. Stop the witch-hunting, get back to fixing the network, which is badly broken, or you’re going to lose the whole kit-n-kaboodle with your juvenile power games.
Name: Clark Natwick
Subject: stop the witch hunt
Pacifica, ENOUGH! The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts.
Name: MES
Subject: loyalty measure
Vote no on the upcoming loyalty measure. This is a “witch hunt” which will only hurt listener support of Pacifica. It is getting harder and harder to pay local station pledges when the money is so misused for misguided Pacific exploits.
Name: Joan Allen
Subject:
Pacifica, ENOUGH! The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts.
Name: Christopher Cronin
Subject: the Loyalty Measure
Pacifica, ENOUGH! The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch-hunts. Please, vote NO on the loyalty measure.
Name: Garth Medden
Subject: incredible!
Get with it Pacifica! You are supposed to be a DEMOCRATIC organization, not one that targets individuals with whom you disagree. The Morning Show 4 are valued and loved members of KPFA’s community, who have done more to bring the network back to sanity than anyone else that I’ve been able to see. Back off, drop the lawsuit, and APOLOGIZE to those you targeted – NOW!!! FIX the network, STOP the ridiculous power games. History is not on your side!
Name: L Darlene Pratt
Subject: the sol-called “loyalty measure”.
This is another ridiculous, divisive move on the part of, it seems, Tracy Rosenberg. I support KPFA, give more than I can afford and try to stay abreast of issues. I also pledged an extra amount last year for the return of the Morning Show, high quality radio. It is absurd to call this disloyal. Ms, Rosenberg, you may want to take a look in the mirror or go into an hour of silent meditation to discover your real reasons for this new prank. I doubt your motives have anything to do with a viable Pacifica. It seems like a power play designed to silence and alienate many dedicated listeners. You, alone, are not Pacifica or KPFA , we all are.
Name: Doni McMillan
Subject: loyalty oath
Pacifica, ENOUGH! The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts.
Name: Charlotte Davis
Subject: destroying KPFA
To Pacifica National Board, I am writing to you to express my dismay at what is happening at KPFA. I arrived in San Francisco in 1962, found KPFA on the radio, and have listened ever since. I am amazed at the depth and breadth of the programing, and I do not understand the reasons for the behavior of Tracy Rosenberg. It seems that she and others want to destroy this station, but to what purpose? Usually, in these situations, there is money and power involved…to be made, to be stolen, to be misappropriated. I trust the Pacifica National Board is either able to end these assaults, or is in collusion. Which is it?
Name: Vic and Barby Ulmer
Subject: Banning anyone is bad
The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts. Dissent is healthy in a democratic society.
Name: Sherry Steele
Subject: Do Not Vote for the Loyalty Measure
I will stop supporting KPFA if this stuff continues. How can we trust that this is a reliable source for truth when we are confronted by the same restraints on speech and freedom that corrupt institutions and governments employ. It is already a struggle to continue being a listener without the morning show. The morning mix is not the quality or consistent programming I expect from kpfa.
Name: Teresa Paris
Subject: Do NOT Ban So-Called “Disloyal Members”
This is the most ridiculous thing I have heard come out of Pacifica. This is like the McCarthy era. Who gets to decide who is “disloyal?” Anyone who disagrees with the head of Pacifica? How will change ever occur if anything new is considered “disloyal?” I hear enough of this on the national level of our country. Stop playing Republicans.
Name: David Romano
Subject: Dissent at Pacifica
Pacifica, ENOUGH! The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts.
Name: Stephen Sacks
Subject: Attack on Morning Show supporters
Instead of attacking the people who raised pledges for the former Morning Show, if you were loyal to the interests of Pacifica, you would have supported this action.
Name: DT
Subject: dissent
Please do not adopt the proposal to ban dissent at KPFA.
Name: CD
Subject: Stop the witch hunt and keep free speech free!!
I am a donor and listener and am DISGUSTED by this “loyalty” measure. Listeners are loyal to those who bring them the truth, not those with money and power who seek to use their influence to suppress freedom. Shame on you, Tracy!! Board members, vote against this McCarthyistic BS!!
Name: Catherine Kessler
Subject: Loyalty oath
It is unbelievable to find out that KPFA, our only on-air source of reliable news, is now just like the House Unamerican Activities group from the 50’s. We will now have to fight the internal Pacifica people instead of Tea Party types, for our rights and for free speech. shame on you hypocrites and phonies, the sooner you are gone the better for free speech.
Name: DP
Subject: proposed loyalty/gag rule
It is difficult to even imagine that an organization such as Pacifica would bring up a proposal to ban members deemed” disloyal” to members of an existing administration !Such a betrayal of the democratic principles Pacifica is based on should be unanimously rejected by the Board.
Name: Heather Mitchell
Subject: no to the measure being considered
Pacifica, ENOUGH! The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts.
Name: Debbi Picayna
Subject: horrifying
What has Pacifica come to, that you are imposing loyalty tests on board members? Have you no sense of history? What kind of fake progressives would do such a thing? And why are some of you targeting the SaveKPFA leaders who tried to help KPFA rehire the laid off Morning Show hosts? That’s outrageous. Whoever is behind that lawsuit should be the one expelled from membership, not the good people at SaveKPFA who have tried to help the station, and indeed have raised quite a bit of money for KPFA with their constant focus on donating during fund drives. Please, before our network loses all credibility on the left, stop this loyalty nonsense and get back to creating good programming that brings a broader array of listeners in, donating and supporting the stations. Otherwise, you all will be responsible for killing our once great Pacifica network.
Name: Marc Gardner
Subject: Disloyalty Measure
What the hell?! Please vote “no” on this measure. As a listener and contributor, I’m hanging on by a thread here.
Name: Tina Kimmel, PhD, MSW, MP
Subject: Stop the Witch Hunt
Pacifica, ENOUGH! The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts.
Name: Lanya Ellis
Subject: McCarthyite tactics: disgusting!
Dear Pacifica board members: First Jackson Lewis, now this. What’s is going on there at “progressive” Pacifica? The loyalty measure that came out of your governance committee doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many serious problems facing our network. Instead it makes Pacifica and KFPA the laughingstock of the progressive world. I hope some of you understand what loyalty oaths are and their history in quashing dissent and conservative witch hunts. If not, look up Joe McCarthy and do your homework. In the nonprofit world, “duty of loyalty” is simple and direct. It becomes much more complicated when you have partisans outside the organization suing other listeners for $800,000, using such terms in a situation in which they DO NOT apply. Those SaveKPFA listeners being sued did their best to support KPFA, and did not undercut the network in any way — in fact, they helped it, by giving listeners hope that Pacifica would listen to them and accept their pledges, and rehire laid off workers. No funds were raised, only pledges to support the radio station – as has been the practice here at KPFA for generations. That Pacifica’s management at the time rejected them was one of the most idiotic mistakes of the last 2 years. The lawsuit that Mr. Borgstrom and Phelps have filed is a ridiculous and inexcusable attack against caring KPFA listeners and donors. If it is not soon withdrawn, the blowback to Pacifica is going to be very bad. If you pass this “loyalty” resolution, you’ll be — de facto — supporting the that lawsuit against these 4 listeners, each of whom are beloved in the bay area. (Yes, I said “beloved.” They are union and political organizers, writers, journalism professors, in addition to being Pacifica listeners. They are people with excellent standing to represent KPFA listeners. This is opposed to Ms. Rosenberg, who is widely reviled in the bay area progressive movement.) If you do pass this resolution, you are taking sides against a very mobilized community of KPFA listeners. It will be your undoing. Worse, I fear it will be Pacifica’s undoing. Get back to what you were elected to do: raise funds, solve technical problems and manage the network in a fair, professional and non-partisan way for the entire left and progressive community. If you can’t do that, step down immediately! Sincerely, Lanya Ellis listener for two decades
Name: Janice Williams
Subject: cut it out – get back to your jobs before you destroy the network
Enough with the attacks on political opponents. Can’t you all just run our radio network so it is in the black? Stop the sectarian shit please! And drop that lawsuit. How could anyone in their right mind try to sue listeners for fundraising for KPFA?
Name: Sheldon Waren
Subject: Tracy Rosenbery crushing dissent
The P.N.B. appear like all ruling classes ready to shut its eyes to the crudest mistakes of its members provided in return they show an unconditional fidelity in the defense of its privileges. Tracy Rosenberg and the bureaucratism of the P.N.B. apparatus, its cliquish exclusive internal life, demonstrate the traits that constitute the profoundly negative side of the P.N.B. Tracy Rosenberg and her cohorts who assert most flatly, with the greatest insistence and most brutally that every difference of opinion, every grouping of opinion, however temporary, is an expression opposed to the interests of Pacifica, and they must suppress any dissent. Tracy Rosenberg and LOYALTY OATH’s must not be allowed.
Name: Beth Olson
Subject: Disloyal????
Dissent is what Pacifica / KPFA is all about. I can’t believe you are even considering such a measure banning ‘disloyal’ members. The Morning Show is the best of KPFA. Get on with the business of building the network.
Name: Mark Spindler
Subject: Ms. Rosenberg’s efforts to destroy KPFA
We will not allow her brainless, idiotic efforts to continue. We will see to it that she is stopped! KPFA and its listeners deserve leadership that is coherent and lucid. Fortunately, her 15 minutes are just about up.
Name: Marc Larby
Subject: “loyalty” measure
I have been a listener of KPFA for about 33 years. I’ve heard some things I considered sort of silly, but NEVER has my intelligence been insulted, until now. The concept of a “loyalty” measure concerning who can and can’t serve (even without pay) on local boards wreaks of the exact opposite of everything KPFA has ever stood for. This is McCarthyism, not free speech radio. This is corporate thinking, and the polar opposite of what I, as a donating listener, am interested in having as a by-law of one of the stops on my radio “favorites”. This is an insult to the dedicated listerners, and I, for one, will stop pledging money if such a travesty of “democracy” goes in to practice. Buy your own radio station, and get out of ours.
Name: VV
Subject: stop loyalty measure – don’t ban dissent!
Pacifica, Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents! The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the problems facing Pacifica. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts. Regards, V. Voznyuk
Name: Janice Heiss
Subject: Stop and desist to Tracy Rosenberg and her followers
I was a long-term donor to Media Alliance but after watching the harm done to KPFA by the likes of Tracy Rosenberg et al., I’ll never contribute a dime to Media Alliance. Tracy and folks, please limit your destructive politics and McCarthy-like tactics to your own org, Media Alliance, and leave KPFA and Pacifica alone. What possesses you to do such harm?… Please, please stop wrecking a beloved institution.
Name: MF
Subject: Loyalty Measures
Pacifica was founded on free speech principles. You must act in a positive, inclusive manner. Stop this expensive litigious behavior.
Name: john hayden
Subject: purloined power
Give it up in favor of the poeple’s demands.
Name: Alan Smith
Subject: outrageous loyalty oath
Dear PNB, I am appalled and shocked to hear that 4 KPFA listeners, all of whom are much respected in the community, are being sued for $800,000 for their KPFA fundraising activities. If you have any part in this lawsuit, you must withdraw it immediately, or use whatever influence you have to get the plaintiff to withdraw it. This is madness. Any “settlement” in which Pacifica gained from this situation would truly be “blood money,” completely undercutting Pacifica’s mission and purpose. I also urge to to reject the “loyalty” resolution pending from your governance committee. It is clear whomever drafted it has no sense of history or progressive values and does not belong on the Pacifica board. Sincerely, Alan Smith
Name: John Iversen
Subject: Stop the Witch Hunt
Are you people totally nuts? Honestly, suing people who raise $$ for KPFA and Pacifica? There’s something happening here–Daniel and Tracy are trying to bankrupt Pacifica and Carol Spooner floats the idea of selling WBAI. Have you no scruples or shame? Naughty boys and girls! Once again, no Pacifica, KPFA BAI KPFK KFCF and other MGMT should be paid more than the highest paid staff member–me thinks that would mean Kris Welch or Philip Malderi at KPFA. What on earth makes you more valuable to us than Kris and Philip?
Name: Kate Gowen
Subject: the hits just keep on coming
Being made to attend to the machinations of the PNB and a portion of the KPFA LSB is educational, if profoundly depressing. I would prefer to think of everyone claiming to be “progressive” and supportive of “community” as demonstrating some degree of integrity, honesty, and sense of service to the common good. Unfortunately you folks are all about shattering such illusions– I see no evidence of integrity, honesty, service, or even common sense in such anti-democratic, authoritarian measures. In plain words: STOP IT! You are not only damaging the network and KPFA, but you are silencing the last best hope for progressive voices being heard anywhere in the United States.
Name: Gary Gregerson
Subject:
Pacifica, ENOUGH! The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts
Name: Mary Flanagan
Subject: Stop the witch hunt
Pacifica, ENOUGH! The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts. Banning dissent? Disagreement is what democracy is all about…
Name: Jane Armbruster
Subject: “Disloyalty” ban
Pacifica Board: The Pacifica network needs to be strengthened. VOTE DOWN THE PROPOSAL TO BAR “DISLOYAL” INDIVIDUALS FROM HOLDING OFFICE; IT WEAKENS PACIFICA. Since “disloyalty” is often in the eye of the beholder, this measure can only be used by those in power to silence and punish dissent. This measure sounds to me like a power grab. Vote it down.
Name: Alan Snitow
Subject: Loyalty Oath
I’m stunned that a measure about “loyalty” should even be considered by a Pacifica board. Please stop this measure and repudiate its intent. The loyalty measure is the kind of pseudo leftwing idea that merges Stalinism and McCarthyism.
Name: A. Donald Cross
Subject: STOP THE WITCH HUNT.
CONFORMITY AND DISSENT ARE THE BASIC ACTIVITIES IN A DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY. NOT MCCARTHY-ITE WITCH HUNTS! PLEASE USE YOUR ENERGY TO BUILD THE NETWORK!!
Name: LY
Subject:
Censorship, wow now it will become part of Pacifica’s Board. I’m embarrassed for you. We need the board to heal this network, it is falling apart. I will probably no longer be a member soon. The listeners will decide who is on the board and if the members don’t agree well hay that’s part of what a democracy is. Stop the witch hunt NOW.
Name: Stephanie Reader
Subject: Loyalty oath?! You’ve got to be kidding.
I’ve supported Pacifica since the 60’s, and am old enough to remember the McCarthy era with horror. How can you dare to try to turn Pacifica into a grotesque caricature of the reactionary tendencies KPFA was founded to oppose? This Orwellian “loyalty measure” is yet more appalling evidence of how far over to the dark side some on the Pacifica board have drifted in their determination to run it without input from those who do the work, and those who pay the bills. You are destroying a great community treasure.
Name: Martin Schiffenbauer
Subject: Don’t Ban Dissent!
Pacifica, ENOUGH! The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts.
Name: Jerome Geffner
Subject: disloyal members
I don’t believe the idea of banning “disloyal” members as office holders can serve any purpose except to intimidate people with a different point of view. Why is this happening now? I assume that as long as we have democratic elections for our board, office holders would be directly elected or appointed by those elected. These office holders would be representative of the electorate. If someone’s behavior is so outrageous and destructive to the station I would like my local station board, those elected representatives to come up with appropriate remedies. Jerry Geffner
Name: Elizabeth Ross
Subject:
Pacifica, ENOUGH! The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts
Name: Julian Orr
Subject: Witch Hunts
Pacifica, ENOUGH! The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts. Assuming you were to succeed in this nonsense and continue to destroy the programming I enjoy, I expect I will lose all interest in the station and stop supporting it. It will be yours, and dead.
Name: Deborah Perkins-Kalama
Subject: Bannind Dissent
To those who would resurrect the McCarthy style witch hunt against those whose only crime is to love and work to support the real KPFA I say SHAME!!! How can this be happening in 2012. How do you sleep at night pretending to be part of the KPFA family.
Name: Nikki Sachs
Subject: Its not Ok to Ban Dissent
“Pacifica, ENOUGH already! Free Speech is necessary. The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts.”
Name: Patrick Nance
Subject: Dissent Healthy Repression Sick
SUGGESTED TEXT: “Pacifica, ENOUGH! The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts.”
Name: Reno Gamble
Subject: SaveKPFA
I came across this discussion at savekpfa about how certain individuals are essentially abusing the station for a power trip. If any of this is remotely true, this needs to end. Stop immediately. This is b@llsh#t. This is a complete waste of resources and betrayal of member support. End this childish nonsense and get to building this organization.
Name: Keiko Kubo
Subject: Withdraw the Loyalty Measure
Pacifica Board Members, Please stop to consider how much this resembles or more succinctly how much this is the path to fascism. Why would a progressive organization need to silence it’s members? This station was founded by people seeking to provide a voice to people across boundaries. You must realize that you will not stop people from being concerned and wanting to re-establish democratic with a small d principles at KPFA. Nor will it address fiscal and organizational problems. I must return to the contradiction of cancelling the show that brought in 25% of the station’s revenues to solve financial problems. I really think you should resign. Short of that stop trying to manipulate continued power at Pacifica and at KPFA through baldly strategic measures like a “loyalty” pledge. Loyalty to what? Listeners are asked to participate in the station by becoming members. A “loyalty pledge” creates a situation where we are simply being asked to finance your ideas. This makes it simple for people to stop giving money and is counterproductive.
Name: Suzi goldmacher
Subject: banning people
I understand that you are considering a “ban” on having people whom are “disloyal” from holding any office at Pacifica. Who are you to decide who is or isn’t disloyal. Are we not allowed to protest at a free speech station when we disagree with polices that have been instituted. This is outrageous and should not be allowed to occur. STOP this now.
Name: Kit Vaq
Subject: Stop the Loyalty Measures at Pacifica Now!
This is another outrage, Pacifica! Do you not know what democracy is and the role of local boards? You’ve been stooping to tactics used by Republicans. Stop this loyalty measure now! This reeks of McCarthyism! This is a waste of our time and money once again! Tracy Rosenberg has been bad news for way too long. She should leave! We can tell what she’s trying to do and that is to destroy KPFA and change the face of Pacifica!
Name: Jeff Shelby
Subject: Loyalty measure
Pacifica, ENOUGH! The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts.
Name: DN
Subject: Stopping the McCarthyite tactics
Pacifica, ENOUGH! The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your powers. Listeners need you to re-build the network. Not continueing to break people apart.
Name: TD
Subject: Excluding dissent is anti-democratic
Please allow all voices and points of view, especially from people who actually work in the field and in the day-to-day operating of the station. Excluding serious participants reveals fear, self-doubt, and possible malicious intent.
Name: Rebecca Spindler
Subject: Dissent is part of Democracy
Who determines when a KPFA supporter is disloyal? I have listened to all sides in any of the disputes at KPFA and made decisions regarding who I vote for and who I listen to based on hearing ALL views. If you pass a resolution that applies subjectivity to who is or isn’t “loyal” to the station you are silencing the very dialogue that needs to remain on the air to represent democracy. Bring back the slogan “Free Speech Radio” and live by that simple credo.
Name: Stanley Poss
Subject: Tracy Rosenberg
Tracy Rosenberg’s latest is over the top. It’s beyond mischievous.
Name: Jorge G. Martinez
Subject: Have you no sense of decency?
To the Pacifica “Leadership”, What exactly is your definition of “loyalty”? That you would target the very people that want to save our “Listener-Sponsored” station speaks volumes of what your intentions are and have been for some time now. You should cease and desist from pursuing these repressive measures of face the back-lash of even more listeners who will no doubt deem it necessary to get off of that fence they’ve been perched on and take actions against your leadership roles. Tread cautiously and proceed as planned at your own peril. Sincerely, Jorge Gabriel Martinez
Name: Gene Alward
Subject: Stop Excluding Elected Representatives!
I am writing to express my dismay at yet another anti-democratic, anti-donor action contemplated by the Pacifica Board. If Pacifica excludes from its Boards the very people its local station subscriber-donors have elected, it shoots itself in the foot again. I am one of the KPFA subscriber-donors who pledged to SaveKPFA that I would make an additional donation to KPFA if The Morning Show were restored. The Morning Show was not restored, but station manager Andrew Phillips did something important by creating Up Front. Because of that partial restoration, I followed up by make the pledged donation to KPFA–every penny of it. This donation was IN ADDITION TO my customary donation to KPFA that I had sent to KPFA with my customary timing. But even my customary donation was slightly larger than before because SaveKPFA had persuaded me of the importance of donations to KPFA despite decisions there that I and SaveKPFA disagreed with. The Pacifica Board and the KPFA Local Station Board should appreciate what SaveKPFA has done to increase my donations. Instead, the Pacifica Board seems to be in bed with Pacifica’s own David Koch, who is happy to shrink the pie to gain personal control of a larger share of the pie. Pacifica supported David Koch by intentionally or incompetently muffing the recall election. Excluding elected representatives and blocking recall elections exclude me, a long time donor to KPFA. Wake up! Support Pacifica and KPFA, not someone’s personal fiefdom.
Name: Rick
Subject: Democracy at our station
“Pacifica, ENOUGH! The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts.”
Name: Marie Switkes
Subject: Stop the McCarthyism!!!
The bastion of progressivism which is the Pacifica network shall never, never subject it’s employees to a loyalty test! All those who are backing this measure and the punitive law suit should immediately resign from the board. I donate monthly to KPFA and make larger contributions during all the on-air fund raising. I back Save KPFA and will do what I can to promote its aims.
Name: Helen Gilliland
Subject: Don’t ban dissent
STOP the McCarthyite tactics. Get rid of Tracy Rosenberg, the most divisive person that I have ever seen involved in Pacifica and KPFA.
Name: erin yarrobino
Pacifica, ENOUGH! The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts. Thank you!
Name: Patty Jaundzems
Subject: LOYALTY (?) MEASURE
Lew Hill must be turning in his grave…….since when did Pacifica’s board become judges of loyalty????? Don’t you think a non-profit listener sponsored radio station that constantly struggles to survive should have to have a board launching McCarthyite loyalty hearings? It’s time to use Pacifica’s resources for the network of stations and for the GREATER GOOD. NOT for law cases questioning listeners loyalty.
Name: Carlos Echevarria
Pacifica, ENOUGH! The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica! Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts!
Name: RB
Subject: loyalty misunderstood
The funds raised by the accused were legitimately solicited. We should oppose the “more left than thou” ideologues in their efforts to control Pacifica or KPFA.
Name: Daniel Mardesich
Subject: Witch hunt
Stop this McCarthiesque action!
Name: Carrie Biggs-Adams
Subject: Don’t Ban Dissent!
Pacifica, ENOUGH! The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts. And get rid of Jackson-Lewis!
Name: Linda Brunner
Subject: witch hunt tactics at KPFA
I am again disappointed to hear that punitive methods are being used to slap the hands of those broadcasters that do not walk in lock step with board mandates. KPFA has always been about participation and having a voice. Please board members and leadership. Be an example for the holistic mandate not tyrants from above.
Name: Mike Mage
Subject: “Loyalty”
I am a loyal supporter of Pacifica, with a “free speech radio” bumper sticker on my car. The concept of “loyalty” INCLUDES DISSENT on occasion, as in “Her Majesty’s loyal opposition”. Please just drop the whole idea once and for all.
Name: Alex Zukas
Subject: No Witchhunt
Pacifica, ENOUGH! The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts.
Name: JB
Subject: STOP the Witch Hunt
Pacifica’s current board is trying to censor any dissent through this bogus loyalty measure. It must be stopped. This is a grave and disturbing misuse of power!
Name: Todd Heintz
Subject: Stop the witch hunt
“Pacifica, ENOUGH! The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts.”
Name: Brian Kie Weissbuch
Subject: loyalty measure
“Pacifica, ENOUGH! The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts.”
Name: Nikki Sachs
Subject: Stop Loyalty Measure
It is disgraceful that Pacifica would resort to curtailing dissent as a way to manage problems at the station. This measure does not do a single thing to fix these problems. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts.
Name: SS
Subject:
To Pacifica: We listeners need you to build the network. Loyalty measures do not serve this purpose.
Name: Karl Koessel
Subject: Loyalty?
Pacifica, ENOUGH! The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts.
Name: jane scantlebury
Subject: Don’t ban dissent!
“Pacifica, ENOUGH! The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts.”
Name: DS
Subject: Don’t ban dissent
I am a Pacifica listener and supporter for many years. The”loyalty measure” does not address the many problems facing Pacifica at this time. Dissent can be healthy. We need the network to build coalitions, not suppress political opponents.
Name: Barbara Blong
Subject: Stop the witch hunt
“Pacifica, ENOUGH! The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts.”
Name: Catherine Lowrey
Subject: Stop the Witch Hunt
Stop! Think what Lew Hill stood and worked for! Do not bring back McCarthy! Bring back the Morning Show Four and then quietly crawl out the back door!
Name: NL
Subject: Loyalty Oath?
Pacifica is supposed to be a network that devotes its energies to the improvement of our society, not contributing to the already over-large list of serious problems. Listeners support Pacifica because it represents a rare opportunity to share with the public views and culture that are suppressed almost everywhere else in this country. A loyalty oath is a measure that is diametrically opposed to the reasons this network exists and is supported by listeners.
Name: Mr. Bobbie Dee Flowers
Subject:
“Pacifica, ENOUGH! The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts.”
Name: Mike Merro
Subject: Loyalty Measure
The proposed loyalty effort does not solve any problems for Pacifica and comes across as a very inept attempt to stifle a democratic process.
Name: Lisa Rothman
Subject: Stop the witch hunt
Pacifica, ENOUGH! The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts.
Name: Saman Soheili
Subject: The Ridiculous Loyalty Law
Is Pacifica Board really undertaking this measure? Are u not ashamed of yourselves. To what lengths r u willing to go to destroy what is good, decent, and wholesome for ur miserable and selfish political gains. You guys are more dangerous and despicable than those that make headlines on the various Pacifica Networks ( corporations, Government officials…). Whereas one knows that they are the enemies of the masses, u guys disguise yourselves in a sheep’s cloth. If u have been commissioned to destroy this network, u r doing a great job.
Name: Peter Byrne
Subject: no loyalty oath
While I had initial high hopes for the new programming at KPFA, the amazingly incompetent administration is vitiating any gains by showing anti-democratic teeth and if you put in a loyalty oath you will be showing reactionary teeth and people will stop listening.
Name: sr. missionary delight
as a KPFA producer/collective member in Public Affairs/ Fruit Punch Show for five years in the early eighties, i have attentively watched this struggle to SaveKPFA and I champion the local response and vote and request your lame duck board to desist from actions and resolutions that hinder the course of a strong and vital free speech alternative on the airwaves of this country. Stop dishonoring your founders’ visions. Honor your mission and sacred trust with your listeners and soar! Presente! Sr. Mish
Name: Ron Peterson
Subject: I Swear!
NO to Loyalty Oaths- YES for More (org. spouted) Bread Loaves!
Name: A Bonvouloir
Subject:
McCarthy rides again. No loyalty oaths.
Name: Jean Peters
Subject: DON’T BAN DISSENT !
Pacifica, ENOUGH! The loyalty measure doesn’t do a thing to fix Pacifica’s many problems. Stop misuing your power against political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts.
Name: Dorothy M. Robins
Subject: Loyalty Measure
Shame on you for even considering this measure! Vote your conscience and if you do not have a conscience, simply vote against this meansure.
Name: rudy zeller
Subject: loyalty measure
“Pacifica, ENOUGH! The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts.”
Name: christopher martinistophe
Subject:
Stop the harassment of KPFA.
Name: CDB
Subject:
Pacifica, ENOUGH! The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts.
Name: Burnis E Tuck
Subject: Stop the misuse of power!
I say, emphatically, “Pacifica, ENOUGH!” I totally agree that the loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. I strongly urge you to stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. It’s childish and counter productive. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts. It sickens and saddens me that Pacifica is embroiled in this crap.
Name: Lani Hink
Subject: STOP THE “LOYALTY MEASURE” IMMEDIATELY!
Pacifica, ENOUGH! The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts.”
Name: Charlene M. Woodcock
Subject: We want democracy at KPFA
The willful effort to subject KPFA’s elected representatives to a loyalty oath serves only to further undermine any confidence KPFA subscribers might have in those members of the Pacifica board who are pushing it. A majority of KPFA listeners were outraged to have one of our favorite programs abruptly and arrogantly cancelled by Arlene Englehardt. We willingly offered additional contributions to a fund to return it. We are sick of the power games being played by Pacifica board members with our very important news and culture resource, our venerable listener-subscriber-supported KPFA.
Name: John Farrell
Subject: Loyalty Oath
Loyalty Oath…..you have to be kidding? As a strong supporter of this radio I oppose any such measure. I will be watching the outcome of this very closely. John Farrell
Name: Bruce Wilson
Subject: Banning Disent!!!!
Democracy is about everybody having a voice. The Loyalty Measure is the most outrageous anti-democratic proposal this Pacifica Board has ever come up with. This reeks of an authoritarian move to crush dissenting opinions and political opposition. Do what you should be doing – promoting the Pacifica Network.
Name: Patrick Cameron
Subject: Stop the witch hunt
Pacifica, ENOUGH! The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts.”
Name: Jennie Carpenter
Subject: Abandon the Loyalty Oath Measure
Loyalty to what, exactly? This proposed measure is a frivolous waste of time and antithetical to the principles upon which Pacifica Radio was founded.
Name: Herb Ruhs
Subject: Stop this silliness, please
Stop the embarrassing behavior, the law suits, the last minute lame duck aggressions, all the juvenile behavor that reflects so poorly on the aims of the network.
Name: Ed Treuting
Subject: Sham Loyalty Measure! Don’t Ban Dissent!
Pacifica, ENOUGH! The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts.
Name: Patricia Hendricks
Subject: Ban Dissent
We do the work. We pay the bills. We will raise our voices…NOW! Reject the (dis)loyality measure against KPFA members on the Thursday, January 10th meeting.
Name: David Pearson
Subject: Loyalty
Dear Pacifica National Board: The “loyalty” measure is an obvious and diabolical ploy to castrate perfectly loyal listeners and members who disagree with the PNB. It makes the “Free Speech Radio” slogan a cruel joke. As a long time member and listener I strongly urge the defeat of this proposal.
Name: Zeese Papanikolas
Subject: Loyalty Measures
Congratulations on pushing for Loyalty, Pacifica. Why not Loyalty Oaths and re-education camps for dissidents? You’d be combining the best features of the McCarthy era in the U.S. and the Cultural Revolution in China.
Name: Marla and bill decker
Subject: Stop the “Loyalty Measure.”
Please use your time and power to fix the problems facing Pacifica instead of wasting valuable time attacking political opponents. As is true of our state and national government bodies, the need is great for this representative Pacifica entity, to work together as representatives of the voting/listening constituents, on solvable problems.
Name: Marie Switkes
Subject: NO to any loyalty oath!!!!!
Dissent is an integral part of the democratic process. If you do not believe in dissent, if you would disallow dissent, then you need to resign any and all positions you hold on the Pacifica Foundation, and do it immediately!!!!!
Name: Tom and Amy Valens
Subject: NO LOYALTY MEASURE!
We remind you of the value of meeting dissent and opposition with a willingness to listen. Set reasonable but generous limits on debate, and also remember that democracy, while messy, is what Pacifica is built on! Dictators have to depend on “loyalty.” Pacifica needs to depend on open and honest discourse.
Name: James A. Turner
Subject: LOYALTY MEASURE VOTE
As a long time KPFA listener and supporter, I’m fed up and disgusted with Pacifica’s attitude and tactics. Down with the current Loyalty Measure !! NO MORE of your outrageous political tactics to eliminate opposition to your manipulations !!! I am, with disgust, sincerely, James A. Turner
Name: LJ Tobler
Subject: “loyalty oath”
By attempting to hand-pick board members on the basis of “loyalty” to certain office-holders, you turn the concept of loyalty on its head. Loyalty is owed from you to KPFA and Pacifica members — not the other way round. To quote “Publius,” “If a faction consists of less than a majority,…relief is supplied by [enabling] the majority to defeat [the faction’s] sinister views by regular vote. [The faction] may clog the administration, it may convulse the society; but it will be unable to execute and mask its violence under the forms of the Constitution.”
Name: Larr Hendel
Subject: loyalty measure
I have been a subscriber to KPFA for many years. I strongly oppose the loyalty measure and the hegemonic approach of the Pacficia national board. Please don’t ruin a great institution.
Name: Jane Heaven
Subject: loyalty measure is wrong
Please don’t pass the wrong headed “loyalty” measure! preposterous at “free speech” radio!
Name: Rebecca Spindler
Subject: Loyalty Measure
It is clear the viability and health of the Pacifica Network is not a top priority for the current Pacifica National Board. The proof is in your pursuit of “mandated loyalty” through a measure to eliminate individuals who speak truth to power. Who defines what loyalty to KPFA is? Certainly any definition would differ from listener to listener. The point this current board seems to ignore is free speech involves all opinions, pro and con, to create a vision for KPFA that is inclusive not exclusive to a set of “loyalty rules” defined by a minority of individuals. Please stop wasting your remaining time as a board on a measure that is in direct conflict with the purpose of a “free speech” radio network.
Name: Maribeth Halloran
Subject: don’t ban dissent!
The loyalty measure on your current agent violates the fundamental principles of free speech and right to dissent on which KPFA, free-speech radio, has been based since its beginning. Because the ban does nothing to fix existing problems, the proposal is simply an abuse of power.
Name: Ivan Jaigirdar
Subject: The loyalty measure-stop the witch hunt
Pacifica, ENOUGH! The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts.”
Name: Teresa
Subject: DON’T BAN DISSENT!
Pacifica, ENOUGH! The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts!
Name: RH
Subject: alleged ‘loyalty measure’
Pacifica, ENOUGH! The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts.
Name: Joseph C. Ferguson
Subject: Down With Authoritarian Nonsense
I want my community radio to be loyal to me (and to all the members of our community). I think Pacifica is becoming more than just part of the problem. I voted to recall Tracy Rosenburg. What’s happening with that? This loyalty measure is the OPPOSITE of what I want for my financial support of my local radio station KPFA, which I love when it is allowed to BE my local, community radio station. Pacifica, please knock off the crap or get out of the way.
Name: PIH
Subject: loyalty to Pacifica
I was shocked and saddened to hear that someone was criticized for “disloyalty” to Pacifica! I keep wondering about this network and all the right-wing harkenings that I’ve heard about in the last year or so. What kind of organization are you? What other version of red-baiting are you going to trot out next? I’m for KPFA seceding from this thing right now. We could do better without the likes of Pacifica.
Name: CG
Subject: Stop ban on Dissent
It is undemocratic to ban dissent. It is unbecoming to anyone who claims to be a KPFA supporter. Stop this immediately.
Name: Frances Goff
Subject: Do You Know Who You Are? Really?
Banning dissent is totally un-Pacifica. Do you know who you are? Clearly you don’t know KPFA’s audience, or KPFK’s audience, of which I am a member.
Name: David Silberman
Subject: Loyalty
Being loyal is being honest; being honest is telling those with whom you disagree that they are running full tilt toward end of a cliff. Help often comes in the form of dissent; at the very least it gives one both perspective and more frequently, cause for pause. I urge you to take some time to reconsider the attempt to stifle any voice but your own. There is so much work to be done with little if any energy to spare, let alone on issues that divide, and not unite us. Thank you. David H. Silberman
Name: Barbara Lilley
Subject: Stop the Witch Hunt
Loyalty oaths are not part of KPFA’s respected heritage, and we do not want them now or ever. Please drop this idea from the agenda.
Name: Sandra Portillo-Robins
Subject: Loyalty????
And how exactly do you define Loyal? Dissenting opinions are not ‘disloyal’ they are what this radio station is all about. Do not pass a loyalty measure. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts.
Name: Pamela Dornfeld
Subject: Stop the witch hunt
Do not make dissent illegal. Bring back the ” morning show”.
Name: June Brumer
Subject: banning dissent
KPFA and Pacifica have enough problems without engaging in banning “dissent” (whatever that may mean). Please spend your time building the network, and stop wasting time on going after your political opponents.
Name: Libby Sayre
Subject: Stop the witch hunt!
Stop the loyalty measure witch hunt! Disagreements on the direction of KPFA should be resolved by elections, not by disqualifying candidates. Pacifica was founded on the principle of free speech, and against McCarthyite attempts to squelch dissent. What is going on here?!?
Name: Joel Isaacson
Subject: The “disloyalty” oath
Let’s have no more of these shameful tactics from the Pacifica National Board. “Loyalty” to Pacifica? In what way does one demonstrate loyalty? Has “dissent” become a dirty word at Pacifica? Stop this effort immediately. Let’s restore dignity to the Pacifica Board, starting with the withdrawal of this “anti-dissent” measure.
Name: Beatrice Tocher
Subject: Loyalty Measure
Please do not bring back McCarthyism.
Name: RG
Subject:
We loved the Morning show and still miss it.. Please reconsider brining it back by far the best right up there with Amy Goodman and Democracy Now.. Ever since the Morning Show has been off the air your station has taken a nose dive. Please reconsider !!!
Name: arnold martelli
Subject: Proposed “Loyalty” measure
Even if ‘loyalty’ could be reproducibly measured, the proposal in question attempts to accomplish something antithetical to the Pacifica mission – the drowning of dissident voices. Imagine what Lewis Hill would think of this 21st century witch hunt.
Name: Jeff Shelby
Subject: Reject Loyalty Measure
Pacifica, ENOUGH! The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts.
Name: Doni McMillan
Subject: loyalty oath
I have just heard about the board’s proposed measure of having some sort of loyalty oath for Pacifica. STOP. Do not impose such a measure. Pacifica was created to allow diverse and differing opinions and ideas. We need to support those original ideals not oppose them. The Pacifica Board needs to spend time instead on working together with differing opinions to solve the many problems facing Pacifica. We don’t need a witch hunt.
Name: AS
Subject: Stop the Loyalty Measure
Pacifica, as a long term listener and supporter of KPFA, I am shocked and dismayed at the so called Loyalty Measure which has been proposed. This nothing short of a witch hunt, which does nothing towards addressing any real problems Pacifica faces and instead is a blatant and divisive political move on the part of certain board members in a lame duck session. This is not what Pacifica founders envisioned, and in insisting on carrying on this destructive path, certain members are beginning to sound like the entrenched and ruthless Republicans of the Tea Party stripe in congress! The Loyality Measure is a very bad, undemocratic idea that should be permanently shelved. It is not what Pacifica stands for and I am sure it is not the will of the majority of listeners and supporters.
Name: Mark Takaro
Subject: “disloyal”-ty?
“Pacifica, ENOUGH! The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts.”
Name: Julian Orr
Subject: Witch Hunts
This is insane. I would expect this sort of thing of Dick Cheney, not of the Pacifica National Board. We need constructive action from the National Board, not a witch hunt. Disagreeing with you is not a sign of evil intent; you might actually learn something from those with whom you disagree. Please stop. If you must do this, please go somewhere else to do it.
Name: Janice Williams
Subject: enough!
Stop the ridiculous McCarthyite tactics! Get back to fixing the network! How about some fundraising folks?
Name: Claudia Mansbach
Subject: Save KPFA
Use your resources to build Pacifica, not quash dissent. We need models for true democracy, not models of quashing dissent. Thank you
Name: Shiela Cockshott
Subject: stop the loyalty oath
Loyalty oaths! What can you be thinking–or are you?!! This sounds like the days of Joe McCarthy. If you aren’t going to be helpfu, please get out of the way. Pacifica stands for free speech and political dissent. We don’t need you going after political enemies. We all need to pull together to build the network. Please stop this destructive idea immediatelyl
Name: Eliot Kenin
Subject: Pacifica “loyalty bill”
Did I really get this news? Is Pacifica planning to go after “disloyal” staff or local or national board reps? How does this help anything? C’mon folks, this is unworthy of Pacifica’s great heritage. Let’s deal with our problems, not shoot the messengers. I’ve been a listener-supporter for 40 years and never expected to this to come up on “my” network. Yours in struggle, Eliot Kenin
Name: Lanya Ellis
Subject:
“Loyality” measures at free speech radio? You have got to be kidding. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. The state of decline of Pacifica is becoming more apparent with each desperate move the anti-democrats on the board make. Will you please start serving the listeners and stop the silly posturing to “get” your enemies?
Name: Liz Katz
Subject: Rule about loyalty
Dear KPFA Board, Open discussions help to make any organization stronger. I think it would be a mistake to require conformity of opinion as a condition for holding office. But, that is exactly what the proposed “loyalty” measure would do. Take a lesson from President Lincoln and surround yourselves with peers and advisors who hold various perspectives. Don’t surround yourselves with “Yes-men” only. Don’t appear to be on a witch-hunt for dissenters. This looks bad, and reflects badly on you. Sincerely, Liz Katz Oakland, CA
Name: Gary Gregerson
Subject:
Pacifica, ENOUGH! The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts.
Name: CC
Subject: loyalty!!??
Is this the 1950s? loyalty oaths? Pacifica, stop this attack on dissenters, time to work together and stop this divisiveness and money wasting fighting. You are pushing away loyal supporters who want quality programing like the former Morning Show or the current Upfront. Get over it and stop this continual witch hunting!
Name: sharon maldonado
Subject: stop the witch hunt
“Pacifica, ENOUGH! The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts.”
Name: Allison Davis
Subject: are you kidding?
The more I read about Rosenberg & company’s activities at Pacficia, the angrier I get. A loyalty oath, in the guise of “safety”? Come on folks, stop making Pacifica the butt of left jokes. Just run the network so it is solvent. Hire those who know how to manage fairly and program what should be a 5 great stations across the country. You are going to keep losing subscribers until you do this basic task.
Name: Tes Welborn
Subject: Stop the witch hunt
Let the new board take its place. Stop trying to destroy Pacifica by crushing dissent.
Name: sheila goldmacher
Subject: WITCHUNT!
SHAME ON YOU PACIFICA FOR RESURRECTING THE WITCHUNT! ENUF ALREADY WITH YOUR RIGHT WING TACTICS. Build the Network, stop destroying it even further. NO LOYALTY MEASURES NOW, NOT EVER!
Name: PIH
Pacifica, ENOUGH! The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts.”
Name: John Hess
Subject: Stop the witch hunt
“Pacifica, ENOUGH! The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts.”
Name: Barrie Mason
Subject: Loyalty?
Please drop the measure to ban “disloyal” people from KPFA employment, boards, volunteer positions. Who will decide what is “loyal?” This is completely at odds with Free Speech Radio. It is shocking and disgusting that you would consider such a measure.
Name: L Darlene Pratt
Subject: “Loyalty”? measure
Just when we think things will level off and we can get to the business of building the network, the PNB comes up with another ridiculous proposal a “loyalty measure”. This sounds like the Right Wing, the Tea Party, and religious fundamentalists who seem to know who is “loyal” and who is not! Give it up folks, you can’t hang on to these positions of “power” forever. Let’s return to high quality programming, fair and wise governance, and some consideration for those of us who actually keep the station going (money and time). Thank you.
Name: Leslie Townsend
Subject: “Loyalty” Provision for KPFA Board
With great concern for the founding principles and continuing ethos of my local station, KPFA, I am writing to urge the Pacific National Board to dismiss the “loyalty” provision from amongst its significant and important work. For many years–now decades–I have relied on the programming at KPFA and Pacifica to fuel my college teaching of writing and critical thinking. It is, consequently, beyond my imagination that the very governing body would drive an attack on the philosophical principles–standing up for free speech, open discussion, transparent and collective action–that inspire the critical thinking I and my students hold so dear. It is, without doubt, imperative that Board members respect their duty, including, for example, safeguarding funds or email addresses or other items deemed by existing laws to be privileged information. Raising commitments to encourage support for a particular on-air show does not meet any rational criterion to support a charge of ‘disloyalty’; I can only envision a motivation based on divisiveness, fear, holding on to past perceived transgression, anger, and or hurt, to be driving this provision. I urge you to collectively focus on the issues that add meaning to our listening lives–how to keep the Pacifica body whole and healthy, how to address increasing poverty and economic inequity in the U.S., how to recognize opportunities for connection amongst groups and across nations, how to build a future with all the arts, along with science, technology, and politics, as central to our identity as humans. It is disturbing, in the face of such enormous tasks, to witness the PNB propose attacking the spirit of the organization with this provision, and I hope that consensus, clear and honest thinking, acceptance of difference, and–if needed–forgiveness will instead guide the Board’s voices. I wish to be inspired by the solidarity and airwaves of KPFA and Pacifica for the coming decades. Best regards, Leslie Townsend
Name: Tes Welborn
Subject: Stop the witch hunt
Let the new board take its place. Stop trying to destroy Pacifica by crushing dissent.
Name: CM
Subject: Save KPFA
Use your resources to build Pacifica, not quash dissent. We need models for true democracy, not models of quashing dissent. Thank you
Name: Rick Massell
Subject: Give it up!
Quit harassing Pacifica staff and listeners with power grabbing methods. Loyalty oaths are anathema to the Pacifica audience. We’re all questioners and skeptics. Let dissent and debate flourish!
Name: Celia Reyes
Subject:
“Pacifica, ENOUGH! The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts.”
Name: Liz Johnson
Subject:
Pacifica, ENOUGH! The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts.
Name: Helen Gilliland
Subject: Don’t ban dissent
Pacific, stop the banning of dissent. The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts.
Name: Harold Warner
Subject: Ban dissent?
I have been a loyal Pacifica supporter since 1960 (KPFK/KPFA/KFCF) and I find the present attempt to silence alternative views totally abhorrent! If nothing else, this station.foundation stands for free speech!!! Don’t try and legislate away the station’s raison d’etre!
Name: carol mcfarlan
Subject: Pacifica Witch Hunt
Stop misusing your power to go after those who don’t think like you. The “loyalty measure” is shameful, smacks of politicos internationally whose names are forever ingrained to represent anti-democracy. Consider this listener against this shocking ban idea.
Name: Jaime Becker
Subject: Getting rid of dissent has a name. Fascism.
Pacifica, ENOUGH! The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts.
Name: Steven Hobbs
Subject: Loyalty Oath
Dear Persons, To think that a small group of people in high positions within KPFA would consider demanding a “Loyalty Oath” from participants is an abomination worthy of Stalin. Do not allow this to move forward. I am flabbergasted that it was even ever proposed without being laughed out of the room. Thank you for consideration of this opinion.
Name: Summer Brenner
We do not want to hear that KPFA — founded to represent voices of dissent — requires a loyalty oath to squash opinions that disagree with its governing board. It’s an outrage. The Pledge of Allegiance, Lord’s Prayer, HUAC? Tell me when a loyalty oath was a good thing. Plus, it smacks of another shenanigan tactic to distract staff and board from the key challenges of listener-sponsored radio.
Name: Peter Leinau
Subject: ban on dissent NOT a part of KPFA-Pacifica!
The proposed ban on dissenters having positions on the board at Pacifica is so contrary to the roots and nature of the network as to be laughable if it were not (apparently) serious. Please do NOT proceed with the loyalty measure or any related efforts- Thanks in advance for taking a deep breath and moving on to refocus on the network as an alternative to the mainstream, not a clone of it.
Name: Eliot Kenin
Subject: Pacifica “loyalty bill”
Did I really get this news? Is Pacifica planning to go after “disloyal” staff or local or national board reps? How does this help anything? C’mon folks, this is unworthy of Pacifica’s great heritage. Let’s deal with our problems, not shoot the messengers. I’ve been a listener-supporter for 40 years and never expected to this to come up on “my” network. Yours in struggle, Eliot Kenin
Name: Stephanie Reader
Subject: Reject “loyalty measure”- have you no decency?
Can the Pacifica National Board still be considering adoption of the grotesque “loyalty measure” which so many appalled members have previously written you to protest? Ignoring our views, and crushing dissent, appear to be SOP for some on the Board, who seem hell-bent on inflicting on us yet another episode of the ludicrous recurring nightmare version of the PNB, from which we struggle to awake.
Name: Doris Smith
Pacifica, I’m 78 years old and a 25 year listener; I sacrifice a lot to support KPFA financially because I know that KPFA is one of my two lifelines: My spiritual organization and KPFA. I will fight to the end to keep them both afloat, with my small income. The least you can do is act with dignity, courage, and make the same sacrifices that I do for our beloved station. If we go down, who will be there for us? Stop stop stop testing others’ loyalty and START SHOWING YOUR OWN! PLEASE!
Name: Cathy Sullivan
I am STRONGLY opposed to Pacifica labeling people as disloyal and banning them from office. This measure smacks of mcCarthyism.
Name: Jerry Long
Subject: quit witch hunt
Pacifica, ENOUGH! The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts.
Name: Lisa-Anne Lee
Subject: Listen to Listener
PNB, Listener-Supported Communication means there is a responsibility to the listeners who support it. How does a loyalty clause benefit those of us who stopped listening/supporting KPFA while the hosts we liked were replaced with far less qualified or embarrassing ones? The programming was poorly planned for the appropriate audience. I’m sure the survey has shown how much supporters value Up Front and Letters and Politics, but not the Morning Mix. Get it?
Name: BW
Subject: witch hunt
This power ploy by pacifica nat’l board sends me shivers! sounds like Iran under the Shah. I didn’t think those board members could be that creepy, conniving, & self serving.
Name: geraldine caldarola
Subject: Loyalty oath
I cannot believe I am writing to Pacifica about a “loyalty” measure. Have we not learned anything over the years? Do we not want to encourage differences of opinion anymore. We need you to build a vibrant network not an “NPR” clone.
Name: EL
Subject: banning of “disloyal” members from Board
I have been a loyal listener and member of KPFA for decades as well as a volunteer for many hours on Fund Drives. I grew up in McCarthy era and saw how distressed my parents were by the “loyalty” issues that Joe McCarthy raised and pursued. I can’t begin to imagine that Pacifica of all places would be considering something even similar to that. It defies principles that Pacifica is based on: free speech and democracy. Please don’t do this to our precious radio station’s Board. It’s a form of censorship, just what Pacifica opposes. Thanks for reading this, Esther Lerman
Name: Michael W Evans
Subject: Siop the Witchhunts
Pacifica, ENOUGH! The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts.
Name: MORTON, Mary Kinder
Subject: Stop the witch hunt
Dissent and civil discussion should be the M.O. for all democratically-funcioning groups and for our former republic.
Name: Christopher
Subject: Stop the witch hunt
Pacifica, ENOUGH! The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts. If you seriously consider this proposal you should be ashamed of yourselves and you should resign ASAP!
Name: Susan Bradford
Subject: Pacifica board stop this disloyalty ban idiosy
I can hardly even stand that I have to be writing to stop such a ridiculous endeavor by the Pacifica Board. Once again, Lew Hill would be shaking his fist at you! This is an obvious misuse of your “power”. Your job is to hear what the listener members are saying we want you to do and follow what we have dictated by our votes and letters and responses. The Pacifica board seems to be controlled by people who are not on the same wavelength as the mission and vision that this radio station was founded on and the members want to be continued.
Name: Dean Pasvankias
Subject: “Loyalty” proposal
It is an outrage to create a parody of right-wing organizations demanding “loyalty” to whoever is in office.Enough!
Name: lelia bogard
Subject: NO to witch hunts
No to any McCarthyite “loyalty” measures. Really?!
Name: WRY
Subject: Witch Hunt?
Pacifica, ENOUGH! The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts.
Name: John Van Eyck
Subject: Stop it!
Pacifica board members, ENOUGH thoughtless, ill-considered, lemming-like decisions! The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts.
Name: Yezdyar Kaoosji
Subject: Stop the Witch Hunt
I have been a long time listener & a liberal donor! This move to ban dissent or a different point of view goes against the principles on which Pacifica was started! You will lose me and eventually all supporters will move away. Use your board to uphold principles.
Name: Michael L. Taylor
Subject: STOP THE WITCH HUNT
Pacifica, ENOUGH! The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts.
Name: Joseph C Ferguson
Subject: Pacifica not inspiring loyalty
Didn’t we recall Rosenberg? Have those ballots not been counted? Is Pacifica our only option? What did local, listener-supported radio stations do before Pacifica?
Name: James Koss, MD FAAEM
Subject: freedom to think and disagree
KPFA started with dissenters who resisted war. It continued to provide alternative ideas to those of us who were tired of commercial propaganda. THAT IS UNTIL SOME NEWLY EMPOWERED INDIVIDUALS STARTED TO DESTROY THE STATION. America is a nation allegedly supportive of alternative and expressed ideas. WHO ARE THOSE ON THE BOARD WHO TRY TO STIFLE THIS? This is a FIFTH COLUMN APPROACH TO CENSORSHIP AND CONTROL.
Name: HG
Subject: Enough already !
Pacifica, ENOUGH! The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts.
Name: LR
Subject: basta ya!
As a long time listener I urge you to vote NO on instituting any kind of loyalty measures to go after those on the board who have differences, we need a variety of voices on the board and not just yes people.
Name: Patrick Nance
Subject: So called “loyalty measure”
Please stay away from this so called “loyalty measure.” Even if this ultimately were in Pacifica’s best interest, this is not the time. Now is the time for healing, not provocation.
Name: max
Subject: stop the witch hunts!
“Pacifica, ENOUGH! The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts.”
Name: Joseph Abela
Pacifica, ENOUGH! The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts.
Name: JH
Subject: “loyalty oath”
I’m shocked that such a competent organization as Pacifica would require a process that is reminiscent of Stalinism, Nazism & McCarthyism. I once had to provide a “loyalty oath” for a government job; I did so under duress & didn’t mean a word of it. Is that what Pacifica expects of its members?
Name: Linda Ray
Subject: stop so-called “loyalty” measures
I am a long time listener and very concerned about the current board’s proposal that limits democracy on who can serve on the next board. These autocratic moves may seem savvy to those who cook them up but do nothing to move Pacifica as a network forward. The rulers in this country would like to see Pacifica fail, please don’t help them by your undemocratic proposals.
Name: L. Yaco
Subject:
Please stop all this silliness and just bring us great radio programming.
Name: Nancy M Friedman
Subject: Painful persecution
I have been a listener and contributor since 1975, but I feel less and less loyalty to the station the more I hear about outrageous efforts such as “loyalty measures.” Most of the older listeners to KPFA have had to take a stand against such things in years past, and to think that our own organization is considering them is unthinkable. Please don’t push more of us away.
Name: Doyle Wyre
Subject: Loyalty Oath (banning dissenters)
Banning people from being elected by members if they disagree with an existing PNB (??). Only those who agreed with your specific actions can succeed you. Please don’t make more a mockery of the “Free Speech Radio” slogan. There is a clear difference between disagreement with a ruling body’s actions and disloyalty to the institution.
Name: obo help
Subject: loyalty
Loyalty measure is outrageous!!
Name: Carlos Echevarria
Subject:
Pacifica, ENOUGH! The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthy-ite witch hunts!
Name: EK
Subject: Suppressing dissent is wrong
Pacifica, ENOUGH! The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Strong leaders learn from dissent and live with it. Diversity of opinion, including dissent, is healthy.
Name: MG
Subject: “loyalty oath”
I would like to express my vehement opposition to any Loyalty Oath. I’ve been a KPFA listener and supporter for 30 years. Unbelievalble to me that you would even think of outlawing dissension and/or differing opinions at this radio station. I’m old enough to remember the McCarthy years and this definitely smacks of “McCarthyism.” It makes me sad and angry that something like this is even proposed.
Name: Matthew Deuser
Subject: Do not ban disagreement as dissent
Pacifica, ENOUGH! The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts.”
Name: erin yarrobino
Subject: Stop the witch hunt
Pacifica, ENOUGH! The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts. tHANK YOU.
Name: BW
Subject: witch hunt
This power ploy by pacifica nat’l board sends me shivers! sounds like Iran under the Shah. I didn’t think those board members could be that creepy, conniving, & self serving.
Name: Damian Cano
Subject: McCarthy redux
Pacifica, ENOUGH! The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts. This is an absurdity on top of an insult. To have any appeal of accused disloyalty directed at the same adjudicating body is demonstrably ridiculous. I would also urge that you drop the lawsuit against the KPFA supporters (to whom I pledged support) as being punitive, arbitrary, capricious, and doomed to failure, not to mention a colossal waste of time and KPFA’s members money. That is disloyalty to KPFA. Shame on you.
Name: Tina Kimmel, PhD, MSW, MP
Subject: Drop the Loyalty Measure
Pacifica, ENOUGH! The “loyalty measure” doesn’t do anything to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts.
Name: Roger Zimmerman
Subject: PACIFICA NATIONAL BOARD MEMBERS — DO NOT REQUIRE A RIDICULOUS “LOYALITY OATH”*****
*** ARE YOU GOING TO PROSECUTE MEMBER/SUPPORTERS FOR BEING “DISLOYAL”— ***** BY ONLY YOUR OWN DECREES ***** ALL OF THIS WITCH-HUNTING IS CRAZY, TRULY, INSANE, UNENFORCEABLE, ILLEGAL, AND TOTALLY ANTI-PACIFICA’S MISSION, TO THE VERY CORE. !!! ********************************** STOP!! STOP!! I PLEDGE, HERE AND NOW, THAT I WILL CEASE TO SUPPORT ANY PACIFICA ENTITIES ANYWHERE, FOREVER, IF THIS STUPIDITY CONTINUES ANY FURTHER !!! ROGER ZIMMERMAN; 50-YEAR PACIFICA MEMBER/SUPPORTER, LOS ANGELES, CA. 90291;
Name: CJ Kingsley
Subject: ?Loyalty Oaths?
Do you not have one relative who died in the cause of protecting the type of freedoms here threatened? Excuse me. If all of your ancestors died or you would have died in defending the Confederacy or fascist ideology or you support subjugation of illiterate masses, I presume you liked Salem witch hunts and this letter “falls on deaf ears.” C.J. Kingsley A Constitution & Bill of Rights Supporter
Name: Elizabeth Ross
Subject: loyalty measure
Pacifica, ENOUGH! The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts.
Name: mary gaughan
Subject: “loyalty”
stop this witch hunt-your so called loyalty measure- unbelievable and transparent power play! you are obviously working for the corporation and not the people who support and own the stations. i don’t think you are trying to fix anything except your own removal from power as the board members chosen by the people take their rightful places and get to work to solve pacifica problems in a manner consistent with the founding principles of kpfa and other pacifica stations. shame on you. may you find your true hearts and integrity some day soon. that’s where loyalty lives.
Name: Nancy E. Jackson
Subject: censorship
As a long time supporter of KPFA I am outraged at this blatant censorship at a station that calls itself “free speech” radio. This is an colossal waste of listener-supporter resources, and a offensive power grab. I am pissed as hell that you would use my hard earned donations to fund your witch hunts and personal-political vendettas. Do the work your were elected to do: rebuild our progressive network!
Name: jim kratzer
Subject: loyalty measure
Please. Please. Please. Please show us, the listener-supporters of Pacifica stations, some of the respect we deserve. Please reconsider the loyalty measure. Thank you.
Name: Lynne Streeter
Subject:
How can you even think of doing such a thing?
Name: Janice Heiss
Subject: Please do not incorporate the loyalty oath
Dear Pacifica, Please don’t pursue such counter-productive measure. Where are your priorities; they’re all mixed up for you all to be proposing such a thing. Please please pretty please, come to your senses and do the right thing and STOP in your tracks on this misdirected measure. Respectfully and sincerely yours and with grave concern, Jan
Name: Leonard Katzman
Subject: No “Loyalty Measures”
Pacifica, ENOUGH! The loyalty measure doesn’t do a single thing to fix the many problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power to go after political opponents. Listeners need you to build the network, not launch McCarthyite witch hunts.
Name: patricia joanides
Subject: Pacifica’s board measure to ban “disloyal” members…
Re: Attention the Pacifica’s board. Stop/cease considering a measure to ban “disloyal” members from holding any office in Pacifica. this loyalty measure does not solve the problems facing Pacifica. Stop misusing your power by going after political opponents. We, the listeners need you to build the network, not launch witch hunts. Thank you, Patricia Joanides Woodacre, Ca a 20 year avid listener and supporter of KPFA.
Your Name: Judith Ward
Subject: Stalling Recall
Message: Pacifica board members, stop stalling! You are violating your own bylaws. Recall ballots should have been mailed by December 30 and it’s now the end of January. Hire a neutral election supervisor NOW and mail the ballots immediately. See our petition on the matter here. And while you are at it, tell KPFA’s interim general manager to stop interfering in this listener election. He is using station resources in a highly partisan and completely unacceptable way. Enough already!
Your Name: niki ward
Subject: recall
Message: I am a second generation KPFA listener and pledged every fund drive until the morning show was removed. I am weary of the austerity measures management has adopted to control cost. It won’t work for the station any more than it works in society. Cheap programming is not necessarily good programming if no one is listening. The whole thing just shrinks to nothing. I find myself turning the dial. If a recall was approved, then GET IT DONE, send me a ballot. I will vote YES! Thank You niki
Your Name: Paul Allen
Subject: Pacifica National Board Recall
Message: Ballots for the recall vote of Tracy Rosenberg are more than a month overdue. This reeks of malfeasance. As a long-time listener/supporter of KPFA and Pacifica, I demand that ballots be sent and a neutral election supervisor be appointed to oversee the recall vote. Also, the board needs to rein in the KPFA interim manager who has been interfering in the election, against Pacifica’s bylaws, by using KPFA’s subscriber email list to electioneer against recalling Rosenberg.
Name: Philip Ratcliff
Subject: Message to Pacifica management
Message: Such a pity that a progressive, community-based station, KPFA, should be saddled with a reactionary, oppressive management as yours is. Your tactics are disgusting.
Name: Roberta Lockner
Subject: Recall ballots
Message: Pacifica board members, stop stalling! You are violating your own bylaws. Recall ballots should have been mailed by December 30 and it’s now the end of January. Hire a neutral election supervisor NOW and mail the ballots immediately. See our petition on the matter here. And while you are at it, tell KPFA’s interim general manager to stop interfering in this listener election. He is using station resources in a highly partisan and completely unacceptable way. Enough already!
Name: Mark Spindler
Subject: Mail the recall ballots NOW!
Message: Pacifica board members, stop stalling! You are violating your own bylaws. Recall ballots should have been mailed by December 30 and it’s now the end of January. Hire a neutral election supervisor NOW and mail the ballots immediately. See our petition on the matter here. And while you are at it, tell KPFA’s interim general manager to stop interfering in this listener election. He is using station resources in a highly partisan and completely unacceptable way. Enough already! This is outrageous.
Name: Will McLaughlin
Subject: Recall election
Message: Dear Pacifica Board Members, Please assign a neutral third party to oversee the recall election and proceed in a timely manner. The ballots should have already been mailed. Show respect for your members and listeners.
Name: Jonel Larson
Subject: Recall
Message: Pacifica board members, stop stalling! You are violating your own bylaws. Recall ballots should have been mailed by December 30 and it’s now the end of January. Hire a neutral election supervisor NOW and mail the ballots immediately. See our petition on the matter here. And while you are at it, tell KPFA’s interim general manager to stop interfering in this listener election. He is using station resources in a highly partisan and completely unacceptable way. Enough already!
Name: Lani Ka’ahumanu
Subject: recall ballot
Message: Hi folks, I’m wondering why this recall ballot is taking so long. What is getting in the way? Why so much resistance and needless drama? Let the people/kpfa community members speak/vote. thank you Lani
Name: DH
Subject: Have not received recall ballot!
Message: Pacifica board members, stop stalling! You are violating your own bylaws. Recall ballots should have been mailed by December 30 and it’s now the end of January. Hire a neutral election supervisor NOW and mail the ballots immediately. See our petition on the matter here. And while you are at it, tell KPFA’s interim general manager to stop interfering in this listener election. He is using station resources in a highly partisan and completely unacceptable way. Enough already!
Name: l.quinton guidry
Subject: kpfk interim manager
Message: The quality, diversity, and efficiency has greatly deminished at kpfk under the current management. I am officially requesting something be done to change the direction of this greatly loved network. thank you, l.q. guidry
Name: Stevan Thomas
Subject: listener election, sponsorship
Message: Please stop interfereing with the recall process initiated by listeners. I let my membership lapse after the old Morning Show was cancelled. It was the leading fundraising show for the station and kept me glued to the radio whenever possible. The Morning Mix is a poor substitute!
Name: Robert Loomis
Subject: Recall stalling
Message: Please quit jerking us around and proceed with the recall election. Time to toss out the garbage.
Name: Joan A. Cominos
Subject: RECALL BALLOTS
Message: Dear Board Members, I am very disturbed by the delay in the mailing of recall ballots. now a month overdue. This is our members’ non commercial station. It cannot be run by interfering outsiders. Please stop violating the bylaws. Sincerely yours, Joan Cominos
Name: Ed Wyre (Doyle E. Wyre)
Subject:
Message: This is all so last century. Remember the last time a national board tried to take power away from the people, and stop this nonsense already.
Name: Debra Stretch
Subject: recall election
Message: Dear People, The recall election needs to take place in a timely fashion, and you are responsible for making that happen. It would help to restore trust in Pacifica. And, bring back The Morning Show. The Morning Mix is very disappointing. Thank you, Debra Stretch
Name: Ruth Fallenbaum
Subject: election
Message: I am getting fed up with the station’s failure to deal with the recall election, and I still find the morning show unbearable in its post Aimee/Brian, unprofessional incarnation. What gives????
Name: charlotte davis
Subject: You will not win this fight
Message: To Pacifica Board: I have lived in the Bay Area since 1961, and have been a fan and supporter of KPFA for all this time. I have seen many strange actions and events during these years; however, this is the ultimate disgusting, intentional attack on this progressive institution. It is indeed a hostile takeover! To say that I do not understand this attack is an understatement at best. Given the current political climate, the incredible viciousness of the right wing attacks on the 99%, the takeover of our legislatures, the deluge of money from the corporations and the 1%, I can only conclude the the Pacifica Board belongs to that odious horde on the right. Not what I expected. So, I respectfully request that the Board stop stalling and the interim manager stop manipulating this recall….I understand that you know you are going to lose, but nothing you do will change that. YOU CANNOT WIN, YOU WILL NOT WIN, NO MATTER WHAT.
Name: Mary Hein
Subject: KPFA
Message: To Pacifica Board Members I always thought a Board Member’s job was to support and further the goals of his/her organization. What I’ve witnessed over the last several years looks more like partisan politics in the Board room. Very tacky!!! KPFA doesn’t need an undermining general manager. Please hire a neutral election supervisor NOW and mail the ballots immediately. Thank you for your attention to this matter, Mary Hein
Name: Bill Appledorf
Subject: Stop stalling!
Message: Pacifica board members, stop stalling! You are violating your own bylaws. Recall ballots should have been mailed by December 30 and it’s now the end of January. Hire a neutral election supervisor NOW and mail the ballots immediately. See our petition on the matter here. And while you are at it, tell KPFA’s interim general manager to stop interfering in this listener election. He is using station resources in a highly partisan and completely unacceptable way. Enough already!
Name: James Ferrigno
Subject: KPFA and Pacifica Management are breaking the Law
Message: I am tired of writing to you people. You all seem to have no integrity or sense of morality whatsoever. Now you are also criminals. You will mail those ballots for the recall now. The longer you stall the more angry we the people will get. You think you can destroy our network by you will fail.
Name: Ted Fishman
Subject: Upcoming Election
Message: Pacifica board members, stop stalling! You are violating your own bylaws. Recall ballots should have been mailed by December 30 and it’s now the end of January. Hire a neutral election supervisor NOW and mail the ballots immediately. See our petition on the matter here. And while you are at it, tell KPFA’s interim general manager to stop interfering in this listener election. He is using station resources in a highly partisan and completely unacceptable way. Enough already!
Name: Mary Skinner
Subject: Problems with station
Message: I have not received my ballot for the recall election. During the last week, I have been unable to reach the station by telephone. The management structure seems to be in great disarray with misleading emails to supporters which have to be withdrawn because of mistakes in reportage. I will attend tonight the subscribers meeting this evening to see if others are having the same difficulties. Mary Skinner
Name: Janice Heiss
Subject:
Message: Where are the recall ballots? Do the right and legal thing, KPFA Recall ballots should have been mailed by December 30 and it’s now almost February so what’s going on. Please mail the ballots immediately according to your own bylaws. KPFA is going down the wrong path. I sure do miss the Morning Show. I keep thinking I should stop subscribing to the Morning Mix. It’s so darn repetitive and boring. I really just delete those podcasts. I’ve filled in the hole with Letters and Politics but nothing can replace the Morning Show. Last year I gave ½ of what I usually contribute as I like KPFA ½ as much after all these 35 years.
Name: Koichi Miyashita
Subject: Recall
Message: Pacifica board members, stop stalling! You are violating your own bylaws. Recall ballots should have been mailed by December 30 and it’s now the end of January. Hire a neutral election supervisor NOW and mail the ballots immediately. See our petition on the matter here. And while you are at it, tell KPFA’s interim general manager to stop interfering in this listener election. He is using station resources in a highly partisan and completely unacceptable way. Enough already!
Name: Scott Smith
Subject:
Message: Dear Pacifica board members, by delaying the recall ballot you are violating your own bylaws. Recall ballots should have been mailed by December 30 and it’s now the end of January and I haven’t received mine. Hire a neutral election supervisor NOW and mail the ballots immediately. And while you are at it, tell KPFA’s interim general manager to stop interfering in this listener election. He is using station resources in a highly partisan and completely unacceptable way. Enough already!
Name: Paul Romero
Subject: Recall Election Conduct
Message: Dear Board: Please appoint an impartial person to oversee the upcoming recall election quickly in order to avoid givin an actual or perceived advantage to any of those involved. Best Regards, Paul Romero
Name: arnold j martelli
Subject: Recall Election Ballots
Message: Dear Pacifica and KPFA management, In regards to the the KPFA supporter generated election recall the governing bylaws are clear – the Pacifica board has the responsibility to proceed with the recall election once the process has been duly verified, and it has. You should, and must. mail the recall ballots. In fact the bylaws unequivocally state these ballots should have been postmarked by end of day December 30, 2011. Please mail these ballots posthaste. Thank you for your time and consideration. AM
Name: shiela Cockshott
Subject: recall election
Message: I keep waiting and waiting and waiting for my ballot. What is the problem? It seems you are constantly either stalling around or moving the goal posts. Neither is productive to getting anything done. Please send the recall ballots and let us vote. We are the listeners and we are the supporters. We need a neutral election supervisor and the general manager should stay out of the listener election.
Name: Margaret Bannerman
Subject: Delay of vote
Message: The Board of Directors should show the leadership your listeners expect and follow your own bylaws. You are in that position because you’ve been charged to do the correct and legal thing. There should be no more stalling. Let the listeners have their say!
Name: Catherine Trimbur
Subject: Get on with the Recall Election
Message: Pacifica board members, stop stalling! You are violating your own bylaws. This is pretty pathetic for a station that fancies itself as a dedicated supporter of democracy. Recall ballots should have been mailed by December 30 and it’s now the end of January. Hire a neutral election supervisor NOW and mail the ballots immediately. See our petition on the matter here. And while you are at it, tell KPFA’s interim general manager to stop interfering in this listener election. He is using station resources in a highly partisan and completely unacceptable way. Enough already!
Name: john muskopf
Subject: stop interfering
Message: so now we have Mitt Romney running the KPFA foundation? how much money is being passed under the table to kill KPFA for the right wing media’s agenda?
Name: David Weintraub
Subject: KPFA
Message: I have been a long time loyal listener and supporter of KPFA from the moment I first moved to Berkeley in 1967. My wife and I have donated thousands of dollars to the station because it is the only real truth to power voice we of the left have. This is the first time I have ever written a letter/email to Pacifica but from what I can garner, particularly from the actions of Pacifica in hiring a union busting firm and in cutting the Morning Show, it seems that Pacifica has gone astray and lost its moral and political mooring. Please restore the show, process the recall election of Tracy Rosenberg and reassess the decision to retain an anti union firm. I would appreciate a response if there are any good reasons for not doing any of these things.
Name: James Osborne
Subject: Recall Election
Message: Pacifica board members, Move! You are violating your own bylaws. If this is listener-sponsored radio, you need to listen to your listeners! Remember, this is about arbitrary changing of KPFA’s most popular program, the Morning Show. Pacifica is no place for people who think they own the whole thing. Recall ballots should have been mailed by December 30 and it’s now the end of January. Hire a neutral election supervisor NOW and mail the ballots immediately.
Name: karen stiles
Subject: peace for kpfa
Message: Kpfa was made in honor of peace so problems should be settled in peace and we should honor this by an honest vote and an impartial election supervisor as a peacefull way to do this.
Name: Rasa Gustaitis Moss
Subject: recall election
Message: Are you trying to kill KPFA by exhausting the patience of members who have supported it loyally for years? Where is the recall ballot that was supposed to be mailed to members a month ago? You are killing this station by irresponsible programming, among other things. What has been put in place of the Morning Show is irresponsible, amateurish, and a disservice to the principles of the KPFA.
Name: Roberta Llewellyn
Subject: Recall Needs to move forward…
Message: Please KPFA Board Members – do the right thing and mail out the election ballots immediately – stop wasting KPFA supporters time and money! I cast my vote for a recall along with many others to support fairness and intergrity at my listerner supported KPFA Radio Station!
Name: Ian McWethy
Subject: Recall Vote
Message: How can Pacifica promote democracy when they stifle the voice of the listeners. You have changed popular programing for something that you decided and then still expect monitary contributions. Listen to your listeners. The vote should be had. Fairness. Equality. Yes???
Name: VP
Subject: Pacifica board members, stop stalling!
Message: Pacifica board members, stop stalling! You are violating your own bylaws. Recall ballots should have been mailed by December 30 and it’s now the end of January. Hire a neutral election supervisor NOW and mail the ballots immediately. See our petition on the matter here. And while you are at it, tell KPFA’s interim general manager to stop interfering in this listener election. He is using station resources in a highly partisan and completely unacceptable way. Enough already!
Name: Richard Walker
Subject: Recall election
Message: Please get moving on the recall election: mail out ballots and hire a neutral election supervisor to oversee it, so that everyone will have confidence in the results.
Name: Charles Belbin
Subject:
Message: Come on, this is democratic radio. Of, by and for the people. Enough with this mindless bossism. Let’s get on with the listener election! And Mr. General Manager if that isn’t your own money you’re using to send out your views, then it’s someone’s else’s money. That activity is known as stealing.
Name: Catherine Kessler
Subject: recall election
Message: Pacifica board members, stop stalling! You are violating your own bylaws. If we can’t have fairness and democracy within Pacifica, then where? Recall ballots should have been mailed by December 30 and it’s now the end of January. Hire a neutral election supervisor NOW and mail the ballots immediately. See our petition on the matter here. And while you are at it, tell KPFA’s interim general manager to stop interfering in this listener election. He is using station resources in a highly partisan and completely unacceptable way. Enough already!
Name: Patrice P.-Martel
Subject: Pacifica board members, stop stalling! You are violating your own bylaws.
Message: Recall ballots should have been mailed by December 30 and it’s now the end of January. Hire a neutral election supervisor NOW and mail the ballots immediately. Also, I would like to tell KPFA’s interim general manager to stop interfering in this listener election. He is using station resources in a highly partisan and completely unacceptable way. Enough already! Thanks in advance! Patrice P.-Martel
Name: Vanessa Diaz
Subject: Please Stop Stalling
Message: Pacifica board members, stop stalling! You are violating your own bylaws. Recall ballots should have been mailed by December 30 and it’s now the end of January. Hire a neutral election supervisor NOW and mail the ballots immediately. See our petition on the matter here. And while you are at it, tell KPFA’s interim general manager to stop interfering in this listener election. He is using station resources in a highly partisan and completely unacceptable way. Enough already!
Name: Patrick M. Kennedy
Subject: Where is my ballot already?!
Message: Pacifica board members, stop stalling! You are violating your own bylaws. Recall ballots should have been mailed by December 30 and it’s now the end of January. Hire a neutral election supervisor NOW and mail the ballots immediately. See our petition on the matter here. And while you are at it, tell KPFA’s interim general manager to stop interfering in this listener election. He is using station resources in a highly partisan and completely unacceptable way. Enough already!
Name: TB
Subject:
Message: Pacifica board members, stop stalling! You are violating your own bylaws. Recall ballots should have been mailed by December 30 and it’s now the end of January. There is no excuse for this lack of attention. KPFA’s interim general manager must stop interfering in this listener election. He is using station resources in a highly partisan and completely unacceptable way. He spends money on legal processes and complains the station is losing money. Enough already! Hire a neutral election supervisor NOW and mail the ballots immediately.
Name: Daniel Oxenhandler
Subject: Don’t stall the recall vote!
Message: Pacifica board members, stop stalling! You are violating your own bylaws. Recall ballots should have been mailed by December 30 and it’s now the end of January. Hire a neutral election supervisor NOW and mail the ballots immediately. See our petition on the matter here. And while you are at it, tell KPFA’s interim general manager to stop interfering in this listener election. He is using station resources in a highly partisan and completely unacceptable way. Enough already!
Name: Arnie Egel
Subject: honesty integrety
Message: Pacifica board members, stop stalling! You are violating your own bylaws. Recall ballots should have been mailed by December 30 and it’s now the end of January. Hire a neutral election supervisor NOW and mail the ballots immediately. See our petition on the matter here. And while you are at it, tell KPFA’s interim general manager to stop interfering in this listener election. He is using station resources in a highly partisan and completely unacceptable way. Enough already!
Name: Joshua Dimondstein
Subject: Let the recall proceed
Message: Stop stalling on the recall process and rein in your interim manager at KPFA. You have become that which you are suppose to be protecting us from and your listeners will not stand for it. Not allowing the recall to proceed smacks of fascism.
Name: Barbara Lilley
Subject: recall ballots
Message: Please mail the recall ballots. Hire a neutral election supervisor. The general manager is causing dissention and confusion. Sincerely, Barbara Lilley
Name: STEVE QUIST
Subject: RECALL BALLOTS
Message: Pacifica board members, stop stalling! You are violating your own bylaws. Recall ballots should have been mailed by December 30 and it’s now the end of January. Hire a neutral election supervisor NOW and mail the ballots immediately. See our petition on the matter here. And while you are at it, tell KPFA’s interim general manager to stop interfering in this listener election. He is using station resources in a highly partisan and completely unacceptable way. Enough already!
Name: Theresa Dickinson
Subject: Stop stalling
Message: Pacifica board members, stop stalling! You are violating your own bylaws. Recall ballots should have been mailed by December 30 and it’s now the end of January. Hire a neutral election supervisor NOW and mail the ballots immediately. See our petition on the matter here. And while you are at it, tell KPFA’s interim general manager to stop interfering in this listener election. He is using station resources in a highly partisan and completely unacceptable way. Enough already!
Name: Jack Lucero Fleck
Subject: recall vote
Message: Please bring this to a vote. Where is your commitment to democracy and to your own by-laws? –long time listener and financial supporter –Jack Lucero Fleck
Name: David H. Silberman
Subject: KPFA’s future
Message: Questions raised by SaveKPFA are legitimate, reasonable, and deserve both a response and action. I never received a recall ballot nor did I hear an explanation as to why that did not occur. Elections, whether for government or NGO officials should be unencumberred and free from partisan interference; it would appear that is not the case for KPFA.
Name: Damian Cano
Subject: Stop interfering in the listener election, stop stalling.
Message:
Name: Chris
Subject: Recall
Message: Quit the stalling! Hire the election supervisor and send out the ballots for the recall.
Name: Joan and Wallace MacDonal
Subject: Recall election NOW
Message: Democracy at KPFA has disappeared. This is a Listener Sponsored radio station but Pacifica is acting like a dictator. The by-laws clearly require you to hold the recall vote and an outside impartial, independent overseer is needed. And, very important, make good the retirement funds that have not been deposited. A shortfall is absolutely untenable.
Name: Phyllis Willett
Subject: recall vote
Message: Dear Pacific Board Members, As someone who has listened to Pacifica virtually all of my life and who is a significant donor to KPFA*, I write to express my outrage that the members of KPFA have still not received ballots for the recall election. I cannot imagine how you justify the violation of your own bylaws in refusing us the opportunity to vote. Consequently, I join others in demanding that you put the ballots in the mail immediately. Furthermore, I call upon you to order the Interim General Manager at KPFA to cease and desist from his use of station funds to campaign in this process. *In 2011, deeply unhappy and disappointed by the dismantling of the Morning Show and the removal of David Bacon from KPFA’s airwaves, I gave $250 of my annual $1,000 donation to KPFA directly to Democracy Now. If something doesn’t change quickly at KPFA, I will further reduce my financial support in 2012.
Name: Patricia Joanides
Subject: REcall Election Pacifica National Board treasurer and KPFA board member Tracy Rosenberg
Message: Attention: KPFA’s interim general manager and Pacifica and KPFA management Hire a neutral election supervisor NOW and mail the ballots immediately. Stop interfering in this listener election. You are using station resources in a highly partisan and completely unacceptable way. Enough already!
Name: Doni McMillan
Subject: recall election
Message: Pacifica board members, stop stalling! You are violating your own bylaws. Recall ballots should have been mailed by December 30 and it’s now the end of January. Hire a neutral election supervisor NOW and mail the ballots immediately. And while you are at it, tell KPFA’s interim general manager to stop interfering in this listener election. He is using station resources in a highly partisan and completely unacceptable way. Enough already!
Name: Barrie Ann Mason
Subject: Recall election.
Message: Pacifica is making it clear that they know the majority of KPFA listeners are very unhappy with Pacifica management. By postponing the election you are telling us that you fear the democratic process out lined in the by laws. If you really believed that you were doing right by the listener/subscribers, you would go a head with the recall election. This stalling is making it clear that we must bring back local control to KPFA.
Name: Edna Rossenas
Subject: RECALL!
Message:
Name: Edna Rossenas
Subject: RECALL VOTE
Message: I NEVER RECEIVED A BALLOT!
Name: AM
Subject: KPFA
Message: as a member and listener i cannot begin to tell you how disappointed i am in the management.
Name: Renee’ Irons
Subject: recall
Message: Pacifica board members, stop stalling! You are violating your own bylaws. Recall ballots should have been mailed by December 30 and it’s now the end of January. Hire a neutral election supervisor NOW and mail the ballots immediately. And while you are at it, tell KPFA’s interim general manager to stop interfering in this listener election. He is using station resources in a highly partisan and completely unacceptable way. Enough already! Do your job and stop trying to further your personal agenda. You are REPRESENTATIVES–start representing!
Name: Blair Moser
Subject: Stop stalling!
Message: Hold the vote NOW!
Name: Lisa Rothman
Subject: Recall
Message: Dear Pacifica Board Members, I want you to mail the recall ballots in accordance with your bylaws and hire a third party election supervisor. I also found the interim general manager’s report that he sent to all members extremely misleading and divisive. I believe he said that he finds all the infighting exhausting. But his letter was perpetuating it with inaccurate information and spin against union efforts to protect workers. Sincerely, Lisa Rothman
Name: Charlie and Blair Moser
Subject: Hold the vote!
Message: No more stalling!
Name: DALLAS SACHER
Subject: RECALL ELECTION
Message: I have been a faithful contributor to KPFA for many years. I signed the recall petition that is presently pending regarding Ms. Rosenberg. It is my understanding that ballots were to be sent by December 30. They have not been sent. I would request that the ballots be promptly sent and that the votes be immediately tallied and reported by a neutral arbiter.
Name: Tom Figueiredo
Subject: election
Message: Why aren’t you following the bylaws? Isn’t that your duty? Where are recall ballots?
Name: MB
Subject: recall
Message: Let’s get on withthe recall election
Name: ME
Subject: Recall election
Message: Dear Board Members: It’s time to get on with it. KPFA suffers from the perpetual paralysis created by your failure to follow the procedure for conducting a recall election. Unless you can show that the petitions filed are defective in some way, you have an obligation to put a neutral election administrator in place and moving the process forward.
Name: Ben Leet
Subject: recall
Message: Let the debate and vote go forward.
Name: AA
Subject: Save KPFA
Message: Pacifica board members, stop stalling! You are violating your own bylaws. Recall ballots should have been mailed by December 30 and it’s now the end of January. Hire a neutral election supervisor NOW and mail the ballots immediately. See our petition on the matter here. And while you are at it, tell KPFA’s interim general manager to stop interfering in this listener election. He is using station resources in a highly partisan and completely unacceptable way. Enough already!
Name: Philip M. Klasky
Subject: Recall vote
Message: I am withholding any contribution to KPFA until there is a fair and transparent recall vote.
Name: John McDonough
Subject: Recall
Message: Obviously a neutral election supervisor is needed and should be hired immediately. The ballots are long overdue. Something is clearly amiss when KPFA has to engage is a struggle against the foundation which is supposed to support the station.
Name: Stephanie Reader
Subject:
Message: You must hire a truly neutral election supervisor, and see that our recall ballots are mailed ASAP. As an active listener-member since the mid-sixties, I’m sorry to say that Pacifica has betrayed its members trust repeatedly in recent years. Stalling a recall election, and failing to ensure it will be fairly conducted, is yet another disgrace to the ideals Pacifica is supposed to uphold.
Name: DH
Subject: Recall Vote and non-partiality
Message: Please follow through on the recall vote and fair procedures, as outlined in the Pacifica By Laws, regarding the hiring of an impartial supervisor to oversee the recall vote. And to follow through with Pacifica By Laws that limit the role of the kpfa interim manager who must and needs to remain neutral and honest. sincereley, Denise (kpfa listener since 1984 and long time member.)
Name: BW
Subject: Pacifica’s stalling on the recall ballots
Message: If this were a play, Pacifica’s stall tactics would characterize it as the bad guys. This dicotamy isn’t favorable to our image in the media world. stop it at once!
Name: Steven Jenner
Subject: KPFA Changes
Message: As a 30 year subscriber, I am dismayed that the recall ballots have not been mailed. Get this action in motion.
Name: Tom Miller
Subject: Recall Ballot
Message: Alas, KPFA is embroiled in yet another dispute, instead of concentrating its energies at the enemy without. Please do not make it worse by delaying/fighting the recall!
Name: JZ
Subject: Move fwd with the recall process plz!
Message: Pacifica board members, please stop stalling! You are violating your own bylaws. Recall ballots should have been mailed by December 30 and it’s now the end of January. Hire a neutral election supervisor NOW and mail the ballots immediately. See our petition on the matter here. And while you are at it, tell KPFA’s interim general manager to stop interfering in this listener election. He is using station resources in a highly partisan and completely unacceptable way. Enough already!
Name: Nicholas Yuen
Subject: recall election supervision
Message: Dear Pacifica Board, The interest of the Pacifica stations will best be served if the board and its activities are widely accepted as being legitimate. Transparency and impartiality are vital for legitimacy. Accordingly, it is important that the Board appoint an impartial party to oversee the recall election procedure immediately. Nicky Gonzalez Yuen
Name: C. Badran
Subject: Recall vote
Message: Dear Pacifica board members, You need to stop stalling! You are violating your own bylaws. As you know, recall ballots should have been mailed by December 30 and it’s now the end of January. Please hire a neutral election supervisor NOW and mail the ballots immediately. Also, please tell KPFA’s interim general manager to stop interfering in this listener election. He is using station resources in a highly partisan and completely unacceptable way. Thank you, C. Badran
Name: Ellen Augustine
Subject: Hire an election supervisor
Message: It is ironic that KPFA, one of the last bastions of free speech, is not moving forward with the recall election demanded by listeners. Stop stalling and give us members a voice through the election. Please immediately hire an election supervisor so we can move forward.
Name: marci mearns
Subject: Hire a NEUTRAL election supervisor
Message: Hello – First of all – Where is my recall ballot? I know the mail can be slow, but if you mailed mine when you were supposed to, it should have been here weeks ago! Secondly – NEUTRAL election supervisor, please. And enough is enough with interfering with the KPFA LISTENER ELECTION. No more emails, no more distortions, just get on with the process already. I have been a listener for 40 years. Sign me fed up!
Name: Lynne Hollander Savio
Subject: Recall election
Message: To the Pacifica and KPFA management: As a long-time KPFA supporter, I am appalled at the undemocratic way that the Board and KPFA management are running the station. Stop stalling the recall election which, under your own rules, should have had ballots mailed by December 30. Hire a neutral election supervisor immediately and send out the ballots NOW! You have no credibility to run an impartial election. The KPFA general manager needs to stop his interference. KPFA’s continuing loss of income will not be solved by additional fund-raising, because those who would ordinarily give are disgusted and demoralized by the shenanigans of management. Get the recall going now!
Name: David Pearson
Subject: Recall election ballots
Message: Pacifica board members, stop stalling! You are violating your own bylaws. As a long-time KPFA member I strongly object to the way the Rosenberg re-call election is being delayed. Recall ballots should have been mailed by December 30 and it’s now the end of January. Hire a neutral election supervisor NOW and mail the ballots immediately. And while you are at it, tell KPFA’s interim general manager to stop interfering in this listener election. He is using station resources in a highly partisan and completely unacceptable way. Enough already!
Name: Tes Welborn
Subject: Recall Election
Message: Pacifica board members, stop stalling! You are violating your own bylaws. Recall ballots should have been mailed by December 30 and it’s now the end of January. Hire a neutral election supervisor NOW and mail the ballots immediately. See our petition on the matter here. Please stop the Board taking actions where Ms. Rosenberg’s vote is the swing vote. It is no longer valid. Stop assuming you know what’s best for the station, and listen to listeners and their representatives. And while you are at it, tell KPFA’s interim general manager to stop interfering in this listener election. He is using station resources in a highly partisan and completely unacceptable way. Enough already!
Name: John Van Eyck
Subject: Stop Stalling
Message: Pacifica board members, stop stalling! Your highly paid lawyers talk about the sanctity your bylaws even while you violate them. Recall ballots should have been mailed by December 30 and it’s now the end of January. Hire a neutral election supervisor NOW and mail the ballots immediately. And while you are at it, tell KPFA’s interim general manager to stop interfering in this listener election. He is using station resources in a highly partisan and completely unacceptable way. Enough already!
Name: Caryl Esteves
Subject: Stop Stalling!
Message: Pacifica board members, stop stalling! You are violating your own bylaws. Recall ballots should have been mailed by December 30 and it’s now the end of January. Hire a neutral election supervisor NOW and mail the ballots immediately. And while you are at it, tell KPFA’s interim general manager to stop interfering in this listener election. He is using station resources in a highly partisan and completely unacceptable way. Enough already!
Name: ET
Subject: Recall ballots
Message: Ouch! What do we need to do to get a responsible leadership in place at KPFA? The current folks in power appear to be waging a divide and conquer campaign to achieve ultimate results that are not clear. What is clear though, is that there making a big mess of things.
Name: Summer Brenner
Subject: Neutral election supervisor
Message: The RECALL BALLOTS are a month overdue. Please follow your rules and immediately send out ballots. In addition, hiring a neutral election supervisor would reassure your members that things are fair and square. They’ve been anything BUT THAT!
Name: Joan Lichterman
Subject: Recall Ballots
Message: Where are the recall ballots, which according to Pacifica’s by-laws were supposed to be mailed by the end of December. It is now nearly the end of January, and I have yet to receive a ballot. I want to see Pacifica hire a neutral election supervisor NOW and mail the ballots immediately. I also understand, from friends at KPFA, that the interim general is interfering in this listener election and is using station resources to do so. Pacifica is going totally against the grain, and as a listener of many decades I abhor what is going on. I want to receive my ballot now. Joan Lichterman Oakland, CA
Name: frayda garfinkle
Subject: save kpfa
Message: save kpfa
Name: Janine Munson
Subject: KPFA election
Message: Stop stalling the election. The ballots should have been mailed a month ago! Your listeners are fully aware of what you are doing and why. These delay tactics will not gain you anything. Follow your By-Laws. This is not rocket science. Being afraid of the outcome will not change the outcome.
Name: Maribeth Halloran
Subject: start recall process now
Message: Please hire a qualified neutral supervisor to start the recall process now after over 1,000 listener/members of KPFA signed a recall petition. I am a long-time KPFA member and defender of the Pacifica. However, the delay by the Pacifica looks like stalling! hardly a model for a movement committed to democracy.
Name: Ray Wenzel
Subject: Recall Vote
Message: Please get the vote to recall Pacifica treasurer Tracy Rosenberg moving by hiring an election supervisor to fairly oversee the process. KPFA must uphold the democratic ideals that it endorses in our society at large. Sincerely, Ray Wenzel
Name: Paul H. Vinck
Subject: Recall
Message: Stop stalling.
Name: Michael Mage
Subject: Recall Election
Message: I support the recall election and urge you to send out the ballots immediately if not sooner.
Name: Marty Bigos
Subject: Recall Elections & KPFA Manager
Message: As a long-term (40 year) listener & supporter of KPFA I am disappointed at the failure of KPFA’s Board to proceed in a timely manner with the recall election. Over a thousand listeners signed a petition for this, indicating a high level of dissatisfaction and a desire to right things through the recall process. I am very appalled at the current KPFA Station Manager. His dishonest statements and lack of basic arithmetic skills is seriously hurting KPFA. Marty Bigos
Name: Dwayne Eutsey
Subject: Stop Stalling
Message: Let’s get on with it, already: Send out the KPFA recall ballots NOW and hire a neutral election supervisor to ensure that the process is uncompromised and that the vote tally is accurate. Also, tell KPFA’s interim general manager to stop interfering in the election. Dwayne Eutsey
Name: AH
Subject: recall election
Message: It is time to mail the KPFA recall ballots!
Name: michael napp
Subject: Pacifica Board Recall Election
Message: I am one of the members who signed the recall petition, and am insisting that the election be held immediately with an impartial election supervisor/monitor.
Name: Bill Dittmann
Subject: Recall Tracy Rosenberg Petition
Message: Send out the ballot now. We need to get this issue past us, so that we can reform the station and bring back the Morning Show.
Name: Gary Gibbons
Subject: Send the Recall Ballots Now
Message: Send the Recall Ballot Votes now. Restore the democratic operation of Pacifica. These delays in the vote are counter to the operation of open government in Pacifica – a station whose guiding principal has been to present the truth about the issues of the day. How disturbing and ironic that these principals are rejected by the Tracy Rosenberg and the board via your blocking the legitimate rights of Pacifica members to democratically select/reject board members. Gary Gibbons
Name: Stephen Grant
Subject: Recall Ballots
Message: Please mail the recall ballots and conduct the recall election in accordance with the KPFA bylaws. Fairness to both sides demands this. As a listener and KPFA member I am embarrassed over the seemingly petty way in which management has handled this issue. Respectfully, Steve Grant
Name: Jeff Shelby
Subject: Recall
Message: Pacifica board members, stop stalling! You are violating your own bylaws. Recall ballots should have been mailed by December 30 and it’s now the end of January. Hire a neutral election supervisor NOW and mail the ballots immediately. See our petition on the matter here. And while you are at it, tell KPFA’s interim general manager to stop interfering in this listener election. He is using station resources in a highly partisan and completely unacceptable way. Enough already!
Name: Ted Fishman
Subject: Upcoming Election
Message: Pacifica board members, stop stalling! You are violating your own bylaws. Recall ballots should have been mailed by December 30 and it’s now the end of January. Hire a neutral election supervisor NOW and mail the ballots immediately. KPFA’s interim general manager – to stop interfering in this listener election.
Name: Kelley McDonald
Subject: Recall ballot? Where is it?
Message: Having been a longtime sustaining member of KPFA/Pacifica Radio, I am perplexed, after a valid recall petition has been put forth, why has not the ballots been sent to members in a timely manner? Please take this issue up in your upcoming meeting and resolve it a.s.a.p.
Name: Jackie Brookman
Subject: Election
Message: Please stop violating Pacifica’s bylaws and schedule the election. The election must be scheduled without further delay! Bring back democracy to KPFA.
Name: Peter Stanislaw
Subject: Qualified, Impartial Recall Election Supervisor
Message: Pacifica board members, stop stalling! You are violating your own bylaws. Recall ballots should have been mailed by December 30 and it’s now the end of January. Hire a neutral election supervisor NOW and mail the ballots immediately. See our petition on the matter here (http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/pacifica_recall_oversight/). And while you are at it, tell KPFA’s interim general manager to stop interfering in this listener election. He is using station resources in a highly partisan and completely unacceptable way. Enough already!
Name: Marc Gardner
Subject: Recall Ballots
Message: Dear Pacifica, The interim station manager went so far as to write, a couple of weeks ago, that we should be seeing the the recall ballots in our mailbox. Was that an out-and-out lie?
Name: Chinbulai Pra
Subject: Stop Stalling! Mail Out The Ballots NOW!
Message: I am offended that Pacifica has become hypocritical and antithetical to your original mission to “promote cultural diversity and pluralistic community expression, to promote freedom of the press and serve as a forum for various viewpoints, and to maintain an independent funding base.” It seems as if you board members have been doing everything in your power to cause the exact opposite to happen. KPFA is NOT and should NEVER be a corporate sponsored station beholden to the likes of Walmart, BP and GMC. Stop sabotaging your employees and your listeners so that you can fulfill your own personal agendas of greed and corruption. I support KPFA but I don’t support the motives and actions of Pacifica and it’s board members. Pacifica board members need to take some accountability and do the right thing. Mail out those ballots so the voices of the people can be heard! Don’t delay the inevitable.
Name: Karon Fenn
Subject: Save KPFA
Message: You are not following the principles on which this station was founded. Hire a neutral election supervisor to direct the election so this process can proceed fairly.
Name: Barbara
Subject: General Comments re Board and Station
Message: Your interference with staff and the radio programming and programming schedule at KPFA is unconscionable. Al Jazeera is great. But, it is better situated in the evening rather than in the 6AM time slot formerly occupied by “Democracy Now.”You violate free speech. You ignore the wishes of the listeners. You misuse the funds entrusted to you by pledging listeners. You are destroying Pacifica’s flagship radio station – WHY? Are you aiming to be the second coming of Fox News?? The worst decision you’ve made recently is to sanction that Arlene woman to take the Morning Show off the air. With the exception of JR’s Wed. program airing in the morning, the rest of the morning menu is forgettable. I no longer listen. It’s too painful. We don’t hear a range of voices any more. The quality and range of the discussions and general conversation is not as high as it used to be. The Board’s behavior has been so-o-o outrageous, I give you permission to fire yourselves.
Name: Yvonne Steffen
Subject: Recall Vote
Message: Greetings! Please add my name to the long list of faithful listeners who have been asking for a recall. I find that after DEMOCRACY NOW and Amy Goodman, I am turning off KPFA. I did not used to do that. I still miss Aimee and Brian.
Name: Sam Tuttelman
Subject: Recall election
Message: Pacifica board members, stop stalling! You are violating your own bylaws. Recall ballots should have been mailed by December 30 and it’s now the end of January. Hire a neutral election supervisor NOW and mail the ballots immediately. See our petition on the matter here. And while you are at it, tell KPFA’s interim general manager to stop interfering in this listener election. He is using station resources in a highly partisan and completely unacceptable way. Enough already!
Name: Judd Williams
Subject: Where is my ballot?
Message: I am waiting for you to act as you are chartered and send recall ballots to members.
Name: WM
Subject: recall vote
Message: Pacifica board members, stop stalling! You are violating your own bylaws. Recall ballots should have been mailed by December 30 and it’s now the end of January. Hire a neutral election supervisor NOW and mail the ballots immediately. See our petition on the matter here. And while you are at it, tell KPFA’s interim general manager to stop interfering in this listener election. He is using station resources in a highly partisan and completely unacceptable way. Enough already!
Name: pedro lind
Subject: Hire a neutral election supervisor NOW and mail the ballots immediately.
Message: Stop interfering in the listener election. Let the people speak.
Name: David Lynch
Subject: Concerned About Delays
Message: I’ve listened to the KPFA LSB meetings and I’ve heard emotional pleas in support of Tracy Rosenberg and also Andrew Phillips. These pleas indicate that these two are being condemned unfairly, and it is almost convincing, particularly with the support of people like Dennis Bernstein. But here is a question: if Rosenberg and Phillips are really innocent victims, why are you stalling the recall process? If I were innocent, I’d want a fair trial as soon as possible. It may be that the recall election will end up exonerating Rosenberg, and if so we’ll deal with that result. But these delays in my view are damning proof that SaveKPFA’s assertions are right. This combined with earlier SLAPP-style legal actions against Dan Seigel, trying to use every maneuver to keep him from being seated, and also Tracy’s abuses of Roberts Rules of Order (e.g, challenging the chair) when she doesn’t get her way in the LSB vividly show the incumbents true colors.
Name: Zeese Papanikolas
Subject: Recall Election
Message: What’s going on here? Really, what is going on here?
Name: Connie Tyler
Subject: recall election
Message: Please follow your own bylaws and get the recall election for KPFA done immediately. I have tried to be patient and stick with KPFA through this mess, although I have stopped listening to KPFA from 8-9 most mornings. I did give the programmers a chance, but find that most of them are amateurish and immature. At least one is often rude to callers, especially elderly women, which I can’t tolerate. I am a regular monthly contributor, but I am very seriously considering switching to another station and will take my money with me. I have been a very loyal supporter of Pacifica and KPFA in the past. Please don’t let me down. Have the elections immediately and let’s get this problem solved.
Name: JA
Subject: RECALL PETITION
Message: Dear Pacifica Board, Send out ballots for the recall now, and hire a neutral supervisor. Don’t delay any more.
Name: William Ray Yeager
Subject: Get it Over With
Message: Dear Pacifica, This KPFA subscriber was expecting a recall ballot in the mail sometime towards the end of last month. We’re closing in on February and still I see no ballot. Unprofessional conduct is, by definition, not worthy of compensation. Get your act together or lose my financial support. Sincerely, William Ray Yeager
Name: Judith Ward
Subject: Recall Delay
Message: What is the purpose of stalling the recall election? Let’s find out where listeners stand and what they want their station to produce.
Name: Nanct P. Kelly
Subject: Recall Ballots
Message: I along with many other members demand that you send out the ballots for the recall of Traci Rosenberg. Stop stalling!
Name: george pursley
Subject: Recall
Message: Pacifica board members, stop stalling! You are violating your own bylaws. Recall ballots should have been mailed by December 30 and it’s now the end of January. Hire a neutral election supervisor NOW and mail the ballots immediately. See our petition on the matter here. And while you are at it, tell KPFA’s interim general manager to stop interfering in this listener election. He is using station resources in a highly partisan and completely unacceptable way. Enough already!
Name: Effie Dilworth
Subject: send out the ballots
Message: I am one of the listeners who wants to vote on the recall of Tracy Rosenberg. Where is my ballot? We listeners want our station back. –Effie Dilworth
Name: Joseph C. (Jody) Ferguson
Subject: Mail the recall ballots now.
Message: Pacifica board members, I’m distressed that you are bullying my local, independent radio station KPFA in Oakland, canceling its most popular and locally relevant morning show and violating your own bylaws in refusing to allow the election to recall Tracy Rosenberg to occur. I became a regular monthly contributor to KPFA as soon as I moved to the area from Santa Cruz a few years ago and increased my pledge before all of the above happened, in the hopes that KPFA would need fewer pledge drives. Instead, in the most recent year it seems there was a pledge drive every month. You are ruining our station! Please stop stalling the recall — mail the ballots, and while you are at it, tell interim general manager Phillips to stop interfering in the recall election and misusing station resources.
Name: Hali Hammer
Subject: waiting for my ballot
Message: I am still waiting for my recall ballot. It is almost a month overdue. Pacifica should understand due process.
Name: Listener/Supporter Lisa D
Subject: Recall Ballots
Message: Pacifica board members, stop stalling! You are violating your own bylaws. Recall ballots should have been mailed by December 30 and it’s now the end of January. Hire a neutral election supervisor NOW and mail the ballots immediately. See our petition on the matter here. And while you are at it, tell KPFA’s interim general manager to stop interfering in this listener election. He is using station resources in a highly partisan and completely unacceptable way. Enough already!
Name: Bruce McIntosh
Subject: recall
Message: Pacifica board members, stop stalling! You are violating your own bylaws. Recall ballots should have been mailed by December 30 and it’s now the end of January. Hire a neutral election supervisor NOW and mail the ballots immediately. See our petition on the matter here. And while you are at it, tell KPFA’s interim general manager to stop interfering in this listener election. He is using station resources in a highly partisan and completely unacceptable way. Enough already!
Name: Mary Harte
Subject:
Message: I demand that a qualified impartial supervisor be hired immediately to oversee the recall process in a fair manner.
Name: LT
Subject: ballot
Message: Hey there–I’ve been waiting for my ballot for the recall election. Haven’t received it yet. I thought the deadline was December 30, 2011. What’s happening with this? Please send my ballot ASAP. Thanks.
Name: Nancy Unger
Subject: morning show
Message: I have been a loyal listener to the morning show for more years than I can remember. That is my only consistent time to listen to the radio and KPFA’s morning show was my choice to hear. I am shocked and amazed by what is happening to this iconic station that has been serving folks like me for so long. I have been a regular supporter in the past – although I want to continue supporting the station, I do not want to support you who are taking actions so very contrary to all the station and we listeners have stood for for more than 60 years. Pacifica board members, stop stalling! You are violating your own bylaws. Recall ballots should have been mailed by December 30 and it’s now the end of January. Hire a neutral election supervisor NOW and mail the ballots immediately. See our petition on the matter here. And while you are at it, tell KPFA’s interim general manager to stop interfering in this listener election. He is using station resources in a highly partisan and completely unacceptable way. Enough already!
Name: Kathleen Weaver
Subject: expedite vote on recall
Message: Dear Directors, Why are the ballots delayed. People ask me, where is my ballot, I have no idea. I think it is important to institute some sort of order in these matters, some adherence to the laid down procedural directives. Yours sincerely, Kathleen Weaver
Name: Larry Beard
Subject: recall election
Message: Your persistence i n delaying the recall election is very frustrating, petty and indicative of your competence. Follow the rules and hire a neutral election supervisor now.
Name: James KOSS, MD FAAEM
Subject: A FIFTH COLUMN IS DESTROYING KPFA
Message: I donate to hear honest debate and respect fro due processes. I don’t see it.
Name: KMI
Subject: recall ballots
Message: Send the ballots! What’s going on ?
Name: carol mcfarlan
Subject: Rosenberg recall
Message: This is not a political game. This is a serious action backed by more than sufficient signatures. Recall ballots should have been mailed by December 30 and it is the end of January. It is important to hire a neutral supervisor to oversee the recall process and to mail the ballots immediately. The shenanigans employed by certain KPFA/Pacifica figures, including those of the interim station manager, are toxic to public radio. And have done alot of damage to KPFA’s listening audience. There have been many changes under the “watch” of these rogues which have dumbed down the programming and is a great loss to the listening community.
Name: Dana Silvernale
Subject: Recall election for treasurer
Message: Pacifica board members, stop stalling! You are violating your own bylaws. Recall ballots should have been mailed by December 30 and it’s now the end of January. Hire a neutral election supervisor NOW and mail the ballots immediately. See our petition on the matter here. Tell KPFA’s interim general manager to stop interfering in this listener election. He is using station resources in a highly partisan and completely unacceptable way.
Name: Marc Larby
Subject: Recall petition
Message: This effort has been dragging and dragging. A recall has been requested by a significant number of Pacifica members, and we would appreciate a timely resolution. An impartial elections supervisor is needed, and has yet to be appointed. The deadline for mailing out ballots is one month past due. It’s time to allow the members to vote on this so we can put it behind us and move on to more important issues (like keeping the station in good financial shape). Please, push this matter to the front of the agenda this weekend and let’s move on.
Name: BP
Subject: Proceed with recall election!
Message: There needs to be an independent supervisor of this recall. You violate our own bylaws! This is unethical self-dealing. I worry about your endangering Pacifica Tax Exemption. So far, your conduct really undermines arguments against this recall. It is also unethical for employees to make such arguments.
Name: Terry Koch
Subject: Recall election
Message: It is with profound love for all who care deeply about KPFA that I have listened to the different arguements about this recall effort. For me, this effort became important with the outrageous, unilateral, undemocratic, top-down decision to quit the Morning Show ,fire its two excellent hosts and to cut back on time devoted to DemocracyNow. Since that time, I haven’t heard one convincing argument that would make me not want to hold the recall vote but I have heard much to convince me that it must happen soon. Please don’t delay this vote. Let the KPFA listeners decide the direction of their station.
Name: David Blake
Subject: where’s the Rosenberg recall election, huh?
Message: I know sometimes democracy can be a bitch, but the right answer is never less democracy.
Name: Augusto Cardoso
Subject: Why are you afraid?
Message: Pacifica board members, stop stalling! You are violating your own bylaws. Why are you afraid? Recall ballots should have been mailed by December 30 and it’s now the end of January. Hire a neutral election supervisor NOW and mail the ballots immediately. See our petition on the matter http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/pacifica_recall_oversight/. And while you are at it, tell KPFA’s interim general manager to stop interfering in this listener election. He is using station resources in a highly partisan and completely unacceptable way. Enough already! Please stop Tracy Rosenberg from appearing on radio shows. She lies and lies. It’s outrageous. Augusto Cardoso
Name: Rosalie Steward
Subject: violating your own bylaws
Message: As a longtime and loyal listener I am writing to ask you to adher to your own bylaws and make sure the recall ballots are issued promptly and then tallied by a secure and honest source. Something is very fishy here, and in these serious times we need to be able to continue to count on KPFA’s integrity. This unique format which listens to and reflects the community it serves is being threatened by unsound management practices and needs oversight to restore accountability and trust. In a world of same-speak radio KPFA offers a refreshing and revealing alternative to the corporate sound machine. I rely on KPFA for the unique look at news, and community affairs; I LOVE the fantastic and varied music programming. Keep a good thing going please! to reiterate: “Something is happenin here…..what it is isn’t exactly clear….”
Name: Catherine Lowrey
Subject: KPFA Destruction
Message: Please mail the recall ballots. Please return the Morning Show. Please restore KPFA. I miss it.
Name: cheryl smith
Subject: Recall Vote
Message: Please, I urge you to have the recall vote. The ballots should have been sent out. The interim manager at KPFA is violating the election rules. Please have the vote immediately. Thank you.
Name: Jack Lieberman
Subject: recall election
Message: What is with the illegal delay?
Name: EAL
Subject: Stop playing around!
Message: Dear Pacifica board members: PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE stop stalling! You are violating your own bylaws. Do you think we are all stupid? We are watching you! Recall ballots should have been mailed by December 30 and it’s now the end of January. Hire a neutral election supervisor NOW and mail the ballots immediately. See our petition on the matter here. And while you are at it, tell KPFA’s interim general manager to stop interfering in this listener election. He is using station resources in a highly partisan and completely unacceptable way. Enough already! Again, we are watching you!
Name: Eugene Spake
Subject: the recall vote
Message: My wife and I have been supporters of KPFA since 1957 and we are just appalled at the petty, illegal and anti-democratic behavior of of the people who claim to be “in charge” these days. What is the problem? Is it that some among you are really in league with traditional enemies of KPFA? Or is it that some of you are so dulled-down by ideological stiffness and nit-picking, along with ego problems… that you do not understand how this behavior is destroying what a lot of people have built….over many decades. There has always been some division over issues, which is somewhat expected, but that never so completely threatened KPFA’s very existence. Stop the stiff-arming and do what you are obligated to do. Mail out the recall ballots.
Name: Teresa Paris
Subject: Please conduct the re-call election of Tracy Rosenberg
Message: I received information that ballots were supposed to be mailed out by the end of Dec. 2011. It looks very bad not to follow through on a mandated election. This activity is supposed to go according to the rules. Someone impartial to the different interests/factions of KPFA/Pacifica needs to monitor the whole process. Please explain why this has not happened yet
Name: Georgia Keeran
Subject: Recall ballots
Message: Please show us all that you are able to proceed with the recall process in an ethical and honest manner. So far, all you have demonstrated is that when we, the listener/supporters, of KPFA do not do what you want, you are unwilling to proceed in a professional and respectful manner. Please mail the recall ballots NOW.
Name: MORTON, Mary Kinder
Subject: Recall ballots and IGM’s lack of integrity
Message: Please tell us what part of this election recall balloting you do not understand. It is obvious that you “management” folks are running scared, because you know that you are in a heap of trouble. Give it up and leave our station so you can sleep at night again. Thousands of loyal, listening audience never asked for you folks to try to take over the station and we are not about to let you do that any time soon. We will fight you and your corruption and there are many, many more of us than there are of you. The members will decide what’s important and how to run this radio station, that is if there is anything left of representative democracy in this country.
Name: Charlene Woodcock
Subject: Send out the recall ballots!
Message: Pacifica board: The KPFA bylaws have been broken by your failure to send out recall ballots by December 30. It is past time to bring in a neutral election supervisor and schedule the recall election called for by a petition signed by more than 1000 listeners. When the interim management so arrogantly disregards the wishes of a majority of listeners (most egregiously in removing our highly valued Morning Show with Brian Edwards-Tiekert and Aimee Allison), how can you expect us to continue our financial support? Or is this a veiled effort to wreck the station financially?
Name: Sandra Lessenden
Message: I am waiting for the recall election. Why haven’t the ballots been mailed yet? Hire a neutral election supervisor now, and mail the ballots. It’s outrageous that the Board is delaying this. The gutting of the Morning Show was a very bad decision, and the person responsible needs to be held accountable. Sandra Lessenden (long-time listener and subscriber)
Name: L Darlene Pratt
Message: I do not understand why I have not received my recall ballot? This should have been done at the end of December. Please hire a neutral election supervisor so that our voices can be heard and counted! Thank you. L. Darlene Pratt
Name: Richard Savini
Subject: Proceed with elections
Message: Pacifica board members, stop stalling! You are violating your own bylaws. Recall ballots should have been mailed by December 30 and it’s now the end of January. Hire a neutral election supervisor NOW and mail the ballots immediately.
Name: Melinda Cespedes
Subject: Recall Election
Message: Recall ballots are overdue! They were to be mailed by December 30th. Please hire a neutral election supervisor and mail the ballots ASAP.
Name: Evelyn Howard
Subject: KPFA
Message: Stop the political bickering and hire an impartial person to look at the affair.
Name: agustin gonzalez
Message: Pacifica, I have been a member of this station for many years, but have been very disapointed by the way management has IGNORED its members. Please stop calling this a listener runned station, because it is not. Please accept the recall petition presented by its members.
Name: Amy and Tom Vaens
Subject: move forward with the recall!
Message: Dear Pacifica Board Members: Remember the LISTENER SPONSORED part of Pacifica, and get that participation going now. Hire a neutral election supervisor and mail the ballots. These divisive issues make Pacifica weaker at a moment when we need her voice to be strong. The interim manager at KPFA is not helping matters with his partisanship. Your inaction is inexcusable. Amy and Tom Valens, listener sponsors since 1971
Name: SB
Subject: concerned about recall ballot
Message: Dear National Board members; I understand that the recall ballots should have been mailed by December 30 and it’s now the end of January. I request that someone hire a neutral election supervisor to see that the ballots are mailed immediately. Please ask KPFA’s interim general manager to stop interfering in this listener election. … I have been a listener and supporter since 1960 and am sorely disappointed with the ending of the morning show & the new program lacks the high quality content and presentation of the prior show hosts.
Name: Ford Greene
Subject: Where are the recall ballots?
Message: Come on, come on. Every day we here how democratic KPFA considers itself to be. But that’s just lip jive. Get out the ballots for the recall election. Quit violating your own by-laws.
Name: WC
Subject: Recall election
Message: Please follow Pacific’s rules and hold the recall election ASAP.
Name: Laurie Rubin
Subject: recall now
Message: Start the recall election now!
Name: Linda Shekinah
Message: Pacifica board members, stop stalling! You are violating your own bylaws. Recall ballots should have been mailed by December 30 and it’s now the end of January. Hire a neutral election supervisor NOW and mail the ballots immediately. See our petition on the matter here. And while you are at it, tell KPFA’s interim general manager to stop interfering in this listener election. He is using station resources in a highly partisan and completely unacceptable way. Enough already!
Name: Dolores Taller
Subject: Implement the Recall
Name: CG
Subject: Recall Election
Message: The recall election is drastically overdue. If the interim manager cannot manage to send out ballots, he is unfit to manage anything. An impartial party should be found to take care of this task, and then to count the votes. It is totally unfair for the interim manager to use the mailing list for his own lobbying purposes. It is also unfair for current KPFA workers to be stifled from speaking their opinions on air when Phillips allows a caller on his side to speak in angry tones on air about their opinions. This happened one morning on the morning mix, a program that I rarely hear anymore, as it is so rough, and one-sided. Please bring back the morning show, with Amy Allison. She and her co-host were civilized, informative, and interesting. I miss the Morning Show.
Name: Robert-Harry Rovin
Subject: Recall Ballots
Message: Hire a neutral election supervisor immediately and mail recall ballots NOW!
Name: EP
Subject: recall oversight
Message: Greetings. Just a quick note to say you, and in particular Mr. Phillips, really should get on with organising an impartial vote.
Name: Dianne Buchignani
Message: I am a long-time listener and subscriber to KPFA. Over a month ago I was informed that there would be a recall election, and told to inform the station if I did not receive a ballot. I did not receive a ballot, and informed the station, but have heard nothing since. It is imperative that an impartial election supervisor be hired and make this election happen immediately. If you don’t make this happen quickly, it makes it difficult to believe in KPFA as the (last) upholder of our beliefs.
Name: Melinda Stone
Subject: Please Send Ballots already!!!
Message: I have been a KPFA member for the past 10 years & have faithfully contributed because I’d thought that the station was worth supporting – I even put KPFA in my Will. Since Brian Edwards Tiekert & Aimee Allison & the Morning Show were removed I have been steadily reducing my donations & if this nonsense continues I will completely remove my support, which saddens me to no end. How can you do this to a station which has historically been so essential to informing, educating & networking the politically progressive communities of the World? …
Name: Howard Mueller
Subject: KPFA Recall Election
Message: This is one more request from a long-time listener and sometime supporter to get on with the KPFA ballot process, and get the recall ballots out NOW! Stop the delays, stop violating your bi-laws, and stop mis-using the limited resources available to KPFA to interfere with this election. Get on with it, people! And please get on with installing a truly neutral, respected third-party supervisor to monitor this election! Your behavior to date has been deplorable.
Name: BC
Subject: recall ballots
Message: Kindly get on with this election so KPFA can get on with the business of running and providing a great radio station…..stalling with the ballots just does not suffice….thank you …Bridget
Name: Teresa Scherzer
Subject: Stop delays re recall elections!
Message: Pacifica board members, stop stalling! You are violating your own bylaws. Recall ballots should have been mailed by December 30 and it’s now the end of January. Hire a neutral election supervisor NOW and mail the ballots immediately. See our petition on the matter here. And while you are at it, tell KPFA’s interim general manager to stop interfering in this listener election. He is using station resources in a highly partisan and completely unacceptable way. Enough already!
Name: JB
Message: KPFA– Stop stalling on the recall! (and bring back Aimee Alison!)
Name: kathy lipscomb
Subject: the election!
Message: I’ve been waiting for my ballot for almost a month. Not sending out the ballots can only hurt the most fundamental values of the station, not to mention its reputation Come on — do the right thing. Thanks for listening.
Name: Lorie Brillinger, CNM
Subject: stop delaying the Recall vote!
Name: Kate Gowen
Subject: Anti-democratic, unethical, and illegal PNB actions
Message: To the members of the Pacifica National Board, individually and collectively– The longer and more stubbornly you contravene the will of the people who fund the station– the listener-sponsors– the more enmity and opposition you accrue. If you don’t care about the former, have a thought for the latter. Make no mistake– there will be funds redirected by angry and savvy listener-sponsors, from station contributions that you can highjack, to legal opposition to your coup. Determinedly, Kate Gowen
Name: Frank Pinto
Subject: Stop Stalling
Message: Pacifica does a great job overall covering other people’s struggles in the world. This is important5 work, useful to all of us. But it is equally important that Pacifica function in regard to it’s own workers with the integrity and transparency it fights for in the rest of the world. In the long run, that integrity is the only thing that will keep you on course. Please stop the corporatist games, appoint an impartial supervisor and mail the ballots. Thank you, Frank Pinto
Name: David J. Romano
Subject: Recall election
Message: If you don’t want the recall election why don’t you just fire Tracy Rosenberg? That will work just as well.
Name: PIH
Subject: recall
Message: It’s time Pacifica was responsive to KPFA listeners. So far it has shown a remarkable disregard & contempt for our wishes & best interests over the years. This latest issue is but another example. We wish for a recall as soon as possible.I would ask that the board stops stalling & hires a neutral election supervisor & immediately lail the ballots. I would demand that KPFA’s interim manager cease misusing the station’s money in his attempt to obstruct the wishes of the listeners in regard to this recall. I would think illegal & certainly prejudicial to our interests
Name: Bernie Alie
Subject: recall NOW!
Message: Pacifica board members, you are violating our bylaws. Recall ballots should have been mailed by December 30 and it’s now the end of January. Hire a neutral election supervisor NOW and mail the ballots immediately. What’s the holdup?
Name: Gene Alward
Subject: Delay of recall election
Message: Justice delayed is justice denied. By your delaying tactics you are jeopardizing not only KPFA, but all of Pacifica. It’s time for the Pacifica board to recognize the value of fundamental decency. Try it. You might like it.
Name: Robin Gregory
Message: Pacifica board members, you are exhibiting obvious stalling tactics which are in violation of your own bylaws. I was expecting a recall ballot by the end of December, 2011; however, at this late date, 1/28/12, this has yet to be received. You must hire a neutral election supervisor without further delay, and mail out the ballots. The interim general manager must cease and desist with interference in this election. I have been contributing to this station for over 10 years. Since there are many non-profits in need of funds, you should demonstrator to your listenership that you are listening to them! Should we direct our contributions elsewhere?
Name:Frances Goff
Subject: KPFK Sympathizer
Message: We down here in Southern California have already been through our “General Manager from Hell” period, over 10 years ago. We want KFPA to get past theirs as well.
Name: LY
Subject: Stop delaying Recall
Message: The listeners have spoken and want a recall of staff who are hurting this radio station. Please proceed and lets get the recall going. Thanks.
Name:Christine Hanson
Subject: where is my ballot?
Message: I never got one. Please send it. Oh, Oh! I see: Pacifica board members, stop stalling! You are violating your own bylaws. Recall ballots should have been mailed by December 30 and it’s now the end of January. Hire a neutral election supervisor NOW and mail the ballots immediately. See our petition on the matter here. And while you are at it, tell KPFA’s interim general manager to stop interfering in this listener election. He is using station resources in a highly partisan and completely unacceptable way. Enough already! Get your butts in gear.
Name: T.B.
Subject: stop destroying KPFA programming
Message: KPFA could always be relied upon for exposing the truth when other news outlets barely acknowleged what was happening. Now it seems KPFA is being destroyed and people are being punished for speaking the truth at the very radio station itself. I am very angry at this shocking change in the morning news and in other arts programs recently. I demand this nonsense end now. Bring back the morning news, stop the attacks against the union and be the KPFA you are supposed to be.
Name: Jorge G. Martinez
[To Pacifica/KPFA management]: Have you ANY shame? If so, cease and desist AND resign. Otherwise, resign yourselves to the onslaught of listener resistance that your onerous and reprehensible actions will bring about.
Name: Janine Munson
Stop ruining the programming and stop firing your Union workers. Listeners like myself, my family and my friends will leave if you continue to behave as you have. That’s not a threat that’s a fact.
Your Name: KW
Subject: Morning Show
Message: The Morning Show needs to be reinstated. What were you thinking? The current programing seems to be all interns, and it is obvious. The Morning show was real news. It needs to be reinstated!
Name: Susan Bradford
Arlene, Andrew, Carrie and the Pacifica Board, What in the world do you think you are doing? Why are you devastating this station? Please stop! Have you been paid by the Right Wing Tea Party to destroy KPFA? Because that’s what it feels like. I want this station to continue but what you are doing is destroying it. You are supposed to listening to the member listeners, you are not. Lew Hill is shaking his fists at you. I don’t know who is behind all this but STOP doing your damage and actually… go away!
Name: mary gidley
Subject: sad and bad decisions
Message: I don’t like it and I don’t get it. Recently I have been listening to KPFA less and less. I have sent KPFA a check every time there is a fund drive, but first it was the Morning Show, now more changes that I don’t support. I always used to have my radio tuned to KPFA all the time. Not anymore. Are you trying to kill the station (that I have listened to and supported for approximately 35 years). Do you expect me to keep sending checks when you make all these bad decisions. Forget it. I’m angry and sad about what you’re doing.
Name: DM
Subject: Start listening to KPFA supporters and staff
Message: I have been a supporter of KPFA for years. I went from a basic membership to a sustaining member and have now gone back to a basic member making a significantly smaller annual donation because I simply don’t listen as much. Also I give to other stations. Yes the music programming is still quite good. Yes Hard Knock Radio remains a solid show and the only consistently positive part of the Morning Mix The Block Report (which I can hear on other programs) is good. But the insightful news and commentary that was a part of every morning show on the Morning Show is gone. Instead of interesting and challenging programs and programmers I hear lots of Andrew and Arlene. This is a travesty of public radio. It is cronyism and private agendas over good radio and interesting programming. Stop destroying KPFA. Listen to the listeners, listen to the supporters.
Your Name: Rasa Gustaitis Moss
Subject: kpfa program changes
Message: The actions of the interim managers run completely counter to the traditions and standards of KPFA. They must resign.
Name: S.S.
Subject: Implosion at KPFA
Message: After about 15 years of daily, multi-program listening and small but consistent contributions at every fund drive, I have stopped listening to KPFA entirely. Basically, ever since the mysterious and non-listener-supported cancellation of the Morning Show, it has been clear that those with power at the station or Pacifica don’t care what I and huge numbers of listeners think. It’s a shame. I would return to listening if all this were mediated and reversed.
Your Name: Ed Treuting
Subject: Long past “Enough is Enough”!!!
Message: I have been a listener and supporter of KPFA for most of the last 38 years, and especially in recent years, a fairly generous supporter, I might add. But I am sick and tired of my favorite radio station being ruined by the out-of-control band of political hacks headed by Arlene Engelhardt, and her cronies on the National Board, and her local lackies, Andrew Phillips, and Carrie Core. It is long past time for the three of you to resign, and let us have our radio station back!!! And stop your personal vendettas against those who speak out on the air, like Mitch, John, Eileen, and David, while you put your allies and cronies in positions to publicly promote your aims. KPFA has always stood for Free Speech Radio. But now, one must ask, Free Speech for whom? And under what conditions? If, and only if, one touts the Pacifica line, I think! A disgusted long-time listener/supporter!
Your Name: LK
Subject: Hand’s off our programming, PLEASE
Message: I’ve listened to kpfa since the 70s. I dont’ agree with all the various views expressed but have a deep appreciation for the depth and breadth for the programming. I am alarmed by what has been happening in the last year. The kpfa I know and love and support is a mess. I don’t listen as much as I used to because I am disappointed. Disappointed not necessarily because there is something new or a program has been replaced but just plain disappointed in the quality and diversity and leadership. Please stop what you are doing and reassess the situation. thank you.
Name: Jo Ann Mandinach
Subject: KPFA Nonsense /David Gans
Message: I DEMAND THE RESIGNATIONS of managers Engelhardt, Phillips and Core, whose $210,000 in salaries KPFA listeners cannot afford. Those funds should support the programming KPFA listeners pay to hear, not an incompetent bureaucracy that is canceling the best programs, issuing gag rules against staff, and spending donations on anti-union consultants. Bring back the essential Morning Show, don’t chop Uprising, and stop destroying our station! Stop trying to intimidate and silence David Gans, you fools. Without him your audience numbers would be even worse!
Your Name: agustin gonzalez
Subject: Programing at KPFA
Message: I am a PAYING member that has voted to elect my representitives. So why do the Pacifica managers take it upon themselves to change programming WITHOUT the consultation of its members or elected representatives. Do paying members have a voice in this community radio?
Name: David Durbin
Subject: KPFA
Message: We need our station back. lets have a vote and change the managers. I have been a supporter for over 40 years we want the old morning show back.
Your Name: BR
Subject: recent changes
Message: I have no idea how you came up with the Morning Mix that has no relevance for me. That and other changes make it difficult and really impossible for me to continue to support KPFA. I know I’m not alone in these feelings. It’s time to listen to viewers or leave KPFA before it dies from lack of support.
Name: Norie Clarke
Subject: A lost listener to KPFA forced to listen to corporate supported KQED
Without the anchor program of the Morning Show, to wake me up in the morning, I only sporadically listen to KPFA throughout the day avoiding ever more programming with the decisions being made by Andrew Phillips. And now with Dennis allowed to make his inflammatory remarks during fundraising, I avoid his program as well. He seems to be taking his rheotric from the tea partiers, and he is not reprimanded for divisive and abusive rhetoric. I am not a long time listener by our member standards, but upon my discovery of the station have become passionate. With my beloved country having become a plutocracy, I can only believe that the corporate tenticles that have tried to infiltrate other NGOs in this country, are perpetuating a devious end run against the powerful voice of Pacifica and most importantly KPFA. We must remove the bloated salaries, and dictatorial powers of Phillips, Core, and Engilhart which are being used to bleed dry the resources, community spirit and open voice of KPFA. Bring back The Morning Show, and don’t chop Uprising.
Name: Audrey Kolb
Subject: UNITY
I lived in California during the first management crisis when Pacifica tried to take over. I have since moved to Oberlin, Ohio and, unfortunately, it seems the same horrible communication skills are in place; Pacifica has learned nothing. It takes a village to run a radio station — and that includes listener participation. Please show some common sense, some intelligence — both emotionally and intellectually — and the skills it takes to run a successful, co-operative and diverse radio station such as KPFA. We all want KPFA to survive. Thank you.
Name: MW
Subject: Don’t like the proposed changes at KPFA
I listen to Democracy Now! every day at 9am while I’m at work. I strongly oppose removal of Democracy Now from that time slot. I listen to Flashpoints, which in my opinion is the best show on KPFA, every day when I’m driving home from work. Were it not for Flashpoints I would be so much less informed about world politics. Please don’t move it to the 8am time slot!
Your Name: janet moore
Subject: morning show
Message: You lose us every morning after Amy Goodman from 7-8 AM. We switch to music and then forget to tune in the wonderful Mitch Jeserich in a timely manner. Bring back the OLD Morning Show. Janet Moore
Name: Laurence White
Subject: NO to Pacifica Board running KPFA content!
This is completely unacceptable and likens to Corporate dictatorial censorship! Hopefully in this age of information, on a grass roots level, the people will unify and rise up against this! WE the people will not support the underhanded Pacifica corporate plan!
Name: Sheldon Warren
Subject: Program Changes
Stop changing KPFA program schedule, return THE MORNING SHOW & NO CORPORATE SPONSORSHIP.
Name: EM
Subject: Democracy Now
I just heard the good news that Pacifica will be restoring Democracy Now to its 9:00 hour. Just in time as this was the final straw as I was prepared to boycott this station. Now if only you would bring back the Morning Show, your base of listeners would surely increase and my loyalty to the station would be restored.
Name: carol mcfarlan
Subject: KPFA
I’m a long time listener and contributor to KPFA (about $500 in 2010), here to protest what is being done to KPFA. My contributing attitude to much beloved KPFA changed when Englehart demolished the Morning Show, a hands down listener favorite; then proceeded to spend just about the same amount pledged by enthusiastic supporters of the show, on lawyers to legally defend her dishonest position. Meanwhile 60+ thousand dollars await KPFA on condition the Morning Show is returned, which she who muddies the waters, Rosenberg, claims doesn’t exist. I pledged to that fund and intend to honor that pledge. So to date, there has been nearly 100k pledged to support the Morning Show. That the most popular and most contributed to KPFA show was the first thing dissed, indicates to me that this virus at KPFA struck at the heart, aiming to disable. I am concerned that excellent investigative journalism has been suppressed. I’ve heard the in your face newest interim manager interviewed here and there and as a result feel he’s an Englehart clone and thus could not be good for KPFA. Meanwhile we suffer a Pacifica board member turning orderliness into chaos in a flash. My vote is NO to corporate “donations”; YES to returning the excellent Morning Show; NO to the proposed programming musical chairs. No matter what time the “morning Mix” shows up, I personally won’t listen to it. It’s not the quality we were used to. And for interim management to think it prudent to drop the later slot for Democracy Now indicates an appalling lack of care for what listeners want. I will continue to contribute to KPFA, but not during any marathon, part of which goes to Pacifica. I will contribute directly to KPFA. Carol McFarlan
Name: virginie falquerho
Subject: Haven’t tuned in KPFA since
Since that one morning where it wasn’t the The morning I woke up and did not recognize the voices on the air, i thought I had accidentally change the station but no, as unbelievable as it seems, the Morning Show had been canceled. I usually don’t care that much about that sort of changes but this time, it affected me deeply. The Morning show was my main source of information as well as a show that made me think, do research about certain topics, made me question what the mainstream was promoting. The Morning Show helped me feel ore connected to the community where I live by interviewing local activists and so forth. I turned on KPFA the few days following this outrageous decision because I thought for sure the decision would be reversed. When I realized it didn’t, I never tuned in again. I also stopped my modest donation which I used to send as a thank you for my favorite show. This decision was so obviously politically motivated it is RIDICULOUS to try to mention budget issues.
Name: Roger Zimmerman
Subject: The “Bad Old Days”
This is beginning to look more and more like the bad old days when we were fighting to remove the PNB members and N.O. staff complicit in trying to keep all of Pacifica as merely a megaphone for the Republicrat Party! (1999-2003) Let’s all be clear about this! — WE DO NOT WANT TO RELIVE THOSE DAYS OR — REPLAY THOSE AWFUL RESOURCE-DRAINING AND EMOTIONALLY ABUSIVE BATTLES! AND — WE NEED TO MOVE FORWARD! WE NEED TO KEEP THE MOST ACTIVIST-SUPPORTING, HARDEST-HITTING, MOST ‘RADICAL’ PROGRAMS ON THE AIR! WE’VE ALL SEEN HOW THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATIONS (Pacifica’s and the Oligopolicrat’s) have been systematically removing those who speak for the ‘voiceless’ and disenfranchised! THIS SEEMS TO be happening again! The world, and especially the US of North America are hungry, searching for NEW directions, Forward Motion! — rather than the ‘same old crap’! Please — help KPFA, all the Pacifica Stations, and affiliates, be part of the ‘cutting edge’ of the media revolution!, rather than the ‘safe irrelevant’ entertainment tail! In Solidarity, Love, and Peace, Roger Z, LA!
Name: Stanley Poss
Subject: Stoopid Changes
Message: I thought Andrew Phillips sounded OK when he came on the job but I see he’s another of those dumb administrators who’re operating apparently in accord with the benighted policies of the National Board and Arlene Engelhardt and Co. If there’s a good reason for these proposed changes let’s hear them. And why’re the new bosses adamantly opposed to the return of the Morning Show?
Name: Gabe
Subject: KPFA Morning Show
Message: Restore the morning show! RESTORE THE MORNING SHOW!!! Did you hear me? If not, see above- Where is the show where REAL truth is told and not just “the news”? I am not interested in FOX, ABC,NBC, or CNN, I want news from my beloved morning show- The claims that it was costing to much is not the truth because the donations it brought far exceeded expense to air the program. Bring it back! BRING BACK THE MORNING SHOW!! NOW!!!!
Name: carolyn cobb
Subject: return morning show
Message: now that pacifica and kpfa management has realized that listeners do not want morning mix, they MUST return the MORNING SHOW and Democracy Now to their former slots, in the 6-10am period. AlJezeera is great, BUT it needs to be on when it is broadcast, or close to the time, not the next day!!! Moving Hard knock with mainly youth audience to early morning when the are either in school or sleeping is ridiculous…you will lose them and the regular adult listeners and their MONEY by placing this show in the morning. Flashpoints is also a high energy afternoon or evening show, drive time….not a morning program!! And, if why would you put a call in show on during this slot? commuters will not be able to call in anyway. If you are changing the 11-12 am show to 12-130, what will happen to the 1-2pm shows? and why move the 12-1 show back, when its listeners are on lunch breaks listening and subscribing. Everything about this new schedule sounds as if it is planned to cut even more donations from the station, by programming shows during times that the natural audiences for those programs will NOT be listening….and now, taking corporate money…is this another opportunity to sell the station or turn it into some shell of itself? the MORNING SHOW and Democracy Now were and are the best fund raisers for the station! Why mess with success??!! by the way, i tuned in to hear DN this morning a little early and heard the mix announcer whining about not being liked (maybe one shouldn’t become a public figure if you are that thin skinned) and if the Mix was more professional, as the MORNING SHOW WAS, then maybe there wouldn’t be complaints or decreased listeners and donations! And I am offended that she would have made this a race issue, when the still laid off MORNING SHOW person, Aimee Allison, is a person of color!!! This is divisive and offensive. before all of this, I had made occasional extra donations when i had the money, but i won’t be doing that any more, so you have gotten your wish…turning KPFA into something else all together.
Name: CJ Kingsley
Subject: Free Reporting = Free Press
Message: Without influenced, politically and/or commercially pressured investigation and reporting, there is no meaning to Free Press. When I was born in 1944, there were MANY SOURCES of investigative journalism. Now there are 2 and KPFA. In 2012, will there be 1 or 2?
Name: Merrily and Fred Davies
Subject: Program changes
Message: As long time listeners and contributors to Pacifica, we wish to express our concern at the machinations of executive director, Arlene Engelhardt, and her recent interim general manager and interim program director appointments at the KPFA station. The yet further proposed programming changes by these johnny-come-latelys without any apparent input from anyone else appears to further underscore their total contempt for the majority of the listeners and staff and also, at least in part, appears to have political motivations. We have always previously enjoyed the KPFA morning line-up, and we strongly urge the restoration of the excellent two hour morning show, followed by Democracy Now at 9 AM and Letters and Politics at 10 AM. We have been especially appreciative of Brian Edwards-Tiekert, who is one of the most intelligent and articulate voices on the radio. In passing, we would mention that we are aghast to learn that Ms Engelhardt and her appointee, Andrew Phillips, are not averse to considering corporate underwriting for Pacifica in the future. We realize that these are hard economic times, but it is obvious that these individuals either do not know, or worse, are prepared to undermine the basic precepts of Pacifica and its founder Lou Hill. Thank you for your consideration, Fred and Merrily Davies
Name: BW
Subject: bones
Message: Feels like the Pacifica managers are throwing bones to us with the restoration of Amy Goodman and the correction of election results! Show some intelligence & return the Morning Show! Plus I feel there are few who will want to hear Dennis or his cohorts in the morning!!! Corporate funding??? No. Illegal? but perhaps local allies could work out in small sponsorships. There are other worthy institutions for me to support! Sounds like you might be cutting off your own paycheck.
Name: Mary sepulveda
Subject: KPFA
Message: Do NOT do anything to Democracy Now. I am STILL WAITING for the MORNING SHOW to come back with ALL of it’s staff. And PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, say NO to corporate funding. It’s a VIOLATION.
Name: Hollace Miller
Subject: KPFA
Message: Pacifica hands OFF KPFA, NO CORPORATE FUNDING. Keep Democracy Now.
Name: Jeanne Furstoss
Subject: save kpfa
Message: I have unplugged my tv. I no longer subscribe to my local newspaper and the ny times is even on my out list. kpfa is the reliable news i trust. kpfa is the people’s stations. not the arm of corporate america. please, keep kpfa vibrant and alive.
Name: Mike Leonard
Subject: Program Shuffling
Message: There should be no reason to shuffle the integral programs, ‘Hard Knock Radio’ and ‘Flashpoints’. Both are aired, respectively, at optimal times for large audiences tuning in. This goes, as well– without question– for the 9 am broadcast of ‘Democracy Now!’. As an employee of SFUSD, my commuting time correlates with the afternoon programs, and the content I miss during the 7 am show, I know I can catch two hours later if needed. All three of these programs are critical to the foundation of OUR local community radio station, KPFA. They provide such rich, inclusive, insightful, and knowledgable content. I reference unlimited amounts of the information in conversations with friends, family, colleagues, and in my community. Do not make an un-wise business decision by creating a less interesting product. On that note, I must express my annoyance at and disregard for Adrian Lobby’s farewell address today on the ‘Morning Mix’. I will not attack her personally, but I will state that I will not miss her. Professionally, she was too often insensitive, unprepared, and unknowing. In regards to her instructions, on air, to “ignore” those in the KPFA community who hope for clarity and openness throughout this labor process, and further pontification, was utterly shameful. Not to mention the orchestrated emotive playing of “We Shall Over Come.” Really? It is enough that we have to listen to Englehardt and Phillips take over the airwaves to editorialize, yet Lobby’s blatant disregard for listeners’ intelligence and awareness of the situation at OUR community radio station is too much. I respect volunteers who assist KPFA, on-air and otherwise. But, do not continue to supplant trained, collective, and local professionals with replacements under the guise of financial hardship. We, as listeners and a community, are not going to fall for it. Mike Leonard S-10 Paraprofessional, SFUSD, UESF Local 61
Name: Dean Pasvankias
Subject: Pacifica Governance and KPFA
Message: As a long-time supporter of KPFA(and before that of WBAI when I lived in N.Y.,) I was shocked to learn that corporate advertising(a.k.a. “sponsorships)were being accepted.Does the 60 year mission-and independence- of Pacifica mean nothing to the Pacifica Board? Second, the senseless games played-or attempted- with KPFA programs and on-air staff would be comical in their ineptness, except for the damage done to KPFA. If you are not just attempting to undo the invaluable work of Pacifica during the last 60 years, then it is time to halt these activities, and consult carefully with the Pacifica community-the people who make-up Pacifica- before anything else is attempted .
Name: Tom Figueiredo
Subject: Don’t destroy free speech
Message: I have listened to kpfa for over 40 years. It is the only station that is not corporate owned or controlled. The whole rest of the American media is pro corporate and if not privatised, then controlled by their donors like NPR and PBS. Can’t we radical socialists have Just one station? One bastion of freedom? Do you have to take it all? If you are not OK with that go work for another type of station.
Name: Mary Dosch
Subject: programming changes & corporate funding
Message: I respectfully urge you to CEASE AND DESIST from attempts to change programming that has been long-established & which KPFA listeners/supporters strongly support, such as switching Flashpoints to the morning. Also, the idea of accepting corporate funding to me sounds like the beginning of the end of the whole basis for KPFA & the whole Pacifica network. (Or, is that what you have in mind???) I have supported KPFA for many years & of late have given more than I could reasonably afford. However, if you start accepting corporate funding I doubt that I’ll feel inclined to support or even listen anymore.
Name: Sonja Dale
Subject: KPFA program changes
Message: Board Members and Managers, Democracy Now, Flashpoints and Hard Knock Radio are programs that hundreds of listeners depend upon in their current time slots. If they were to be moved, it would make sense to move them one hour or two forward or backward, but moving them to time slots so many hours away, does not take the listeners into account and could prove to be potentially financially disastrous to a station that needs new ideas that support its growth. There must be intelligent thought put into the station’s actions. Listeners who support the station financially need to be respected and consulted. Consideration for listeners and staff suggests professionalism, a principle that KPFA seems to have forgotten. You need customer confidence and loyalty. It will outlast underwriting from major corporations. The customers must have faith in the product. Sincerely, Sonja Dale, 20 years listener
Name: Rick Herbert
Subject: Programming changes
Message: I have vainly tried to maintain an observer mentality and hoped there were plausible explanations for the myriad changes that have afflicted KPFA. I can no longer maintain a neutrality because of the lack of grounded explanations as to why the Morning Show was canceled or the recent shuffle of Democracy Now to alternative time slots. The only plausible explanations being expounded are those of SAVEKPFA. I have asked more than once for an explanation that could contextualize how the best fundraiser for KPFA and the program with the best fundraising results could be canceled and staff laid off. No response! I even spoke with Ms. Englehardt on the phone and while encouraging her in doing a difficult job heard NO explanation for changes she’s instituted. What is going on?!? I’ve pledged additional monies should the Morning Show be reinstated and Amy Allison brought back with Bryan Edwards-Tieckert. Why no public explanation for not accepting these monies? The only reasonable conclusion I can draw is that the assertions of SAVEKPFA are indeed accurate. Have you no shame?!? At nearing 60 I trust I’m older than current management. I implore you to think beyond yourselves and help this community and this country maintain an alternative voice for peace, freedom, and social justice. Stop wasting precious resources to pay high priced union busting lawyers. Stop making program changes that are not based on sound metrics of listener response. Please don’t allow ego, and short sited vision to destroy a station that has on occasion been a lone voice of reason and always an alternative to mainstream pablum. Leadership is needed. Vision a necessity. Please show it and follow the advice of Spike Lee, “Do the Right Thing!” I urge you to look beyond the personalities and petty conflicts that management appears to be stuck in. Please, Do the Right Thing!
Name: Norie Clarke
Subject: Stop messing with our local progressive radio.
Message: Dear Pacifica Executive Director, What are you doing? It is beginning to feel like a conspiracy by Pacifica to destroy KPFA. First you eliminate my wake-up alarm of the Morning Show, where I can be sure to receive professional accounting of the national news that I can’t hear elsewhere, siteing economic troubles, though it is KPFA’s biggest fundraiser. We raise the money to bring back the Morning Show, which you do not accept. Then I am subjected to Democracy Now twice in the morning with an hour of local dribble in between, though Democracy Now is a big expense. Then you add Aljazeera twice in the morning as well. Your temporary Program Director isn’t local. What is going on? And don’t just tell me you are trying to balance the budget. The one thing we not in the Bay Area is ignorant or stupid. Suggesting that Pacifica might take corporate funding goes against the misssion of the network. Give us back our radio station and let the duly elected board advise and determine the direction of KPFA. They should be hiring and overseeing the Program Director. Pacifica contributes about as much to our independent radio as insurance companies do to the deliverance of health care. Sincerely, Norie Clarke
Name: P&IL
Subject: new programming
Message: I was outraged to hear that DEMOCRACY NOW was to be deleted from the 9 AM hour. I’d not had time to send an email about it. Now, I just came online to write to KPFA about DEMOCRACY NOW and find that the change has been rescinded!!! I am so glad to hear that. DEMOCRACY NOW is one of the two best programs on KPFA. (The other “best” program is the SUNDAY SHOW with Philip). In order to enable the maximum number of people to hear DEMOCRACY NOW,it should actually be on TWICE daily as follows: one airing at 9 AM and one at 5 or 6 PM. But I would like to know why the high-handed decision to drop the 9 Am airing was made in the first place, without consulting the listeners.??? Cancelling the Morning Show was bad enough. I believed management’s explanation that it was done to save money but now, based on management’s subsequent program changes, I wonder what the real motive was. Yes I would like to hear what the explanation is for trying to drop DEMOCRACY NOW at 9 AM as well as for all the other unplesant program changes that have been announced. I heard someone from KPFA on the air today make a statement in effect -“we’re doing our best, trust us”. Surely you don’t think KPFA listeners will accept that. I’ve been a supporter of KPFA for decades, but with the new fund drive coming along, I will wait for honest open discussion of the new policies before I continue my support.
Name: Marian Cruz
Subject: KPFA
Message: Stop all these changes! The programs don’t need to be changed or discontinued. You need to listen to all of the long time listeners and supporters!
Name: Molly Holm
Subject: Listen to the listeners!!!
Message: Dear Pacifica Management, Again, I urge you to change your course of recent actions that go against the very grain of what Pacifica and KPFA are about!! Listen to the listeners!! Honor the people you purport to serve!! Please give the proper and imperative respect to the KPFA staff–treat them right!! And, absolutely, return the Morning Show to the air!! You CAN do the right thing here!! You CAN restore the integrity of Pacifica. And you can also NOT buy into the corporate bureaucracy that already strangles the American news sources. Keep free speech truly free. Do NOT accept corporate underwriting that would tie your hands–and in fact, has already clouded your judgment. Undo these choices that are corrupting the very principles on which Pacifica and KPFA are founded!! Stop fighting on the side of narrow-mindedness and corporate trickery that services greed and furthers the marginalization of a greater population of REAL PEOPLE!! Search your conscious!! What you are doing CANNOT feel good!! Sincerely, Molly Holm Vocalist and composer Berkeley, CA Adjunct faculty at Mills College, Oakland, CA
Name: Doug Rowe
Subject: program changes
Message: KPFA is my radio station, I own it. I have been a contributing member for 40 yrs. Any program changes or corporate underwriting must be put to the listeners for discussion and input to the board. I want the Brian/Ammie morning show back on, especially since we can pay for it now. I am strongly against taking Democracy Now ot the 9:0 am slot. Democracy Now needs as much air time as possible. Along with the morning show, KPFA news and Democracy Now and Flash Points, we have the most informative programing on the air. Thanks Doug
Name: Paul Allen
Subject: Corporate Underwriting
Message: Dear Pacifica Board Member, As a long-time listener and donor to KPFA and Pacifica, I am extremely disturbed to learn that WBAI’s general manager accepted funding from Goldman Sachs with the approval of Pacifica’s executive director. This action is antithetical to Pacifica’s mission. The reason I tune in and donate to KPFA/Pacifica is because I can hear a news story about agriculture which is not underwritten by Archer Daniels Midland. I can hear news about foreign policy not underwritten by General Electric. It don’t care whether you call a grant, underwriting or whatever. Taking money from ANY company, no less a key player in America’s current financial misery, is the beginning of the end of Pacifica’s independent, progressive nature. Those who would even advocate taking money from businesses are not fit to manage Pacifica, WBAI or KPFA. Pacifica needs money, but destroying what makes it an independent, progressive voice in a sold-out corporate world is not the way to do it. I urge you to stand up for Pacifica’s mission and strongly denounce the payments from Goldman Sachs or any other company. Sincerely, Paul Allen
Name: JW
Subject: Another Oaklander boycotting KPFA
Message: Since KPFA decided to nix the Morning Show I have not really listened to the station. The Morning Show was the best show on KPFA bar none, and was the only show were voices of African American women were mainstreamed on shows for wide audiences. Plus – it was the only place where Oakland local issues were highlighted. The policy changes that KPFA has made since the change in management really reinforces what I was always told about KPFA, it’s a not a bullhorn for the community it serves but more a hobby for white Berkeley liberals. I won’t listen or donate to KPFA until the Morning Show comes back. On top of it you wanted to put HKR and Flashpoints on in the morning and take out the 9am Democracy Now. I hope the oxygen isn’t getting too thin up there in on Grizzly Peak or wherever this Englehart lives. What are you thinking?? If you want to drive KPFA into the ground then you’re doing a great job. I can’t figure out what else it might be that you are trying to do. Where I come from, that’s what people think is happening.
Name: Rachel Howard
Subject: don’t change the programming!
Message: Changing the programming to have hard knock radio in the morning makes NO sense!! It’s an urban hip hop show that needs to target young people who aren’t awake or around in the morning. These time changes are a TURN OFF! Bring back the morning show so I can enjoy my commute instead of the cringeworthy, useless “Morning Mix.” It is truly truly awful.
Name: nsomeka gomes
Subject: corporate cash and morning show
Message: I have been a member of KPFA since 1996. I am astounded and startled at the level of polorization, disunity, and unilateral decision making that has been plaguing the station for the past two years. As am member, I am asking you not to accept any underwriting. These time are hard for sure, but that should not reduce us to whores in the marketplace. We need to remain independent no matter what we have to endure to sustain this level of independence. Thank you! Nsomeka
Name: Tom Purdy
Subject: Stop playing power games with KPFA
Message: What the #@%! is wrong with Pacifica?! You are destroying something I used to cherish – listening to the Morning Show and Democracy Now in the morning. I haven’t listened to KPFA since the director of Pacifica started making programming changes. Why doesn’t Pacifica leave KPFA alone to make their own decisions?! And now it seems that Pacifica has installed interim general and program managers that are carrying out the wishes of the Pacifica director. This micro-management of KPFA seems to happen every 10 years, and all it does is drive loyal listener-supporters away. People grow up! The Pacifica network is too valuable as a source of information on the human and political issues of the day, to be playing power games with its future. This is a Public Radio station, funded by all the listeners, and we want it to serve our needs, not yours! Sincerely, Tom Purdy
Name: Daniel Goodwin
Subject: commercial sponsorship
Message: I have listened and contributed to KPFA since I moved to the Bay Area 35 years ago. I have never before witnessed such a grotesque assault on noncommercial radio, on the very core of Lewis Hill’s vision, as we see unfolding today. Corporate money flows into WBAI programming, while KPFA’s GM characterizes Lewis Hill’s values as outdated. It is difficult to think of anything constructive to say to the leadership of the Pacifica’s national board and Andrew Phillips, as these people have no shame. The cat is out of the bag now. What many have suspected is becoming indisputably clear: you are destroying Pacifica because it is your intention to destroy Pacifica. I will do everything in my power to stop you.
Name: RON EDWARDS
Subject: KPFA
Message: I am 62 years,disabled,with very little money. Despite this I have been trying to donate to KPFA because it’s voice is very important but after the firings on the morning show and subsequent events I am reconsidering any support for a Pacifica station.Reinstate the Morning show and stay well clear of corporate involvments or you will loose more listeners than you can imagine.
Name: JS
Subject: Just say NO To Corporate Sponsorship
Message: No, no, no corporate sponsorship!! Return the Merrill Lynch funds. Remove whoever initiated/accepted the money. This is a real and unprecedented violation of Pacifica’s values and principles. Otherwise, count me out as a donor.
Name: Timothy Milos
Subject: Democracy Now!
Message: Once again see one of the few reasons for the existence of Pacifica threatened by the small mindedness of the local and national boards. The mission of Democracy Now! is not just co-incident to that of Pacifica’s, Democracy Now! the flagship program of Pacifica, embodying the purpose of the network. Our local board has fired hosts and discontinued the few programs of value to me over the years: Bill Mandell, Charles Amirkhanian, Joseph Spencer. My ongoing disappointment with an organization whose mission is to provide a voice to the voiceless, to speak truth to power, to provide an alternate view of the world, and whose actions are so orthodox, petty, and hypocritical is beyond words. My frustration with KPFA and Pacifica has grown every year. Despite the fact that I now am in a better position than ever to donate to KPFA, I see no reason to support Pacifica if the work of Democracy Now! is not available on my local station (my apologies to Michio Kaku).
Name: Milina
Subject: corporate underwriting
Message: The Pacifica network has a long-standing policy of not taking corporate underwriting. This is so basic that if any exceptions are made, the entire concept of listener-sponsored media is put in question. The only way to have independent media that can tell the truth is if you NEVER take any money from corporations. Please do not gamble with more than 60 years of independent media’s history. Today, we need independent media more than ever.
Name: YS
Subject: KPFA
Message: To Board Members, I am appalled that you would even consider removing Amy Goodman from the lineup in the morning. Please leave her on the air. I know people who listen to KPFA one hour a day for Democracy Now I used to listen to the Morning Show faithfully. Now I just turn off the radio. The Morning Mix does not replace Aimee and Brian. Times are hard and money is difficult to come by, but listeners did pony up for The Morning Show. Use it for that purpose. The founders of KPFA and Pacifica must be turning over in their graves. How can the Pacifica Board and Ms. Englehart even consider accepting money from a corporation?! Please return the money. Whatever Ms. Englehart is being paid, she isn’t worth it. Fire her, not Aimee, Brian, Amy, or any others. She seems to have brought nothing but dissension and discord to KPFA. I have looked over the KPFA financial statement. It does not look as bad as Ms. Englehart would have us believe. If she can’t live within that budget, fire her and hire someone who can.
Name: Kristine Cole
Subject: Morning show and democracy now
Message: I really would like you to return the morning show and continue Democracy now. I was horrified to hear that there might be plans to accept corporate financing and has been some. There is no way that the reporting and news will be the same when corporate interests are involved with the programs.
Name: Dave Hart
Subject: Underwriting by Merrill-Lynch?
Message: What are you thinking? Unless you are secretly working against the long-term interest of the station and the network, you must be thinking that taking money from a major investment bank is just being pragmatic. I’m no ideologue, and being pragmatic is no sin, but this goes beyond that. You are undermining a basic principle of listener support. Merrill Lynch isn’t a listener and they do not have the interests of the population at heart. They want to take something of value. They want to take our (mostly) good name and try to cleanse themselves of the guilt and sins of destroying part of our economy. You must send the money back and prohibit any such corporate contributions as a principle of doing business as a listener-sponsored radio and broadcasting entity. Are you listening?
Name: Lesley Schultz
Subject: Reprogramming at KPFA
Message: I don’t understand why you’re making all these programming changes when the station is in a financial crisis, and moreover listener groups are coming forward in protest to what you’re doing, but you continue to do it anyway. It’s not making any sense. It also seems really arrogant to make the latest bunch of changes, which are quite major, without consulting ANY listeners or listener representative groups. I think this is the completely wrong way to make greater connections to and grow the listener contributions, especially when the previous axing of the Morning Show has created so much turmoil, and the replacement has failed to step in and create the audience desired. I don’t think KPFA has the time to keep innovating on the programming until it completely re-makes a popular listener base and becomes financially stable. You folks keep this up and you’re going to kill the station. It’s that simple. You can go ahead and accept corporate contributions if you want to keep it going, and re-make KPFA into just another Fox News service on the dial, but there is a lot of competition in that market. I can find other sources of information and so can most people these days. Either fish or cut bait, and if you decide to fish, stop screwing around with what has historically worked.
Name: CRB
Subject: After all that Amy Goodman does for KPFA
Message: Hello Current Management of KPFA – How could you cancel the 9:00 Democracy Now KPFA broadcast – after all the Amy Goodman does for KPFA – by reducing her programing to 1 broadcast in the morning, you’re going to short change her efforts to save KPFA and outrage her loyal listeners. Democracy Now should absolutely be broadcast twice in the morning as it has been for years. Your rational for dropping the 9 am show indicates shortsightedness – and please also don’t mess with Letters and Politics. That too should stay at the same hour: 10 am. If you need to cut out programs – take out Music of the World. FLASHPOINTS & HARD KNOCK RADIO are much more suited for the afternoon as these programs are more wrap-ups at the end of the day. – CRB (member for many years despite many bad decisions by KPFA management).
Name: Sandy King
Subject: Programming Changes
Message: Who are you people and who is directing your changes for KPFA station programming? Is Murdoch now running this “listener owned”station? It seems to me that there is a conspiratorial interest in destroying the KPFA that we previous loved and supported her in the SF Bay Area and Central Valley. Since last fall, we, the listeners, have watched outsiders take control of the station, removing beloved programs and hosts and replacing them with programs that were either inferior or not likely to be well received in the new time slots. The process for making these decisions has not been adequately given to the KPFA supporting audience. One can’t help but wonder, with these unilateral decisions coming down, how independent is KPFA under Pacifica rule? As popular programs are removed, or relegated to less popular spots, who is deciding for our progressive listening base and DOES ANYONE AT PACIFICA REALLY CARE? Is there a deliberate effort on the part of Pacifica to destroy KPFA as we now know it? Who are you and why are you doing this to our station?
Name: Kevin Rath
Subject: Management of KPFA
Message: The recent retention of yet another management team has obviously failed. The proposed reorganization of program scheduling followed by the immediate retraction of those changes have already discredited the new management. The withdrawal of the 9AM Democracy Now! change should have been accompanied by the resignation of the recently installed management. My goodness, KPFA management seems to have less accountability than traditional corporate management–in a publicly traded for-profit corporation we would have seen some heads roll after this type of incompetence. The revolving-door management will continue until the people who hire KPFA managers align themselves with the listeners and members of KPFA. The damage done by the scandalous management of KPFA not only hurts its survival; the incompetence is a scourge upon all community-based, cooperatively organized companies. Everyone can look at KPFA and say to themselves, “I guess democratic companies don’t work. Just look at the psychosis at KPFA.” I am SO sick of this, after watching and protesting this dysfunction for 30 years. I don’t believe the average listener (like me) is pleased. KPFA and the Pacifica Foundation need to restructure the organization so that managers are responsible for retaining and hopefully expanding the listening audience in accordance with KPFA’s mission. If you have to, split it up–but you don’t have to. Stop pretending each radio station is equal, hold each station accountable, and give KPFA’s money back so it can survive. If KPFA can’t make payroll after Pacifica’s free rent and excessive overhead charges, you solve the problem by cutting the revenue generators (i.e. the morning show). Can we get a real manager in here? Doesn’t seem like it under the current structure–the real managers have been fired. So let’s get rid of the structure. That will help Pacifica too, whose ability to pay their staff is harmed by the incompetence too.
Name: Francesca Rosa
Subject: Bring back the Morning Show; Hands off Democarcracyh Now
Message: I am glad to hear that sanity actually prevailed this week and and Democracy Now will remain at 9:00am. Now it is time to BRING BACK THE MORNING SHOW. Why kill the best fundraising vehicle at KPFA, and an excellent program? And why fire one of the best hosts of the network who is also a woman of color, Aimee Allison? Bring back the show and all the staff NOW!!! Where is David Bacon and and the Labor program?
Name: lauren stower
Subject: SAVE KPFA!
Message: just say NO to Pacifica accepting corporate funding, which is in violation of your network’s mission. GOLDMAN SACH’s?!?!@ REally? Do you know how evil you guys are becoming? Get your act together and grow SOME COURAGE!
Name: shiela Cockshott
Subject: Program changes
Message: I do not understand why you are trying to destroy KPFA!! If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. The Morning Show was great–bring it back ASAP. Stop fiddling with the programs–we need Amy Goodman at 9 am and all the other shows in the places where they are. Leave things alone!! KPFA has lots of loyal listeners and we all are really, really tired of what is going on. I just wish I knew where all this is leading but none of it is good. KPFA is a wonderful station–I have been listening and donating since 1980. Please leave things as they were. I won’t even comment on WBAI’s acceptance of the money–under whatever name you call it. It is totally unacceptable.
Name: James Ferrigno
Subject: No Program Changes!!!
Message: You will not make any program changes at KPFA. You will not be permitted to make your proposed program changes at KPFA. Your scheme to destroy our station will fail. You are fired. Please pack your bags and leave. You have no power here. You are not wanted here. Please vacate your office immediately. Sincerely, James Ferrigno
Name: Celia Scott
Subject: KPFA program changes
Message: I was deeply shocked to learn that the current management is proposing to eliminate Democracy Now from KFPA’s programs. That is one of the best programs on radio anywhere for people who want some in depth coverage of current events, with direct contacts and quotes that one never hears on NPR or anywhere else. How can you even consider eliminating that program??? Keep it on the air!!!
Name: Susan Tripp
Subject: programming
Message: Democracy Now is the most popular program on KPFA and may raise the most money. Early birds hear it at 6. I listen to it both times because the information is too important to absorb in one hour. Many times I have wondered where the news would be without Amy Goodman’s program since there is nothing quite like it anywhere. Today I listened to the Chernobyl report twice and forwarded it to my family. Please don’t ruin my day.
Name: Gregg Low
Subject: Programming
Message: Why are you anti-Morning Show? Listeners want it, it supports itself, it raises desperately needed funding for KPFA. I really don’t understand. I’ve been a listener for over 25 years, but it feels too creepy to listen anymore. I subscribe to Democracy Now’s podcast and do without the rest of the programing I used to enjoy. It feels like Pacifica and KPFA are under siege, that what the listeners value doesn’t matter anymore, that the years of listener support doesn’t hold respect anymore. I really wish you would stop.
Name: Teresa McFarland
Subject: Respect Local Preferences
Message: I am outraged by the high-handed decisions of the new, temporary minions of Englehart related to the KPFA program schedule. All such changes should respond to an expressed desire on the part of the audience, and be decided on by the local station board. Meanwhile, bring back the Morning Show, and leave Flashpoints and Democracy Now! at their current times.
Name: yvonne campbell
Subject: Restore “The Morning Show”
Message: Dear Pacifica national board: I have been a life long supporter of KPFA and have donated for the past 35 years. Yet this past year, I have been dismayed at the recent decisions including the elimination of the Morning Show from the airwaves. As an educator I was very dependent on the local news, labor news, and cultural affairs announcements that provided instant curriculum for my students. But more importantly the Morning Show was the only local outlet for news concerning the greater Bay Area. I think the decision to terminate the show and to not consider reinstatement is against the values of the originators. I urge you to reinstate the Morning Show, return Hard Knock Radio to the afternoon and not accept any corporate underwriting. During the past year, I haven’t made any financial contributions to KPFA and won’t until this matter is resolved. Thank you, yvonne campbell
Name: Lisa Lambert
Subject: The Morning Mix Stinks…
Message: When are you going to bring back the Morning show…The “scabs” that are facilitating The Morning Mix first of all should be ashamed of themselves and second of all are not doing a very good job..I am very disappointed with the direction KPFA is going..Please ck my donations..I donate 2-3 times a year and I feel like stopping those donations….
Name: Deborah Kearns
Subject: Return the Morning Show
Message: Return the Morning Show NOW, please! This long term EFT monthly contributor will thank you for it.
Name: Deborah Kearns
Subject: Return the Morning Show
Message: Return the Morning Show NOW, please! This long term EFT monthly contributor will thank you for it.
Name: Susan Weiss
Subject: Kudos
Message: Kudos to the two undemocratically-appointed managers of KPFA for heeding the cries of the station’s listeners by leaving Democracy Now! programming intact. Apart from this concession, however, neither you nor the folks you’ve unaccountably appointed have shown any respect for the station, its employees, or its loyal audience. We want our Morning Show back! We want Aimee Alison back! We want our station back!
Name: Saraswathi Devi
Subject: program changes
Message: To Pacifica management and whoever at KPFA who is doing this: I urge, no beg you to look deeply into your hearts and minds to try to understand how vital these prorgrmas are to the well-being of our culture. Please do not sabotage KPFA’s mission by accepting corporate underwriting and please return the sophisticated journalism of the Morning Show to our airiwaves. And, removing Democracy Now from it’s 9:00 am slot, a time when so many are free to hear it, would be a tragedy. Look at the alternatives – from Fox News onward. Consider the poisonous effect these other broadcasters are having on the American people and thereby the rest of the world. Consider deeply how much KPFA offers an amazing alternative to that. Do you really want to seriously undermine that? Dramatic language, but listen… Think about what you are trying to do, then try instead to respond to what has been developed so suceessfully at KPFA. You are embarking on a course that will leave a very diminished resource in your wake when you move on to other places. A listerner-supporter since 1968, Saraswathi Devi
Name: DH
Subject: save KPFA
Message: KPFA is an invaluable source of information that need not be tainted.
Name: Ying LEE
Subject: Programming and Democracy Now
Message: To Interim Managers Andrew Phillips and Carrie Core, I have supported KPFA for decades and one foremost reason is the morning news with Amy Goodman/Democracy Now and the morning program with Aimee Allison and Brian Edward-Tierkert. For KPFA/Pacifica to both eliminate Democracy Now and to take corporate money, regardless of how you name the latter transaction, are fundamental changes in the character and the service that KPFA/Pacifica provides and moves to be another NPR. We continue to need a news source/broadcast that does not always accept corporate wealth as a given basis in this society and provides reliable information which will guide us in this complex world. Keeping Allis/Edwards-Tiekert, and taking Democracy Now off the air changes the essential function of KPFA/Pacifica and makes me question my continuing support. Sincerely, Ying Lee
Name: david chase
Subject: morning show
Message: Put the damn show back on the air, and listen to the listeners.
Name: ASK
Subject: Recent Programming Decisions
Message: Dear Mr. Phillips, Ms. Core and Pacifica: What has happened to Pacifica? To KPFA? Since November 2010, there has been nothing but political wrangling and strife at the station from on high. At a time when this network should be strengthening its five major holdings, Pacifica has decided to meddle and intervene in KPFA’s programming and staffing decisions; is this happening at the other Pacifica stations as well? Please STOP the political infighting before it is genuinely too late. The Morning Mix was an experiment that failed: management thought it could maintain the fiscal solvency of this station with volunteers, but this last fund drive proved otherwise. People voted with their dollars. Moving Flashpoints and Hard Knock Radio to the morning spot is also inappropriate: these shows are not appropriate morning programming -and thank you for not removing them. I cannot express to you the extent to which I miss the Morning Show. This is not sentimental drivel; it is an expression of my genuine sense of how much the morning programming at KPFA has suffered. I am not ideologically wedded to the Morning Show; I just know it worked: it raised four times the amount it cost to produce and subsidized all the other paid and unpaid programmers at the station. Why then won’t management put it back on the air? Management is playing a very dangerous game with the most precious of resources. Again: stop the political wrangling and put the Morning Show back on the air. We have the statistics to prove that there is suspended listenership from 6 am to 1 pm with the old line-up: DN (@ 6 am), Morning Show (@7 am), DN (@9 am), Letters and (now) Politics (@10) with the close of Against the Grain and Livingroom at 12 noon. This is a proven and effective line-up that has raised the most amount of money during fund drives so why change it? The answer is simple in my mind: Pacifica does not want to share in the pain of cuts. Late last year, when talk of cuts to KPFA began to surface, the Sustainable Budget was drafted. It is a fair and reasonable answer to the current fiscal crisis at the station. Why won’t Pacifica/management adopt it? Does it ask Pacifica to sacrifice too much? Recall that it is Pacifica’s role and duty to maintain the health of the stations first and foremost -not itself. It has fallen gravely short of its responsibility to raise funds for the stations and has become top-heavy to a point where it may outlive the stations themselves, but not before it sells every one of these most precious of resources. Pacifica spends more time deliberating on issues of governance than on raising funds. Why? Do you have to meet in person four times a year and spend limited funds on flights, hotels and meals? Why doesn’t Pacifica pay KPFA rent for use of its office space at 1929 MLK in Berkeley, CA? Is Engelhardt’s 130K salary justified considering she has practically run the station into the ground (let’s forget ideology and look at the numbers)? I think these are legitimate questions. Please bring back the Morning Show with its original hosts and adopt the Sustainable Budget. Pacifica and management more generally have to share in some of the pain, lest we lose everything. Then there is the issue of corporate underwriting. Mr. Phillips stated that he is open to green businesses underwriting Pacifica stations. Last I checked, Chevron and BP sell themselves as green businesses (the PBS ads are wretched). Who decides which business is green? And just because a business is green (the qualifications for which are dubious, at best) does not mean it does not have an agenda that cannot undermine the independence of the stations. As an energy analyst, I can tell you this first hand. And WBAI’s pay-to-play relationship with Null simply infuriates me. Mr. Phillips, Ms. Core: I fully respect the difficulty of your positions but the listeners support this station and network, and we who are in the majority have let our hearts and minds be known. It is time to acknowledge that input and to act on it. Thank you.
Name: Daniel Goodwin
Subject: corporate grants
Message: Engelhardt has provided nothing but obfuscation on the subject of the grant/underwriting to WBAI for a series on hydraulic fracking. The point is not the semantic game of whether we call it a grant or underwriting, the point is that listeners now have good reason to distrust any story on Pacifica about hydraulic fracking, because the network has been compromised by an interested party. That kind of corruption is what Pacifica scrupulously avoided, prior to the current corporatist regime. Some say that the operative distinction is that “underwriting” comes with strings attached. Nobody has denied that the funds were for a specific program. That meets the dictionary definition of underwriting. As to the strings attached, nobody over there seems to be able to find the grant paperwork. Was this a handshake agreement?
Name: Bruce Wilson
Subject: schedule shakeup???
Message: I don’t get it. The core of the Pacifica Radio network is it’s presence as a community building media outlet. Yet the current Pacifica board seems to be about autocratic meddling in the various local community listener communities. Pacifica exists because of its listener support, yet the board is currently acting like a regressive corporation, rather than the caretakers of a listener supported community. It would be much appreciated if you would survey the community about changes you would like to make instead of dictatorially (and recently illegally as the court decision indicates. The court rejected all of Pacifica’s contentions and ordered Siegel reinstated to both the local KPFA and national Pacifica board seats he holds.) make decisions that damage the revenue income of the stations and disrupt the listening habits of the community you are supposed to be serving. When are you going to realize your behavior is antithetical to the purpose of Pacifica and bring back the Morning Show along with it’s core personnel, Brian Edwards-Tiekert, Aimee Allison, and Aileen Alfandary? Where is your integrity? From the outside, it appears that your personal grudges trump any concern you have for actually doing what a foundation board is supposed to do, look after the welfare of the community it serves. The key word here is “serve”.
Name: Ralph Colby
Subject: repeated suicide attempts
Message: I will not reiterate recent history, merely comment on the lack of success of your suicide attempts. It seems to me that once again, the KPFA listeners have intervened, and foiled the latest try.
Name: Bob Mason
Subject: reprogramming of KPFA
Message: While many focus on the popularity of various programs, I would like to appeal to you to be clearer and more forthright about the political meaning of program changes. Flashpoints represents a certain answer-coalition type politics, one of several points of view on KPFA. To elevate it to the 8 am slot will alienate those who do not share that point of view – which I think is a majority of KPFA’s listeners. The old morning show and democracy now had/have a more inclusive left of center point of view, shared by the majority of the listeners. This move will push KPFA down the same path as WBAI, where only a minority of the possible audience is listening, due to the drift of the station away from the those of its potential listenership. If you wish to keep the viability of the station, please reconsider these moves, and populate KPFA with staff and listeners capable of the critical mass necessary to have any kind of leverage in our political world.
Name: JA
Subject: Democracy Now and other changes
Message: Thank goodness KPFA is keeping Democracy now at 9 a.m. I did not write earlier but that is the only time I can hear it, which I’m sure is true for many others. And Hard Knock Radio is obviously aimed at a young audience so it needs to be on at a time when they are not in school! The interim manager’s decisions seem illogical and arbitrary. Please insure that people making decisions at KPFA are consulting with their local station board and listeners.
Name: Enzo Piccone
Subject: recent changes
Message: I’m wondering whether the “managers” in charge of screwing up Pacifica could do a better job of it if they just tried a little harder. If Pacifica needs money, why aren’t these people going out and getting it themselves — not from Goldman Sachs! — instead of trying to get it by eliminating or shuffling what works best: the important and popular shows produced by the competent, professional staff? Best regards to Pacifica staff and listeners! Enzo
Name: Ann Friauf
Subject: KPFA programming changes
Message: I’m glad to see Democracy Now! is back on at 9:00 AM. But it’s still not enough for me to resume my monthly contributions. The current Pacifica board and management will just come up with something else to destroy the station. Return KPFA to local control! Fire the Pacifica board and the managers hired by the board. Let the local station board and workers select new management.
Name: MI
Subject: What’s going on
Message: Watching and listening to the struggle at KPFA makes me think this organization has been infiltrated by people who want to see democratic media destroyed. The amount of time, energy and money that has gone into these past months should have been used to advance the goals and mission for KPFA, instead it has weaken and divided this station. Canceling Democracy Now is the last straw. What did you think the listeners would do with this strategy and just why did you choose to cancel this one?? It appears the new leadership is an extension of the old. Accepting corporate underwriting is not the solution. Unity is the solution. Look at non-profits that are surviving this economy, make your decisions more visible to your listeners, inclusion not secret leadership will help bring back what is truly needed at this time in history in the media world. It is crucial and NOW is the time to get it together! It seems several people should go regardless of history, skill, or commitment.
Name: Jamesm KOSS, MD FAAEM
Subject: KPFA IN DECLINE
Message: Whomever you are trying to destroy the remnants of this wonderful station you sadly are appearing successful. That which makes KPFA so unique is being plowed under so KPFA risks now emulating the trash common to the radio waves. You are wasting our common money fighting internecine battles. You are waging war on we the listeners and the first victim of war is truth.
Name: Catherine Lowrey
Subject: Morning Show
Message: I still can’t believe that such an excellent show as the Morning Show was cancelled and have never seen an explanation which I feel is due me. I now listen to NPR during that time period. It is an excellent program but I much prefer the Morning Show and would love to see it return. I would also like to understand 1) why it was cancelled and 2) Pacifica’s agenda. Thank you.
Name: Sandy Sanders
Subject: Morning Shuffle – Don’t do it! & No Corporate Money of ANY KIND!!!
Message: I wrote last week to not cancel DemNow at 9am and to keep the Morning Mix…which I like better than the old Morning Show which would never have had the pertinent content regarding state and local budget problems and other regionally controversial topics. And what i heard today about accepting corporate money from…Goldman Sachs…WHAT THE F&*# are you guys doing??? This is a threat….if you accept ANY corporate, business, abstraction sourced money, grant, charity, I don’t care what you call it…this is POISON!!!! and I will never give Pacifica or KPFA a nickel ever again. This how PBS became the neutered sock puppet for America Corp…incremental sellout…salami tactique…boiling the frog…whatever you want to call it. One nibble leads to dependence on another and then your hooked. DON’T DO IT!!!
Name: Daphne Muse
Subject: Keep the Public in Public Radio
Message: I implore you to keep the public in public radio, a Democracy continues to be eviscerated on a daily basis.
Name: Jim Conroy
Subject: Corporate underwriting is a NO NO
Message: Basic to listener-supported radio is the idea that it is, well, listener supported. What corporation can listen? What corporation even would support the mission of Pacifica? Corporate sponsorship would make Pacifica no different than NPR. This is a really, really bad idea. If you continue with it, I will no longer support Pacifica. Hillsboro, OR
Name: BA
Subject: Return the Morning Show to KPFA
Message: Andrew Phillips and Carrie Core, Who are you people and why are you trying so hard to destroy KPFA? It’s time to listen to the people who pay your salaries – the listeners and subscribers of KPFA and return the Morning Show to KPFA’s airwaves. And quit wasting our money hiring union busting law firms.
Name: Virginia and Dennis Warin
Subject: KPFA Program Changes
Message: We have listened to KPFA for 35 years and we rely on the informative and professional journalism that has been featured on KPFA to provide me with up to date breaking news of the local bay area, the nation and the world. We have lived in Fresno for 28 years and we depend on the broadcasts on KFCF to be our link to the progressive community that we left behind in the Bay Area. KPFA is our religion, it is our church and our community. Arelene Engelhardt and the current management at KPFA have desecrated our church. You have demolished the Morning Show and dismissed the curernt generation of quality journalists who have been groomed by the excellent older generation of KPFA talent and the likes of Larry Bensky. The current morning program is a mockery of what we the listeners have come to expect. How dare you give us such flippant watered down saccharine hosts and programming every morning. How dare you threaten to remove Democracy Now which is the only smart thing you have left to offer us. Restore the Morning Show immediately and the excellent talent and voices you once had or you will bring KPFA to ruin sooner than you think. Outraged in Fresno. Virginia and Dennis Waring.
Name: Jim Espinas
Subject: Flashpoints and Hard Knock
Message: Flashpoints and Hard Knock Radio are VITAL programs that need to keep their current time slot. Please do not change the schedule around and allow these important programs to get lost in the shuffle. And please do not sell out Pacifica to corporate interests. Keep it free to program unhindered. Thank you. Jim
Name: DA
Subject: Heartbreaking
Message: Dear The National Board of Pacifica Radio, For many years I have earnestly listened to KPFA and have appreciated the countless times when this station was the ONLY source of truth available. I cannot for the life of me understand why you would consider removing Democracy Now! from the nine o’clock spot, nor airing a truncated version of the broadcast. How can you fall so short?! It is an outrage and heartbreaking as well. Has this board been “purchased” like so many others, so that now you will change programming to make things more palatable to corporations and capitalists, not to mention those who support war and the military industrial complex!? The listeners want TRUTH on KPFA. Please don’t fall prey to the trap of corporate underwriting and please don’t dismantle the one decent radio station available to thinking people. We want Democracy Now!. We want Flashpoints. We want truth.
Name: PH
Subject: Program Changes
Message: Moving Flashpoints is outrageous, unless Dennis asked for it, which I doubt. Having removed the Morning Show is outrageous. Replacing the noon hour public affairs programs with music is outrageous. The noon hour is for very many people the only time during the working day to have the opportunity to listen to intelligent, non-corporate programming. Accepting corporate money is outrageous. Having wanted to remove Democracy Now from the 9 o’clock hour was outrageous. There seems to be an agenda here. I firmly believe it is very high time for regime change at Pacifica. I firmly believe that it is high time that we insist that we get what we are pledging for during fund drives. Pacifica is starting to smell, not unlike most of our politicians.
Name: RH
Subject: Program Changes
Message: Making sweeping program changes by an interim staff without widespread “consensus” of listeners and staff is unacceptable. You will loose listenership support! Restore Democracy Now to its prime time slots and bring back the Morning Show. Both Flashpoints and Hardknock Radio should stay where they were and are not appropriate in the AM. It looks like there is an anti union coup going on and an unwise attempt to displace KPFA’s younger professional staff like Brian Edwards Tiekert with a mishmash of programs. You are tearing the station apart. Stop pushing your agenda of volunteerism at no matter what cost!
Name: Blair & Charlie Moser
Subject: Keep DEMOCRACY NOW and restore THE MORNING SHOW
Message: Count us among the angry swarm of KPFA members and supporters who object to arbitrary programming changes by Andrew Phillips and Carrie Core. It’s a good thing that they cancelled their plan to cut the 9:00 AM repeat of DEMOCRACY NOW. However, they now must take immediate action to return THE MORNING SHOW to the air. Behaving like contract killers out to destroy this viable, cherished and essential news service is NOT in keeping with Pacifica’s mission — and will not be tolerated by supporters like us!
Name: Patricia Luna
Subject: No Corporate Underwriting
Message: It is outrageous that Pacific has taken corporate underwriting! In order to maintain its independence from corporate influence, Pacific must not accept money from corporations. This is the people’s radio! The board must be replaced with those who hold this ideology!
Name: Leba Morimoto
Subject: Restoring The Morning Show
Message: I, along with the longtime listening and supporting members of KPFA, am outraged beyond words, at what is happening at OUR station. I sorely miss The Morning Show, and am forced to tune into NPR during the 8 o’clock hour. Your continued refusal to give us back our most appreciated and relied upon news program, in spite of our repeated requests is appalling. Why should we continue to support a station that operates so blatantly undemocratically?
Name: Rose Marie Kuhn
Subject: Removing Democracy Now?
Message: 1. I am outraged to learn that the Pacifica National Board is thinking of removing Democracy Now!, the only independent news broadcast which is not controlled by media corporation. Have you lost your mind? 2. I am also totally disgusted to see the same board accepting corporate underwriting in violation of its mission. 3. I do not know what is happening there. But if these two events happen, the conservative media will have efficiently muzzled any news media which does not answer to them. Shame on you board to even think about this. Not only do you remove excellent programming in the name of saving money but you actually CENSURE media in this country.
Name: Veronica Rojas Munoz
Subject: DO NOT REMOVE 9 AM DEMOCRACY NOW
Message: Mr. Andrew Phillips/ Carrie Core, Please respect KPFA staff and listeners and do not cancel the 9 AM broadcast of Democracy Now!. Thank you!
Name: Leslie Waltzer
Subject: do not accept corporate underwriting
Message: Over the years KPFA has become my trusted source for news and information, primarily because it is listener—not corporate sponsored. To move Democracy now, Hard Knock radio and other programs from their regular time slots, plus eliminating the Morning Show, is a sure fire way to lose a dedicated listener base. Folks in the Bay Area are communicating very clearly and directly to Pacifica — now it’s time for management to wake up and listen!
Name: TB
Subject: Program changes
Message: Please bring back The Morning Show. The current offering is too amateur. Thank goodness Democracy Now will not be taken off at nine. That would have been the end for us, very long-term contributors. We hope to see CWA union justice prevail.
Name: roz goldstein
Subject: morning show
Message: Now that the pressure of the listeners saved Democracy Now why can’t the pressure of the listeners bring back The Morning Show? Both these shows are outstanding.. The Morning Mix is not good and should be replaced with the Morning Show. These two shows are by far the best informative news shows on the radio…KPFA is a great station but you are making some bad decisions.. Please reconsider and bring back The Morning Show.. Thanks
Name: MORTON, Mary Kinder
Subject: You can suppress, but you’ll never extinguish
Message: You don’t think we know what you are about, but we, the listeners, knowexactly what you are up to. You are afraid of the strong ideas and empowerment coming from listening to radical left ideas. You are enjoying trying to control this movement by suppressing it. Just remember that we are like a hydra snake. When you suppress one head, another will come into being. You will never be able to extinguish the truth from emerging.
Name: Michelle Muse
Subject: KPFA
Message: I have stopped listening to morning programming on KPFA. I have stopped donating. I was a loyal supporter for 20 years, listening daily, and now I listen sporadically. I find that I am less informed, and less satisfied and energized now than when I could listen to my favorite programs (like the Morning Show) on KPFA. PLEASE return the Morning Show, and STOP the arbitrary changes made to KPFA. Now, reading about Pacifica taking corporate money from Goldman Sachs…horrifying and devastating to those of us that depend on KPFA and Pacifica to keep us informed and inspired to be active politically. I depend on KPFA and Pacifica, and with these recent changes feel betrayed and disappointed. Where is the original mission? Last summer’s actions by Pacifica to dismantle KPFA were the first step in Pacifica’s demise, and this latest corporate funding just the next step. PLEASE STOP THE CORPORATE FUNDING, AND RETURN KPFA STAFFERS TO THEIR VERY IMPORTANT POSITIONS. Sincerely, Michelle Muse Sebastopol, CA
Name: Marie Switkes
Subject: Flashpoints/Hard Knock
Message: The attempt to move both the above referenced shows to early morning on KPFA is terrible, and hearkens to a masochistic desire to destroy the station for its dedicated listeners. Re: Hard Knock, a program aimed at youth, you are going to broadcast it while they are at work or school? Sheer idiocy! Re Flashpoints: the program airs during what commercial radio calls “drive time” – when many are stuck in their cars, and can take advantage of the time to learn about what is really going on internationally, rather than remain dependent on corporate media. Stop messing with MY radio station. I have donated several thousand dollars over the past five years but this will stop should you destroy MY radio station. Thanks for listening – Marie
Name: Jack Radey
Subject: Money, Management, Madness
Message: What in the world is going on at Pacifica? Has the board completely lost its collective mind? Oh, right, there’s good news, isn’t there? The corporate money was from Goldman Sachs, not Merrill Lynch. I feel SO much better knowing that one, you betcha. And the Empress… uh… Executive Director tells us she will consider corporate underwriting in the future. Some of the folks who support the current Pacifica management claimed to be supporters of democracy. How is it democratic for Pacifica to dictate programming changes, staff changes, and policy changes at KPFA without consulting with, or listening to, the staff, or the elected representatives of the listeners and subscribers? Could someone please explain that to me? How does it make sense to axe the most popular program on KPFA, the Morning Show, because of “the financial crisis” when it was the biggest fundraiser the station had? Oh yeah, because the employees who produced it didn’t agree with the Pacifica board majority. Then when listeners pony up the money to support the show, the Pacifica interlopers still insist “No Pasaran!”, no Morning Show. How does it fit with Pacifica’s democratic spirit for its management to try to remove elected board members from a local station board, because they don’t agree with the Pacifica management? I think it would be interesting to know who exactly the Pacifica board represents. I know it is representatives of the various station affiliates. The question is, what do these represent? How many subscribers to each? Each station I assume gets the same number of reps on the board, no matter how many listeners they represent, right? Like Wyoming and California each getting two seats in the US Senate. When the decision to put Al-Jezeera on the air was made, I thought, “Not bad, a lot of their stuff is outstanding reporting.” But when I listen to it, it turns out a significant portion of it is fluff, like what we would hear if we put CBS radio news on. And it is becoming increasingly obvious that since Al-Jezeera is funded by the Qatari emirate, its coverage of the Arab revolution seems increasingly to downplay repression in the Gulf and focus instead on Libya, from the NATO side. This bears watching. Bottom line – Arlene, please resign. Now would be a good time. Let the KPFA LSB hire a manager and program director, and keep your nasty undemocratic paws off our station. Thank you. Jack
Name: Linda Nicoletto
Subject: KPFA changes
Message: Dear friends, PLEASE do not remove Flashpoints and Hard Knock RAdio from their current time slots. I think these times are very appropriate to reach maximum audience for these shows and these shows are very important to many of us. Also I urge you to bring the Morning Show Back…..that was a certain highlight of KPFA programming and I still do not understand why it was removed and still hope for its return. thank you, Linda Nicoletto, long time listener and supporter of these shows ESpecially!!!!
Name: Arinna Weisman
Subject:
Message: As a listener I don’t support changes being made without a democratic process and workers input. Kpfa is not just about what is on the radio, it is about our community and how we work together. Thank You Arinna Weisman
Name: Katherine Oberle
Subject: KPFA
Message: Dear Pacifica Board Members, I am both surprised and disappointed to hear of the latest changes to programing at KPFA, and frankly stunned that you have allowed corporate underwriting at WBAI. Putting the corporate underwriting issue aside for the moment, it’s almost as if you are trying to run KPFA off the air. Instead of listening to what the local KPFA members and listeners want, the new lineup appears calculated to drive away KPFA’s remaining listeners. What we want is The Morning Show back on the air from 7 AM to 9 AM on weekdays, with its professional hosts Aimee Allison and Brian Edwards-Tiekert. Al Jazeera is a nice addition, but it could easily be a half-hour slot at 5:30 AM before Democracy Now, or later in the morning or the afternoon. As for the corporate underwriting, that violates Pacifica’s mission statement. Or have you changed that too? These are certainly hard times for listener-sponsored radio stations, but pitting Pacific against NPR isn’t going to increase listenership. Those listeners already have NPR. KPFA and the other Pacifica stations are different precisely because they are not beholden to large corporate interests. Or at least they haven’t been until now. Please reconsider these decisions and give the KPFA listeners back what they want, starting with the return of The Morning Show. As the economy improves, so will the ability of many listeners to give financial support to the station. Once you turn to corporate sponsorships, it will be difficult if not impossible to go back.
Name: Roger Fuller
Subject: saving KPFA
Message: 4-25-11 Dear Pacifica Board: The loss of ” Democracy Now ” and ” The Morning Show ” at KPFA would be a huge loss to Berkeley and the entire San Francisco Bay Area because, they have much valuable news that can’t be obtained in Mainstream Media, which should be common knowledge by now. The time changes of the other programs are probably poor choices as well. Not only was KPFA the vanguard station during the 1960s Berkeley Revolution, it has helped us keep up with important political events since its founding in 1949. After the 1960s I remember coverage of the Three Mile Island nuclear accident and later the Genetically Engineered Food Plague, starting in 1993, culminating in the ” Battle of Seattle ” in 1999. And that Plague continues to this day. But without a functioning media, America will be doomed. As far as I can see, Pacifica has nothing to gain and everything to lose if they wreak KPFA. Yours truly, Roger Fuller
Name: Matilda Haywood
Subject: Re: So You Compromised KPFA, Did You?
Message: You should hand your head in shame bowed and hunched over like lackeys carry themselves for polluting KPFA’s financial stream. Don’t you realize that in this economically stressful time that it is even MORE important that KPFA continues its “truth to power” and consciousness radio programming? Who are you people and what the heck are you doing to OUR radio station? We don’t like it, and you’ve got to go! We don’t have very many places to HEAR a variety of perspectives about what’s going on in the world, and you want to take this MAJOR one away by polluting its financial resources? Be aware that taking “commercial corporate financing” is against the “Mission” of KPFA; and, Andrew Phillips, Carrie Core and Arlene Engelhardt, you all are going to have to REVERSE your decisions, give Merrill Lynch its $10,000 back OR you’ve got to GO! Pacifica National Board, you must take action NOW before this thing becomes viral. Reinstate Aimee Allison and Democracy Now with Amy Goodman before it’s too late. I’ve been a listener and financial supporter for 25 plus years, and I won’t let this happen without a fight!!! I’m a songwriter, and I’m getting ready to deliver to KPFK her in Los Angeles some really tantalizing and “politically powerful songs” to include as gifts during fundraiser periods with such titles as “Bad Credit Blues, Inflation, America (& The World) Needs A Healing, Why Don’t You Go Quietly?, I’ve Got To Get Up & Do What I Should Have Already Done, Commando Blues, Making Waves, The Tiger, etc.” I’d hate not to be able to do this for mine and the station’s sake because of funding fuzziness. I’m depending on the Pacifica National Board to do the right thing. Musically and politically yours, Ms. Matilda
Name: mary paffard
Subject:
Message: i am appalled at the way the morning show has been removed – its the one program i try to keep in touch with and keeps me in touch with the world. flashpoints is no substitute at all and these kinds of changes which bear little connection to what the board and supporters want, makes me and others reluctancly go to other news resources.
Name: Philip Ratcliff
Subject: KPFA-FM
Message: KPFA’s listeners hate Pacifica’s management, and management’s sabotaging of the station. Keep your slimy hands off of this station. Stop screwing with the programming.
Name: Daniel Goodwin
Subject: contingent pledge
In a local demonstration which garnered national attention, a group called the “Fresh Juice Party” sung a song to Obama in the middle of an exclusive fundraiser. The message of this song was as follows: 1) Though you’ve ignored our demands, we’re donating to your campaign. 2) Whether or not you listen to what we say, we’ll vote for you anyway. This is the position of loyal KPFA listeners now in the Spring pledge drive. Though our preferences don’t count for anything, you still want our support. There’s a point at which too much bad faith has accumulated for me to play along anymore. I’m pledging to donate $100 to KPFA only if, as a good faith gesture, Andrew Leslie Phillips resigns immediately.
Name: Celia Reyes
Subject: proposed program destruction
Message: to the members of the national board of pacifica: these high handed staff changes, the ushering in of corporate funding and the proposed program changes are outrageous and wrong. do not delude yourselves that we will roll over and let our station be destroyed. if we had wanted ridiculous programming we would have made the changes ourselves. stop spending our money to bring about the destruction of our station. we will not stop fighting for what is ours and you reputations as honest and legitimate representatives of what Pacifica is all about is fast eroding. shame on you, all.
Name: Ernest Goitein
Subject: Concerned
Message: Dear Board Members, My wife Claire Feder and I are very concerned about the mismanagement by the Pacifica Executive Director. Not only have programs been changed or eliminated, there has been no consultation with the supporting members of KPFA. The changes appear to have been made because of some personal vendetta or poor judgment. In addition the ED has retained a law firm that has been accused of union busting. We are concerned that these actions can seriously jeopardize the future of the Pacifica Network and KPFA in particular. I am curious to learn how much oversight and control the Board has over the actions of the Executive Director. It would be important for us and other the KPFA supporters to learn: 1) What actions the Board plans to take or has taken to exert it’s oversight responsibility. 2) Do members of the Board have any concerns about what has taken place so far and the alienation of the KPFA supporters? 3) Does the Board have the legal authority to replace the Executive Director under current bylaws? Could you please quote the appropriate paragraph(s) dealing with the oversight responsibilities and the Board’s power to replace the Executive Director. We look forward to your reply, knowing that this would be important to a large segment of KPFA listeners.
Name: Lynn Feinerman
Subject: THE CONCERTED ATTEMPT TO DESTROY PACIFICA RADIO
Message: It has become clear to all of us who’ve been faithful listener sponsors that you are all attempting to destroy KPFA radio, and the Pacifica network. You’ve opted to taking money from Merrill Lynch/BofA – who are the VERY WORST sorts of corporations on which to depend for support; you’ve trashed the programs like The Morning Show which brought in SUBSTANTIAL funding for KPFA; you are arbitrarily and stupidly taking the 9AM DEMOCRACY NOW! broadcast off the air – WHICH WAS A BIG MONEY MAKER AS WELL. The only conclusion to which one can come is that YOU ARE INFILTRATORS YOURSELVES AND NOT TO BE RETAINED ON THE BOARD AT ALL.
Name: Joan Fiser
Subject: changes in KPFA programming
Message: I’m distressed to hear about the changes proposed in KPFA programming. It’s bad enough that the Morning Show has been taken off the air. Now, I hear that Democracy Now is being taken off too. I’ve been listening to KPFA since 1981, and these 2 programs have been the main reasons my husband and I have been frequent contributors. It also concerns me that you are considering corporate underwriting. This will totally change the programming. I can’t help but feel that those who are making these decisions are totally out of touch with the majority of KPFA listeners and what we value about KPFA. I am afraid for the future of the station and fear losing this important institution. Please reconsider these decisions that are taking the station in a direction that few will care to follow.
Name: Frances Goff
Subject: Shooting Yourselves in the Other Foot
Message: I guess Pacifica’s newer managers don’t remember the Kiss of Death when Mark Schubb left KPFK under a cloud of enmity and suspicion. Management did everything wrong, so listener-sponsors of KPFK (very possessive, we are) held pledges in trust until the bad seed could be eradicated. Pacifica National tried then to jettison Democracy Now (all-time worst idea, ever!). That was the final nail in the coffin of that crew of Management slugs. As soon as they were gone, the money flooded back in. You could learn from that; or you could go on as you’re doing, behaving like so many diseased jackals trying to pick apart roadkill . . . the only problem is WE’RE NOT DEAD and WE BITE BACK! If you want to stay among Listener-Supported Radio, you need to wise up really quickly.
Name: Kurt Schnaubelt
Subject: Ms. Engelhardt must resign
Message: Dear Boardmember, As the new program changes at KPFA are announced I urge you to fire Arlene Engelhardt. As now even Democracy Now is slated to be canceled the motives of Ms. Engelhardt have to be questioned. The cancellation of the “Morning Show” is highly instructive, no credible reason was ever given. Instead a standard Republican-style/shock treatment strategy was employed. Under the guise of financial duress the Morning Show was canceled and, with money spent on lawyering apparently easily available and by refusing listener money to support the morning show, the reasoning given by Engelhardt does not appear credible. If Ms Engelhardt would truly have the interest of KPFA at heart she would immediately resign as her credibility, pushing the changes through against the will of the listeners of a listener supported station, is irreconcilably shot. Sincerely Kurt Schnaubelt
Name: Elizabeth Ebrahimzadeh
Subject: Changes to the KPFA programs
Message: To Ms Englehart et al, Omiting the 9am Democracy Now is so far removed from the intent of Lewis Hill, the founder of Pacifica, that I am in a state of shock. What are you all trying to do? Kill this oasis of sane, impartial reporting that we have left amidst corporate sponsored propaganda? Shame. Sincerely, Elizabeth Ebrahimzadeh, Ph.D Professor of Mathematics
Name: Maribeth Halloran
Subject: program changes
Message: Outrageous! There are plenty of stations to choose from for the mediocre programming you propose. Your offerings will turn away those loyal KPFA members who, like me, chose KPFA because of its excellent news offerings on the Morning Show and access to Amy Goodman. Until your coupe, KPFA offered excellent news because it foreswore corporate underwriting. We chose to support the station as one of the very few sources of independent news. For now I’m hanging on to my check and waiting for some sign that the Board will be responsive to KPFA’s members’ pleas.
Name: Dallas Sacher
Subject: RE: KPFA
Message: To the Pacifica Board, I have been a faithful listener and financial contributor to KPFA for many years. I am writing to express my dismay regarding the utterly absurd decision to cancel the Morning Show that ran between 7 and 9 a.m. For several decades, the Morning Show has been the leading fundraiser for KPFA. The program has also been uniformly excellent in terms of the range of information presented. Insofar as I can tell, the Morning Show was canceled for purely political reasons. Apparently, the hosts of the program rubbed somebody the wrong way. Frankly, this is a pathetic reason to destroy a premier radio show. I have no clue if the Board actually cares what the listeners think. I can assure you that a significant number of listeners miss the Morning Show and want it back. If the program is not restored, the station will suffer grave financial harm. Do you care about the welfare of the station? Dallas Sacher
Name: Ann Friauf
Subject: KPFA programming changes
Message: This is the last straw! I just stopped my monthly contribution to KPFA until the Pacifica board is fired, the interim manager and program director are fired, and KPFA returns to local control. Return of the morning show is not enough anymore. How did Pacifica gain this much control over KPFA and why are they trying to destroy the station? Pacifica does NOT own KPFA – the listeners do. It makes me sick to think that my contributions to KPFA have been used to pay anti-union lawyers. And who came up with the idea of corporate underwriting? That is anathema to KPFA’s mission, which is to be able to report the truth without being beholden to corporate money. I love KPFA. I was listening on Thursday evening and heard some great live jazz and blues music. But as long as this idiocy continues I cannot continue to send money.
Name: cecile leneman
Subject: what are you doing to my station?
Message: what do you mean, you’re cancelling 9 am democracy now? what do you mean you are taking bribes, er, money from merrill lynch. the people responsible for these outrages should be cashiered immediately. there’s room for them at FOX where they might be happier.
Name: Jill
Subject: No to corporporate underwriting
Message: It is unbelievable that Pacifica would accept corporate monies. Aren’t they everything we are against? Or, at least their practices. Is the financial situation that bad? This is an outrage. Further, any change to programming on KPFA should absolutely not include removing Democracy Now from it’s 9 am slot. It is a huge money maker as well as the best journalism bar none! I do approve increasing the length of the Music of the World shows. I miss that second hour that used to be standard. The are fantastic shows.
Name: Nina Sprecher
Subject: What’s the idea?
Message: I cannot make any sense of the recently announced program changes except as another attempt to mess with my radio station. First Engelhardt removes the excellent Morning Show that brought in the most money by far; now she eliminates the 9am broadcast of Amy Goodman’s Democracy Now! Who was consulted about these changes? Don’t we, the listener-sponsors, have any say as to what is done with our money? And, speaking of listener-sponsors, what is this about corporate underwriting? I don’t want my radio station to be beholden to any corporation!! It goes totally against the stated mission of Pacifica. Engelhardt is wasting our precious dollars on $400-an-hour legal fees and complains about there not being enough money to staff the Morning Show! She has played havoc with the governance of this station. She has been a disaster and must go!
Name: Eric Boehm
Subject: KPFA Program Changes
Message: Dear PNB, KPFA listeners have voted with their money and their continuous demonstration – they want “The Morning Show” to return on-air at KPFA. Instead, you tread on uncharted and illicit waters. I seque to the information that PNB condoned and/or allowed national corporate underwriting, e.g., Merrill Lynch. True? If so, shame on you. Put “The Morning Show” back on the air and it will raise the measly $10,000 that someone mentions Merrill Lynch provided for Pacifica programming. You float your boat on unprincipled waters. If so, stop now, corporatizing Pacifica, undermining bona fide and successful programming and fund raisers. Reinstate what has proven successful and what the listener democracy in action has demonstrated to you. I am hugely disappointed in KPFA Interim Manager’s comments in his informal and formal reports to the listeners – aired on “Flashpoints”, earlier this month and on “The Morning Mix” later in April. KPFA management’s seems to promulgate ill informed decisions or ulterior agenda. However, you are correct, the stations and their programs are NOT for sale. Not “The Morning Show.” Not any program. Get Merrill Lynch away from our stations; they are NOT for sale. Put The Morning Show back on the air; it will draw listeners, memberships, and grow the station. Put the programming back in place that has worked. This has nothing to do with the elderly. Andrew’s comments suggest some are stuck in the past. What about learning from the past, Andrew? “The Morning Mix” is not doing even remotely what “The Morning Show” did for KPFA. DO WHAT WORKS. If you want to make programming changes, use democratic channels, proper surveys, make informed and wise choices. What IS truly listener supported and successful, shows. What fails, will fall away to the side. Don’t be blind to success to wallow in failed policies and decisions. Don’t toot a horn for democracy when the rampage for democratic victories is staring you in the face.
Name: susan witka
Subject: Stop the destruction of KPFA!
Message: FIRE Arlene Engelheardt!!!!!and her managers!!!! Who are these people, really???????With all these program changes, I can’t listen to my favorite programs……I work outside the home!!! And accepting corporate $=privatization=controlled media!!!! If you are not a part of this takeover plan, fire them immediately! Thank you, susan witka listener for 35 years
Name: Sheldon Warren
Subject: Corporate Underwriting
Message: There has been no discussion with Pacifica suscribers, I a am very upset with the hijacking of Pacifica by Englehart. These changes cause me to question whether I should continue to support Pacifica with a corporate filter.
Name: Eva Pettersson
Subject: KPFA
Message: It can’t be true that you are going to cut Amy Goodman in the morning?!! Please, tell me it’s not true. You can’t be serious?! If it is true then that’s one of the biggest mistakes that you ever make! Many of us got into KPFA because of her and her program Democracy now. We need Amy and KPFA especially now. Please, don’t give up! Thank you, Eva Pettersson
Name: PIH
Subject: program changes
Message: The announced program changes to KPFA seem to be a high handed & disruptive move by Pacifica to attack our station & drive listerners away. The incomprehensible elimination of Democracy Now arguably the most popular & I would add the most important program on the station one which has been expanding its coverage nationally can only be understood as a political move . The actions of the board in accepting corporate money is a betrayal of its mission & puts into question their real motivations. It seems from the board’s actions these past few years that they no longer represent the original ideals of Pacifica but I suspect have sold out to corporate & political interests. I say no to program changes, no to corporate funding, the board should resign & we the listerners need greater democratic control, we need board members who truly represent our interests.
Name: Barrie Ann Mason
Subject: KPFA
Message: Why does Pacifica think that people from the East Coast should be telling us in Northern California what we want to hear on KPFA? You are destroying the station, no one wants to listen to The Morning Mess, and now you are putting FlashPoints and Hard Knock Radio in the Morning Drive time. I’m sure they will loose their regular listeners in this slot. Our former Morning Show was excellent, has been excellent for the 30+ years I have listened to KPFA. Please bring it back! I will no longer contribute to a station that ignores and disrespects the listeners. I
Name: PB
Subject: Behave Yourselves
Message: Dear KPFA Board, Please quite effin around with local programming. LEAVE the local stations alone. Leave THEM the autonomy to decide what’s best on a local level for THEIR stations. We don’t need some big brother TOP down management interfering with what has been excellent programming for many decades. I’ve been a listener since 1967 or thereabouts and have continuously supported WBAI until 1973 at which time I switched to KPFA. I want my contributions to go to MY local station and NOT to salaries of anyone trying to undermine the their programming. Thanks for listening. Pam
Name: MM
Subject: Desperately want Morning Show
Message: The recent program scheduling changes make it much more difficult to access the information I rely on from KPFA! I have donated generously over many many years, and now will think twice before contributing to KPFA!
Name: Nancy P. Kelly
Subject: Newly Announced Program Changes at KPFA
Message: As a longtime subscriber to KFFA & KFCF, I am astounded at the recent announced changes in programming by the new interim managers without any consultation with the local board. Having lost the Morning Show, which I regularly listened to for many years, now, I’ll not be able to hear Amy Goodman. While I also listen to Dennis Bernstein, he is no replacement for the Morning Show, as it aired a variety of topics, while Bernstein ‘s show focuses on a few in depth. I’ve switched to listening to Morning Edition on public radio instead. As I have indicated in prior correspondence, any donations I make in the future will go directly to KFCF, so that the board members on the Pacifica board who appear bent on destroying KPFA do not get a dime of my money.
Name: Tom
Subject: New KPFA Changes
Message: Recently I wrote in to complain about programming changes and more at Pacifica. Then, I got an extremely rare but actual Pacifica response from KPFA’s current Interim GM, Andrew Philips. One key point up front? “Pacifica has not gone corporate”. If that’s true, then how do you explain the following? WBAI puts Gary Null back on in the noon-1 p.m. weekday slot. We all know he has lots of controversial ideas (example, AIDS isn’t real). Yet, others who talk about things like finding out the truth about 9/11 are kept off-air because that’s a “fringe” topic that has no place on-air. How do you explain that to people who lost family and/or friends in this tragedy? Commercial talk hosts are now working on several Pacifica stations (KPFT and KPFK to name two). The obvious reason? To have a “name” host to bring in ratings during drive time periods. KPFA dropping Democracy Now at 9 a.m. What will you replace it with? If I contact your station, will someone actually respond with accurate information? Or, is internal station business that’s covered under a “gag” rule? Is there any network continuity at all? It seems like it’s every station for themselves. If I go up to Pacifica’s National Office, many times I get a polite brush off. That’s a local station matter. Contact them. Is it true that KPFA cancelled their Arbitron contract? If yes, what are the reasons (aside from cost)? What on-air standards are used to judge volunteer hosts vs. paid staff? Many times the management response is give it time. However, based on lots of listener feedback about your morning show, it’s not exactly getting better. Pacifica is now taking corporate underwriting to produce programming. Does this mean you’re going to totally rewrite the Pacifica bylaws? Frankly, in my opinion there’s no difference between corporate MSM radio and NPR. You can play semantics games about how “corporate underwriting” aren’t commercials. But it’s obvious that if you have large and powerful corporations underwriting much of your programming, they want something in return. You’re seriously telling me that this isn’t going corporate? Not to be rude about it. But to say there are always two sides to a story is frankly a cop out. Will listener pledges actually go the station, or to pay attorney fees? How many WBAI listeners know that George Galloway also works for a right wing network in the U.K.? How come that’s not mentioned on his bio page on their website? If I pledge to WBAI, is that money going to pay Galloway’s salary? If it is, I have a huge problem with that. I’ve tried at least three times to get an answer to that question. But nobody ever responded. In this global depression, Pacifica’s going to continue to make these changes without listener input first? Very bad move.
Name: David M. Dobkin
Subject: Corporate sponsorship and programming changes
Message: Dear Board, As a long-time Pacifica and KPFA supporter (one with a brick with my name on it at the “new” KPFA studios), I am appalled at what I am hearing about the receipt of corporate funding by Pacifica. I am equally appalled by the continuing effort to destroy any programing integrity at KPFA and recent changes taht will deny me of some of more favorite programs. My ongoing support of KPFA us at risk at this moment so I would like to hear something from the Board that provides me with some reassurance.
Name: Alan Attlee
Subject: Pacifica is now fascist toast
Message: Pacifica is now fascist toast. Recent Pacifica management decisions prove that Pacifica has been acquired by Rupertoid interests. End of Story. A 60 year experiment in progressive media is toast. Good bye Pacifica! Don’t ask me for any money, Rupert has enough of that! -A.Attlee
Name: Susan Wehrle
Subject: Don’t destroy KPFA
Message: I can’t believe what I am reading! Democracy Now is vital to 9 a.m. people, is a wonderful show, and us retired folk need it at the later time. I do continue to subscribe at the rate of $125. I have less money that I did while working, but still consider KPFA to be very important for getting the message out. And taking corporate money! Come on! Who do we think we are? Who do YOU think we are, PBS? Perfectly good folks, they are, but they do not report some of the very controversial material that KPFA does. You know that taking corporate funding means limiting or changing the message. If you don’t now that, what are you doing on Pacifica’s national board?
Name: Wendy Shipnuck
Subject: Program changes
Message: This is an undemocratic move, to make unilateral program changes including cancellation of Democracy Now! Is KPFA trying to emulate standard Rupert Murdoch programing now! There is an elected board for a reason.
Name: Alison Massa
Subject: Stop the Dismantling of KPFA
Message: As a very long-time resident of the San Francisco Bay Area, I am deeply saddened by the damage that you, the Pacifica Board, have done and continue to do to KPFA. It has been made abundantly clear to you that KPFA’s listeners are ready and able to support the station financially, as long as it presents the content they have valued for so many years. The changes you have forced on the station are guaranteed to: — lose listeners; — lose revenues; and — deny the Bay Area listening public access to the best progressive broadcasting available. Unless you all are being paid by Right-wing interests to destroy the station, I see absolutely no reason for you not to immediately: — Fully restore The Morning Program; — Reverse the cancellation of Democracy Now; and — Give respect to KPFA’s Board, staff, volunteers and listeners. Thank you, Alison Massa
Name: Brooke Passano
Subject: Your newly announced changes
Message: Are you crazy??? Are you trying to lose all your listeners???? This is a huge mistake!!!!
Name: Jeffrey Dickemann,Ph.D.
Subject: Destruction of KPFA
Message: The strategy of Arlene Englehardt and her interim managers seems to be to destroy KPFA as a nationally valuable station, and replace it with a local interest and events calendar station of no regional or national value, staffed by uneducated, uninformed volunteers. The station will then be sold by Arlene who hopes to make big bucks. Corporate interests will take over. This is not what KPFA was founded for. Save KPFA! I have been a listener since ca. 1950 and a supporter since the 1960s. Thank you.
Name: David Durbin
Subject: program changes
Message: Dear Board, Why are you making such large and arbitrary changes to the daily schedule? Don’t you think your listeners/ supporters want to have some imput. I have supprted this KPFA for decades in the past changes were made slowly with some thought. I hope you are not tryng to destroy the listenership of very popular shows. Return to the old schedule and rethink. Give the listeners a say in changes. David Durbin
Name: MSM
Subject: No to corporate underwriting and no to program changes
Message: The current GM and her appointees are in the process of destroying KPFA and Pacifica as we know it. I am very suspicious of their motivation. In a time when corporations are taking over all public dialogue, Pacifica is virtually the only space available for alternative, progressive voices. If these changes are instituted, it will put Pacifica on the path to destruction. Once again, Pacifica is being attacked from outsiders whose sole purpose is the take over of the network. New leadership, committed to the original mission and vision of Pacifica is needed. Sincerely, M S Meyers Berkeley Native
Name: Avilee Goodwin
Subject: no accountability at KPFA
Message: Dear Pacifica National Board, I am outraged by the recently announced programming changes at KPFA — not because of any specific changes, but because this action was apparently carried out by two recently-appointed staff members with absolutely no input from the listeners or the local station board. This is completely unacceptable! This is a continuation of last fall’s action in which the Pacifica national office arbitrarily canceled a program without any accountability to the staff, listeners, or LSB. For me this is not about any specific program — it is about accountability. How can we as listeners consider this to be our station if popular programming can be abruptly canceled or rescheduled by one or two people whom we did not elect, and to whom we have no recourse? This leaves me wondering why I bother to vote for the LSB, since it obviously has no real power to make decisions that affect the station and the listeners. It also leaves me wondering why, after decades of listening and supporting KPFA, I should ever support the station (and Pacifica) again. respectfully, Avilee Goodwin
Name: Hank Mooney
Subject: Amy Goodman
Message: Regarding KPFA’s current cancellation of Amy Goodman’s show. ALTERNATIVE news is the PURPOSE of KPFA’s existence; and of Pacifica’s existence. I’m a former programmer and news anchor at KPFA, and have always continued to support the station. If Amy’s show is not reinstated by April 30, I will cancel my monthly automatic payment. Hank Mooney
Name: ST
Subject: Destruction of KPFA and Pacifica
Message: I have recently become of member of KPFA (again) and have listened to the station over the years. Merill Lynch’s underwriting and big business influencing the Pacifica Foundation is counter to the mission of the stations. The actions of the past months is extremely disturbing to me. Who are these national people people who are bypassing the community, the local stations and taking over? Stop this now.
Name: Robert Godes
Subject: KPFA
Message: Your actions towards KPFA employees, management, and listeners is morally bankrupt.
Name: larry cohen
Subject: program changes
Message: The reported programming changes are crazy. We recently just made a $150 contribution but are about ready to give up on KPFA unless you restore more local control and common sense programming- and quality. I run a non profit and understand finance and quality and serving the community who owns the efforts are key.
Name: Michael Allen
Subject: Are you people insane or just incredibly dumb
Message: First I had to explain to you that LA is not the bay area and although their morning show is nice we had an excellent one of our own hosted most capably by Brian and Aimee.In fact I liked it so much that I WAS listening to it daily for about the last 15 years. Yes at that time Andrea and Phillip were the hosts ,but the point is I listened to KPFA almost exclusively from 4 or5 in the morning until 7 at night for years and years UNTIL you took off the morning show. Of course I still listen to Democracy Now and Al Jazeera but now from 8 to 10 I’d rather Hear the Stephanie Miller Show -commercials and all-on Green 960 than the crap you replaced the morning show with. I say this with sadness because I fear a mere handful of vengeful idiots may actually destroy this radio station which I’ve supported all these years. Bring back the Morning Show with Brian and Aimee now .
Name: L. Darlene Pratt
Subject: Pacifica Management and Program Changes
Message: This latest round of program changes is shocking and outrageous! It is obvious that those who believe they are “in charge” of our station do not have the best interests of the station in mind. This take over is frightening and I am appalled that Flashpoints! and Hard Knock Radio are complicit in this type of dictatorial management. These financially precarious moves may well doom our station which will, in effect, take out both Flashpoints! and Hard Knock! It is becoming much clearer that something/someone sinister is behind the move/s being made. Cointelpro is alive and well and thriving in Pacifica. Some of you behind these ridiculous machinations are sinister and some of you are dupes–so happy to get a show or a “better” time slot that you are willing to sell out the rest of us. I gave extra money last year to help save this station. But you are out of your mind if you think I am going to continue to fund this nonsense. Unfortunately, that may well be what some of you have in mind–losing the Pacifica/KPFA we have loved for 60 years.
Name: George
Subject: Pacifica’s Attempt to destroy KPFA
Message: Canceling DEMOCRACY NOW is an awful thing for Pacifica to do to KPFA and to its listeners in the Bay Area. It is also a move to destroy independent reporting. Bring back Amy Goodman and local autonomy. The new KPFA board is reponsible and should be given the opportunity to show it. And Pacifica should not be taking money from any corporate source.
Name: John P. Jones
Subject: Who are these people and what are they doing to OUR radio station?
Message: I’m 65 and have been a Pacifica Radio supporter since the mid-’60s. I helped fund-raise when corporate vultures tried to hijack Pacifica Radio in 2001. Now …. what the fuck??? AGAIN??? To whoever the fucking unprincipled, immoral, greedy, selfish and despicable idiots are who are behind this round of hijacking, I offer this advice: Back off !!! … Because you will lose.
Name: Miguel AuClair-Valdez
Subject: programming and corporagte money
Message: I helped build the structure that houses KPFA and have supported the station for years. I am shocked at the way in which the progarmming changes were made at KPFA. I am also stunned to see that any corporte money was taken for any reason. Keep Pacifica in the tradtion of L Hill. Please run the network in a domocratic manner. Thanks, M
Name: DA
Subject: Democracy Now!
Message: I am a paying member of KPFA. If you cancel the 9am broadcast of Democracy Now! I do not think I will renew my membership. This is too much.
Name: Connie Tyler
Subject: Corporate Underwriting
Message: I am appalled to hear that you accepted corporate underwriting from Merrill Lynch for Pacifica. I am a monthly contributor to KPFA but if I ever hear of KPFA accepting corporate underwriting, I will stop my contribution.
Name: PE
Subject: STOP the RightWing takeover of KPFA!
Message: I don’t know what’s going on but clearly the national board is doing everything it can think of to destroy this public radio station, and I can think of only one group that would benefit from this — right wing corporate interests. The very interests that are manipulating politicians to brazenly call for laws to ban unionization of workers, privatize social security, ‘voucherize’ medicare and everything else it can think of to further enslave the masses and maximize their control of the world. Why else would the board refuse to listen to the voices of the people for whom KPFA exists in the first place if not to shut us up and prevent us from spreading the truth about them? If the board was listening to KPFA’s supporters, it would bring the Morning Show back, stop jerking around the other programming and keep its bleeping hands off of Democracy Now!!
Name: MN
Subject: MerrillLynch
Message: It is a disgrace that Pacifica is accepting corporate underwriting from Merrill Lynch and that the general manager of WBAI has taken $10,000 from Merrill Lynch to fund work on a production on fracking. I cannot believe that the CFO and the PNB treasurers approved this! If they were unaware of it, they were sleeping on the job and should resign or be removed. Furthermore the Pacifica National Board is responsible for what is happening now at KPFA. The two interim managers, Andrew Phillips and Carrie Core do not sound like they have the people’s interests at heart. Merrill Lynch money has strings attached, but Phillips has said he favors accepting it. If he is that corporate-friendly, is he the right person for interim General Manager? Furthermore, he and Cole are making unwise program changes without consultation with our elected local board or any of us in the KPFA community. For example, it is unwise to remove one of the Democracy Now broadcasts since the show is hugely popular and helps us fundraise. It is unwise to move Flashpoints from a time when people are commuting home from work and can listen, to a time when most people are already at work. No, we can’t listen to KPFA at work. And to replace it with an unformulated program in that important 5-6 pm time slot? And alienate donors so they are turned off right when we are starting a fund drive? If the plan is to alienate listeners, destroy KPFA and Pacifica after all these years, and give it all over to the same bankers and corporations which got our country where it is today, then these moves would make perfectly good sense. I do not know exactly who has been pushing for these policies from within, or how they got this power, but I do know from experience that we are up against powerful corporate interests which have in the past, and seem now, to be using their various resources and methods to undermine a few small radio stations with an independent viewpoint. We must be doing something really important, or we would not be such a threat and so would not be under this type of attack. Feeding us money and getting corporate-friendly decisionmakers into leadership positions in our national board and stations is a corporate tactic, nothing new, and this attack must be stopped again, now. I have faith that we will loosen their clutch as we have before. We will keep opposing the destruction of our stations and mission because we have to survive. We cannot do this without a media voice. Our democracy, livelihoods, health are on the line. No to corporate underwriting. No to cloak and dagger programming decisions. Yes to our mission.
Name: Barbara Raymond
Subject: 94.1 Radio Station
Message: KPFA is the only local station with intellectual content as well as a close connection to the people who live and work here. It is unique and is extremely popular among well educated citizens. To have it being destroyed–no, it doesn’t need improvement–is something that the architects of destruction have no doubt wanted for a long time. Freedom of thought, and of debate, and knowledge of facts on all sides of each issue is invaluable. I am truly sick about what seems to be happening. Someone with some money can’t stand freedom. Union rights — those are worker’s and people’s rights–can’t stand that. A beautiful station. Please lay off! We LOVE KPFA!!!!
Name: Ellen Augustine
Subject: Return Local Board Control to KPFA
Message: I am a 30-year subscriber to KPFA. I am outraged at how Arlene Engelhardt has decimated the station. KPFA had widely successful programing before she came in and cancelled the Morning Show. Money was pledged to pay for more than 9 months salary for Aimee Alison and Brian Edwards-Tikkert to come back to do the Morning Show. I do not listen to Flashpoints regularly an do not want it at 8am. Putting Hard Knock Radio at 9am is insulting to young listeners who are in school then, or at work. I enjoy Kris Welch’s noon time program during my lunch break from work, and would miss it at 11am. Please return programming control to the local station board and respect the will of the listeners and supporters.
Name: margaret copi
Subject: pacifica shenanigans
Message: Canceling Amy Goodman’s 9am show? Corporate underwriting? What kind of progressives are you, anyway?
Name: Maia Craig
Subject: Programming at KPFA
Message: I am a very longtime listener to KPFA, primarily in the morning before work, also during noontime during the work week. I have already stopped listening in the AM when you took away the lively informative Morning Show; now I understand you are planning music at noon. I am beside myself wondering what you have in mind for us. I cannot be alone in turning away from KPFA; you must be losing many like me. I am devastated; in this time when real news is so difficult to come by you are ripping the heart out of what used to be an incomparable news source, both local, national and international. I have always always been a loyal KPFA listener, and cannot believe that I am being forced out, as that is what it feels like. Please come to your senses, realize what your base is, what your mission should be. I am truly at a loss to understand your motivations in destroying this station, in decimating a loyal base. I could understand trying to expand on that base, but this is a destruction of the foundation of what KPFA as always been about. I am deeply angry and deeply saddened at what you are doing. I can’t tell whether this is just incompetence or perhaps something else is afoot. Good job if you are trying to tear KPFA down; terrible job if that is not your goal.
Name: LA
Subject: KPFA is going WHAT!?!?!?
Message: Taking money from MERRILL LYNCH? KPFA is turning into just another corporate toady? CORPORATIONS, WITH THEIR UNLIMITED WEALTH AND ATTENDANT POWER, ARE RUINING OUR NATION! Extracting and consuming irreplaceable natural resources at an alarming rate, fouling our air, soil and water, eroding and destroying farmland, dredging ocean bottoms for the last fish stocks while destroying other ocean creatures and their habitat, BUYING our supposedly “democratic” government to eliminate regulations and gain subsidies – and foment wars. I have stretched my very limited budget (minimal Social Security and support from a son and his wife) to help fund KPFA with a monthly donation. That will be canceled promptly if this ill-advised decision is not rescinded promptly!
Name: John L Erhart
Subject: Restore local programming to KPFA
Message: Don’t make sweeping program changes without consultation with local board. The changes made from Pacifica place Morning Mix at prime time, while reducing exposure for FSRN and Democracy Now. You’re losing interested listeners on the West Coast.
Name: Carole Jones
Subject: Program changes for KPFA
Message: April 23, 2011 You are destroying the station as I have known and loved it for years. Are you all crazy? I am overwhelming disappointed and will no longer financially support the station to the extent that I have before. Your mothers should be ashamed of you. Carole Jones Mountain View, CA
Name: MB
Subject: Money Saving Changes
Message: Richmond, CA April 23, 2011 Dear Pacifica Board, Last year, I gave around $3000 during KPFA’s fund drives. I have just learned of your changes to the station’s programming including removing Amy Goodman’s “Democracy Now” from its 9:00 a.m. slot. I am retired and am not willing to get up at 7:00 am to hear her show, but can watch it on my computer whenever I wish. Since she is the main reason I listen to and donate to the station, I wanted to thank you for saving me the $3000 which I can use in these challenging economic times. I also had included KPFA in my estate, but this was a difficult choice since there are many excellent progressive organizations that need help. Again, you have saved me agonizing over to which ones I shall bequest. By making these changes (including removing the valuable “Morning Show”), I am now free to endow other worthy organizations. Sincerely yours, MB
Name: concerned taxpayer
Subject: KPFA Programming
Message: To Whom It May Concern, “[KPFA]Management intends to move Flashpoints to 8am and Hard Knock Radio to 9am, while Against the Grain and Living Room would be moved to 11am and music moved to the noontime for an hour and a half. FSRN and Al Jazeera, which often duplicate coverage, would be put back-to-back at 4pm. And an unformulated program, which sounds a lot like the concept of the unpopular Morning Mix, would be on from 5-6pm with five rotating hosts.” If that statement is true, this letter is to address those ideas. Democracy Now, Flashpoints and Hard Knock Radio are programs that hundreds of listeners depend upon in their current time slots. If they were to be moved, it would make sense to move them one hour or two forward or backward, but moving them to time slots so many hours away, does not take the listeners into account and could prove to be potentially financially disastrous to a station that needs new ideas that support its growth, not its demise. There has to be intelligent thought put into it as to the repercussions and ramifications of such decisions. Listeners who support the station financially need to be respected and consulted, and is simply good business practice. Considering listeners and staff suggests professionalism, a principle that KPFA could use a healthy dose of. It is the essence of customer service, which is what will sustain any business in today’s fluctuating economy. You need customer confidence and loyalty. It will outlast underwriting from major corporations, which is the undisciplined way out. The customers must have faith in the product. If you ignore your customers and their ideas, you will not be in business for very long. It is the listeners and staff who must be respected, considered and consulted. It seems as if in this instance, there was no thought as to what could happen as a consequence. If there had been a more thoughtful process, it would seem as though the most important resource, the listeners and staff, was overlooked. If the opening statement to this letter is true, the idea alienates listeners and personnel, when the idea is to communicate on one accord. It is ironic that a place that is designed to communicate healthy, non-commercial, “left” ideas, has challenges effectively communicating with one another within its own infrastructure. So many people rely on the station to get information, and to discount thousands of people, is simply put, ridiculously inconsiderate. To come to the table, and explain ideas to listeners and programmers is the true hallmark of good leadership. It suggests that they are valued and that their input is invaluable. It is always best to get a vote, not only because it is the fair and just thing to do, but that it helps with confidence in management, which is a vital part of operating a functional radio station, rather than a perpetually dysfunctional one. It is important to have confidence that the people who are in leadership understand that their positions are not only a decision-making ones, but ones of increased responsibility to its constituency. So, in that spirit, my invaluable vote is that Democracy Now be kept at it’s 9AM slot and that if Hard Knock is to be moved, that it be moved to 5 or 6 PM, when more listeners in their demographic can listen to the show. No one is interested in hearing Hip Hop cultural expressions at 9 AM in the morning! Thank you.
Name: Linda Krantz
Subject: No! to planned program changes
Message: I am shocked and saddened by the news of the pending program changes. I’ve been waiting for someone to have the sense to return The Morning Show to the 7 am slot but obviously that hasn’t occurred. Hard Knock Radio is a fine show but it’s listenership is not a morning crowd! Flashpoints is totally inappropriate for the morning. It seems to me if the goal were to sabotage and destroy KPFA -this would be the way to go-if you care in any way about the viability of this station, please reconsider!
Name: Robert Cohen
Subject: no corporate $ underwriting for KPFA
Message: A a longtime listener and past KPFA news volunteer, I think it’s outrageous that Pacifica has apparently accepted a $10,000 corporate donation — especially from a Wall Street financial company (Merrill Lynch). I call on Pacifica to return this donation forthwith, and pledge not to take any more corporate contributions which would only traduce the independence of community radio and eventually rein in the Pacifica’s and KPFA’s courage to take on the challenges we face politically and socially — many of which stem from the crass corporatization of our political process and society at large.
Name: sarah burns
Subject:
Message: keep amy goodman democracy now!
Name: Priscilla Cortez
Subject: So, Pacific now too is a tool of the corporation?
Message: What happened, Arlene Engelhardt? You just lost a listener?
Name: Adrianne Aron
Subject: DemocracyNow!
Message: I cannot believe what you are doing to the schedule. Not only are frivolous programs being placed where listeners are used to finding high-quality public affairs programs, but the VERY BEST program on the air, anywhere in the USA, DemocracyNow! is eliminated. What are you thinking? Who are you? What makes you think you have the right to destroy our listener-supported station? Dr. Adrianne Aron Berkeley
Name: Jennie Orvino
Subject: Program changes at KPFA
Message: First, I want Aimee Allison and The Morning Show back. Second, the new program changes are so stupid! Flashpoints at 8 in the morning instead of at Drive Time. The young people’s show on when they’re in school or in bed. Puleeeeez! What is going on??? What are the reasons for these changes and who was consulted? And Third, money from Merrill Lynch!? I’ve been subscribing since 1983 and this is the worst it’s ever been. We don’t need more Aljezeera and its European sports scores! Once a day at 6 is plenty. Democracy Now, Morning Show Democracy Now and Hard Knock and Flashpoints as they are!
Name: Eliot Kenin
Subject: changes at KPFA
Message: I’ve been a KPFA subscriber/supporter and, occasionally, volunteer programmer since the ’70’s and before that a WBAI subscriber. I’m old enough to remember COINTELPRO sabotage being directed at organizations I was working with. What’s going on now with Pacifica and being aimed at KPFA sounds like that. Please tell me how these changes are expected to improve KPFA’s usefulness to Bay Area listeners and/or expand its subscriber base.
Name: Daniel Goodwin
Subject: corporate underwriting
Message: My understanding is that Pacifica is now accepting funds for some programs from Merrill Lynch, and that KPFA’s Interim GM favors corporate underwriting. This is a profound betrayal of the founding principles of the Pacifica network, as you must know, and of all longtime listeners and supporters such as myself. Please be advised that I will never again donate a penny to Pacifica until this new policy is explicitly renounced. You are on the fast track to destroying one of the last remaining shreds of democracy in my country.
Name: Terri Hinte
Subject: Pacifica changes at KPFA
Message: I am a longtime listener/supporter of KPFA in Berkeley. The cancellation of the Morning Show was disheartening enough, but I’ve just heard about the cancellation of Democracy Now. The Morning Show and Democracy Now were the two programs that I listened to the most over the years, that I got the most value out of and that prompted me to contribute during fundraiser periods. WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE YOUR INTENTIONS???
Name: winter dellenbach
Subject: KPFA Programming switch & WBAI & Merrill Lynch.
Message: The unilateral (bilateral?) sweeping programming changes are deeply disappointing and disrespectful to listeners and long time supporters of KPFA and Pacifica. Abandon this new programming scheme – NOW! The Merrill Lynch underwriting is destructive of Pacifica’s ability to perform its mission. Surely all those making these unfortunate decisions do not comprehend why these are bad decisions – meaning that these people are not qualified to be in the positions they occupy. The morning and evening KPFA news (not the vapid Mix) are the heart of KPFA, along with much other vital programming. That our locally generated news reporting is gutted is shameful. Bring back the morning news show and staff. Management at KPFA, WBAI and Pacifica must reverse these decisions – surely they are not even legal given they were done with no relevant consultation and consent. Winter Dellenbach Gerry Masteller Palo Alto, CA
Name: Linda Arinna Weisman
Subject: changes
Message: I cannot support the changes you have made without input from those directly involved. I have not given my annual subscription to KPFA because I want to protest the lack of communication and participatory decision making that has taken place.
Name: Ford Greene
Subject: Radical and Destructive Reprogramming at KPFA
Message: I am an attorney and the mayor of the Town of San Anselmo in Marin County, California. For over 40 years I have been an avid listener of KPFA and for many of those years a subscriber. I was recently very disturbed when KPFA’s The Morning Show was yanked off the air and when Democracy Now! was moved from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m. I am an early riser and frequently would listen to Democracy Now! at 6 a.m. and then again at 9:00 a.m. to pick up what I missed the first time around. In the interim I would listen to The Morning Show with Aimee Allison which I found to very often include an edifying mix of local to global matters. I come to appreciate Letters to Washington after the second airing of Democracy Now!. I always appreciate Dennis Bernstein at 5:00 before the evening news. Your transition to corporate funding in violation of the charter is repulsive, as is your wasting of the few assets there are on high priced lawyers management oriented lawyers only to lose the grievance proceedings. To insist of issuing employment and programming edicts from the top down without the benefit of staff, station or community input is authoritarian in nature and an abomination to free speech radio. Cut it out.
Name: EL
Subject: Long-time listeners protests
Message: Dear Pacifica Board Member: I am so outraged by your illegal actions and the impunity with which you have done these things. Living in Fresno, we rely as much or more on KPFA. We cannot live with all these crazy programming changes. Clearly, you are trying to kill KPFA because I will be tuning in another station if I cannot hear Amy Goodman at 9:00 or Hard Knock or Firing Line or the other shows that are being rearranged. You are misspending our money and will have to pay it back. Why? Because seeking corporate underwriting is illegal according to the KPFA articles of incorporation. Spending our money to fight the workers we support, without our permission, is also illegal. You act as if you can do all these things, but you cannot! Not with my money! Why do you think you can do this? You are acting illegally and this will catch up with you. We (the listeners) will not give up and we will fight you every step of the way. We will do what needs to be done, and your million plus listeners will get back the station we like and have had for such a long time. You will be ordered to pay back the listeners’ money that you are mis-using and you will be locked up and put in jail for what you are doing. We are letting you know this now because if you break the law, there are serious consequences. You have been warned and your actions (as a group or as individuals) will catch up with you. And you will bring down all the persons you have hired with you.
Name: R. Jane Klein
Subject: Rescind program changes!
Message: To whom this concerns at Pacifica: I am a KPFA listener and supporter. Please bring back the Morning Show and Democracy Now with Amy Goodman. These 2 programs are what make KPFA, KPFA!!!! I wonder who is responsible for these decisions? Frankly they are killing the station by their actions.
Name: Caroline Wisuri
Subject: KPFA changes
Message: We, the listeners, fought off drastic changes in programming, funding, philosophy and governance in 1999. Evidently, we did not get the corrections right. We will have to make sure we do what needs to be done to get this latest attack on programming, staffing, philosophy and funding turned around again. Where did the Pacifica Executive Director come from and why do we not have a KPFA Executive chosen by us? Who are these people and how did they take over our station? We will get it back.
Name: DS
Subject: programming & corporate underwriting
Message: Dear People, I am not opposed to changes at KPFA. However, most of the changes I see happening at the station (exception, Aljazeera), are giving me more reasons to not donate, and to not listen. The program in place of the morning show is not worth listening to, so I do not. Bring back the Morning Show with Aimee and Brian, the professionals. Corporate funding is antithetical to the intent and mission of KPFA. Moving the slated shows to times when people have less access to them makes them vulnerable to getting bumped off the schedule. The changes being made are making the station less financially stable, therefore, seemingly making corporate sponsorship necessary. The transparency of these moves sheds an extremely unfavorable light on those responsible (Arlene, Andrew, Carrie et al). Thank you, DS
Name: Nancy M Friedman
Subject: No to corporate underwriting and yes to Democracy Now
Message: Well folks, I stopped listening in the mornings after you took the Morning Show off the air (after listening since 1975, when I arrived in the East Bay), and if you go through with removing Democracy Now from our airwaves, I’ll take my support and news listening elsewhere, and stop sending in money after all these years. I’ve only been able to contribute a couple hundred dollars in the last two years (per year), but am now in a position to go back up to several hundred dollars. However, the changes the new management is implementing make the station of less and less importance in my life as a leftist activist, so I have no motivation to keep subscribing. I still enjoy a couple of programs (Bonnie, Dirk, Mitch Jezerich, anything Brian Edwards Tiegert does, evening news), but I’ll join the thousands who listen without contributing, since I disagree with so many of the Pacifica and KPFA management decisions in this past year.
Name: Manfred Geier
Subject: NO CORPORATE UNDERWRITING
Message: Members of the Board, I’m a long-time listener/supporter of KPFA. I’m not against change but this is unacceptable. This is the last straw. Arlene Engelhardt and her interim stooges have to go. I stopped contributing to PBS a long time ago. KPFA is my last refuge for real news and commentary. If I can’t trust what I’m hearing because it has the taint of corporate funding and influence, I’ll stop contributing money to KPFA and Pacifica. Sincerely, Manfred Geier
Name: CL
Subject: taking merrill $$; cancelling 9 am democracy now
Message: Is it possible that management would utterly lose its mind and its focus? is kpfa joining our government in becoming a rogue institution? rectify these aberrations at once, or lose this subscriber. no jive, no joke.
Name: William Ray Yeager
Subject: Recent Changes to KPFA
Message: Dear Pacifica Boardmembers, KPFA has been hijacked. Content is becoming less and less professional. NPR is starting to sound better and better not because they’re doing anything to improve their programming but only because the competition is falling down on the job. Sadly yours, William Ray Yeager Petaluma
Name: Dee
Subject: Democracy Now and corporate funding
Message: I am extremely distressed about the news that KPFA plans to accept corporate funding. Once corporate funding is allowed, KPFA becomes indebted to those corporations! This goes against all that KPFA stands for and has NEVER been done before! KPFA is unique among all media and it is because it is not beholden to any political or corporate entity! Your viewers demand integrity and that means that KPFA must NOT accept money from corporations.
Name: gina hall
Subject: Outraged
Message: I can not believe that Listener sponsored radio is being hijacked from the very people who have kept it alive for decades. The reason we contribute to KPFA is because we want to keep it ‘as is’ and because we value the truth. The interim management and Pacificia are in my opinion, criminal with their latest actions. Sponsors are supposed to be honored and taken into consideration with major decisions, not pushed around and told ‘like it or lump it’. When sponsors are pushed around they drop the client. I do believe that is the intention of Pacificia. I feel this is a obvious ploy to undermind KPFA and it’s listeners. It is a disgrace and it should be illegal. Isn’t it enough that 99.9% of radio is owned by corporate sources? Can’t there be ONE station left on the air for the People who support and listen to KPFA. and a choice that is suppose to be our rights as Americans. Is there NO room left for the truth? I will actively spread the word about the unfair practices of Pacificia and do my best to preserve what few liberties we have left. Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press are all but distant memories of days gone by and this Must Stop. Much Respect to KPFA for your courage to tell the truth and for putting up with the constant obstacles you must contend with to be able to exercise your Freedom to do so. It is the truth that keeps us free. Without the truth the freedom of the people is suppressed and no amount of money should ever compromise the Freedom of The American People to hear it.
Name: Mark Spindler
Subject: Your selling off of Pacific/KPFA to corporate interests
Message: If you continue along the course of accepting corporate underwriting my wife and I will stop supporting KPFA. If you proceed with this arbitrary decision making you will face a revolt by the listeners of KPFA beyond anything you can possibly imagine. As board members of Pacifica you have a duty to oversee the actions of the officers of Pacifica. DO YOUR JOB!
Name: Nicole Bilotti
Subject: No more reason to support Pacifica
Message: What a sad, pitiful state of affairs as the Pacifica board seems to have been taken over by corporatists, who are now dedicated to killing our beloved KPFA. The board may well succeed. You will drive listener supporters like myself to drop our support as you sustain yourselves on corporate funds. So, as you kill the goose that has laid the golden egg, we the people will find alternative avenues and you will ultimately become irrelevant. Pat yourselves on the back; you have gotten rid of another one of those annoying KPFA listener supporters. I have been a donor to KPFA for years and that will end as soon as I can notify my credit card co. to stop my monthly pledge.
Name: Phyllis Willett
Subject: corporate underwriting & program changes
Message: Dear Pacifica Board Members, I believe that in my decades of listening first to WBAI as I grew up in NY and then to KPFA when I moved to the Bay Area, that this is the first occasion on which I have addressed you. I wish the circumstances were better and that I could write a note of congratulations. Instead, my message is occasioned by the horrifying slippery slope down which you have taken us by accepting underwriting from Merrill-Lynch. Have you learned nothing from the corporatization of media in the US? It is critically important that Pacifica and its 5 stations remain listener supported and not take money from those sources that would change our fundamental mission. Furthermore, what has been happening to KPFA programming — and what I understand is now about to happen at the hands of people who temporarily occupy positions with decision-making authority — is really horrific. The Morning Show and Democracy Now have been my primary reasons for listening to KPFA for many years — true also of a major part of the station’s listening audience. We need to have The Morning Show restored and we certainly should not be reducing Democracy Now’s airtime. As dismayed and angry as I am (also as a major contributor to KPFA), I hope that the tone of this letter is reasonable and will be considered by you in a reasonable way. Thank you. Phyllis Willett Berkeley, CA
Name: Anatole Anton
Subject: KPFA
Message: The changes recently made in KPFA programming seem to me deliberately calculated to destroy KPFA as I know it. Like many other liseners, I love to listen to Democracy Now. I also like the morning sow very much. I am a great fan of C.S. Song and also of Michio Kaku. this is public radio at its best. Please leave the programers at KPFA alone to do their work. Pacifica’s influence seems wholly destructive to me.
Name: Dr. H.A. Neves
Subject: amy goodman
Message: I am outraged at the suggestion that Amy Goodman’s Democracy Now will be canceled. This program is the major reason why I listen to KPFA and have made it required listening for a course that I teach. What is going on here!!!!
Name: Ed Treuting
Subject: Get corporate sponsorship out of Pacifica!!!
Message: Dear Pacifica Board members – As a listener and member of KPFA for most of the last 35 years, and a former volunteer in the news department, I am absolutely outraged to hear that Merrill Lynch was allowed to sponsor programming related to hydro-fracking on WBAI. This is a travesty, and runs counter to everything that Pacifica is supposed to be about. The only way to be able to believe in the mission of Pacifica is to be assured that there is absolutely NO CORPORATE UNDERWRITING OF ANY program or programmer who airs material on any Pacifica station. Period. End of discussion. No exceptions. Never. And any and all people from both WBAI and the Pacifica National Board and Pacifica Executive leadership positions who allowed this to happen, either directly or tacitly need to be fired or dismissed immediately. This is an outrage. Further, if KPFA’s new interim manager, Andrew Phillips, favors corporate underwriting, it is clearly time for him to go. This is poison to the very mission of KPFA, and Pacifica. It is way past time to clean house!!! Out with Andrew Phillips. Out with the new interim program director, Carrie Core, who has just announced a devastating re-aarranging of the programming on KPFA. And most of all, OUT WITH ARLENE ENGELHARDT. SHE HAS BEEN THE MOVER AND SHAKER BEHIND THE ATTEMPTS TO DISMANTLE KPFA, AS WE, WHO HAVE BEEN LONG TIME LISTENERS AND SUPPRTERS, HAVE COME TO KNOW AND LOVE IT. Phillips and Core are but her stool-pigeons. They must go, but clearly she must ge the first one out the door! Clean house and give us back our beloved KPFA NOW!!! Ed Treuting
Name: Robert Coe
Subject: Pacifica’s actions
Message: I oppose Pacifica’s counterproductive and heavy-handed actions against KPFA’s news staff and programming. I have been a subscriber for decades, through thick and thin, but if this behavior continues I will withdraw support of Pacifica and redouble it for a reborn KPFA that breaks away from your autocratic, corporate-style rule to become a truly independent station. Sincerely, Robert Coe
Name: Iris Biblowitz
Subject: where is democracy at Pacifica?
Message: Hello-I don’t understand how Pacifica can make dictatorial changes in KPFA’s schedule, treating competent, truth-seeking, and hard-working journalists like cards to be shuffled. How can they do this without working closely with the local elected board and the KPFA community? Democracy Now has aired twice a day for many,many years, and has very committed listeners because of the incisive and critical programming. We need it twice a day. Moving around Flashpoints and Hard Knock Radio to morning slots may make it impossible for many of the listeners to continue to hear those shows; for example, students who can’t get out of classes in the morning.l Pacifica is showing blatant disrespect for the workers of KPFA. Many countries in the Middle East and Africa are struggling against dictatorships. KPFA listeners and workers can, too. And bring back the old Morning Show. Also, no corporate underwriting. That’s a slap in the face to why KPFA exists. Thank you-Iris Biblowtiz
Name: Bill Appledorf
Subject: Are you trying to destroy KPFA?
Message: I contribute $200 a year to KPFA. It is the only radio station and the only source of broadcast news I listen to. The program changes you have dictated at KPFA make no sense to me and will necessitate changes in the way I organize my daily routine. Not only are you unilaterally pushing KPFA around with your arbitrary program changes, but you are also pushing me, a listener and a contributor, around, and I will do everything I can to prevent them. I will also do everything I can to have the individuals at Pacifica who are responsible for these changes replaced.
Name: MI
Subject: Mismanagement at KPFA
Message: I cannot believe what is happening to KPFA! I have listened to this station for many years and I have contributed money for many years. If the purpose of Pacifica is to destroy KPFA they are doing a good job. Ms. Engelhardt (sp?) must be removed from the Pacifica board! The new managers should be removed as well.
Name: David Lynch
Subject: Concerned About Autocratic Behavior
Message: Dear Andrew and Carrie: The problem isn’t the lineup change per se. It is the autocratic way that the changes were implemented. It takes an unusual degree of arrogance to do something like this that affects so many people without even informal consultation. You acknowledge that the Morning Show cancellation was “controversial” (understatement of the century). Yet somehow (perhaps clairvoyance) you declare that reinstating the Morning Show is “no answer.” How scientific and professional. We’re surely in good hands now. You must believe that you, and you alone, have some kind of magical ability to determine what is best. It’s good to be king isn’t it? You point out that you have the authority to do this, but authority is a strange thing. You can only lead if people are willing to follow. We’ll see. Best regards, David Lynch
Name: Nina Falk
Subject: The announced new changes
Message: To all Board Members at Pacifica, I was horrified to hear these latest announced changes. The hours of the day when working people come home and want to hear the news from the people they can trust and have listened to for many years plus loosing out on the early morning programs we have loved as well. Al Jazeera, which was very helpful on line during the Egyptian uprising has become too much. It has loud repetitive music for a good part of the program and does not add anything to American coverage of news. I would be happy to listen for a half hour at most at a time not replacing Amy Goodman. Where are you guys trying to take us? And to accept corporate backing for our programing is outrageous. The new program manager, who I have listened to on air is not of the caliber I would expect for KPFA. His personal statements have been upsetting to me. This is not the time to be splitting the KPFA community apart unless you want to. Get on the ball or get out of this radio community network.
Name: Ken MacKay
Subject: KPFA Program changes
Message: I am a long-time listener and supporter of KPFA. I also have about eight years of programming experience on another listener supported station, and so know how ego driven some programmers-and managers- in public radio can be. The recent announced changes to the KPFA program lineup are ridiculous and will cause listener support to further decline. It really now appears that Pacifica management, especially Arlene Engelhardt, is trying to drive KPFA to the brink of financial ruin. Accepting underwriting from any corporation, especially a financial monster like Merrill Lynch goes against everything that the founders of KPFA and Pacifica stand for. The Pacifica board should issue a policy statement that no corporate underwriting will be accepted for any reason. I deplore these recent events at KPFA. Sincerely, Dr. Ken MacKay
Name: Amy Cappels
Subject: – Abrupt and drastic changes
Message: Greetings- I am shocked and disgusted to learn of the recent changes in programming. KPFA seems to be hijacked! The acceptance of corporate funds is the OPPOSITE of what KPFA and its community stands for. Democracy Now and Hard Knock Radio MUST remain on air in their original slot. These abrupt, drastic changes MUST be reversed. Deeply concerned and disheartened, Amy Cappels San Mateo County, CA
Name: June Brumer
Subject: LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
Message: i have been a KPFA supporter for more years than I care to remember. What you have been doing for the last few months is truly disgusting. It’s really interesting to see how quickly a community institution which served so many of us can be so easily destroyed by a dedicated band of self-serving people. I doubt that it will be the final straw, but the acceptance of money from Merrill Lynch is beyond belief! Why don’t you just resign, and salvage whatever of your self-respect is left?
Name: Laurie Miller
Subject: new schedule
Message: Contrary to statements made in a recent email, the changes coming down at KPFA make perfect sense. You are obviously stealing the radio station and goodwill out from under the supporters, listeners, and general East Bay community. I have been a contributor to the station since 1975 and have recently refused to waste any money on supporting the station or the Pacifica Foundation and prefer to send money directly to Dennis, Bonnie and other programmers who are the basis of my long-term interest.
Name: NQ
Subject: Bring back Morning SHow–No Corporate Underwriting!!!!!!!!!!
Message: First of all, removing the Morning Show and firing its hosts was a huge mistake that has cost you listeners & untold dollars in financial support. Now that people have contributed more than enough to reinstate both hosts & get the show back on, you prove your stubbornness & sinister political motivation by refusing to reinstate the show. I can tell you, once Aileen ALfandary finished reading the morning news, I run for the OFF button so I don’t have to listen to the Morning Mess–and so do thousands of others. What’s this about canceling the Arbitron Ratings? Can you show some common sense, please? By doing so you are only shooting yourself in the foot! You can deny the facts, that people are tuning out in large numbers to your unpopular Morning “Mix” since you refuse to have the ratings! Secondly, taking Corporate Funding is in total violation of KPFA’s original mission, which is to be totally listener supported radio free of commercial sponsorship. You have obviously sold out completely and are now going for the big bucks–screw all the listeners and what we want! We demand that you STOP procuring corporate funds of ANY KIND and return our Morning SHow w. A. ALlison and B. Edwards-Tickert NOW. Enough of your BS already! We support this station with our money & labor, and we have had enough of your attempt to sabotage it.
Name: Susan Hayase
Subject: Independent radio means no corp underwriting
Message: Dear Pacifica National Board, It’s possible that you are too close to the issue to be able to see and appreciate the unique and priceless contribution that independent radio makes to our America democracy. In the past, I felt confident that, no matter what I was hearing on KPFA, whether I agreed or not, it was not coming from anyone beholden to any corporation. Like many Americans, I work for a corporation, but I certainly do not take advice from them on political, environmental, or social issues. I’m surprised that you, as a body that is uniquely privileged to be a part of the Pacifica legacy, are not more tenaciously committed to its on-going independence. These are tough economic times and it’s inevitable that belts need to be tightened and innovative approaches to efficiency, economy, and funding be explored seriously. However, turning to corporate underwriting without serious individual and public soul searching is a huge breach of trust and an infamous failure to do your jobs. Please reaffirm your commitment to Pacifica’s independence and say no to corporate underwriting. Sincerely yours, Susan Hayase
Name: Jai Jai Noire
Subject: Hands Off KPFA!
Message: Arlene Engelhardt & Pacifica’s recent policies to destroy KPFA must stop. What next? The Return Of Glen Beck Hour?
Name: Mark Fenelon
Subject: KPFA Proposed Changes
Message: I am outraged at the proposed program changes at KPFA. Also, very concerning, is Pacifica accepting corporate underwriting. When corporations appear to be running everything in this country with negative consequences in my opinion, the last thing we need to be doing is accepting corporate underwriting.
Name: Marcia Laris
Subject: changes to KPFA
Message: I am appalled at the changes you are making, inviting corporate sponsors, cancelling so many shows that we love and depend on, for me starting with The Morning Show with Aimee Allison, then moving into Democracy Now with Amy Goodman. This combo has been my morning routine for years. Pl
Name: sheila goldmacher
Subject: Programming Changes and Acceptance of Corporate Underwriting
Message: The latest changes to programming at KPFA spell the end of my listening to what was my favorite station in the SF Bay area. The management at Pacifica have not listened to the demands of the subscribers. What happened to our KPFA? In addition I have just learned that the Pacifica Board has taken money from corporate underwriters? I guess you no longer need my listener dollars. Enuf said. I never give money to any station that takes corporate underwriting. With this action you have totally undermined the moral standing of KPFA and your other public radio stations in this country. Shame on all of you.
Name: Spartac Bet-Lachin
Subject: Proposed program changes
Message: Please leave KPFA alone. Don’t make any changes without a better understanding of the listeners and the history of this radio station.
Name: Ann Hoover
Subject: removal of KPFA`s two best programs
Message: It is difficult to believe that you are removing KPFA`s two best morning programs, The Morning Show with Aimee Allison and Brian Edwards Tiggert and Democracy Now. Replacing those two with programs that speak mainly to the fringe seem to me to be unsustainble. I will turn to NPR or to my computer to listen to Democracy Now instead. I have been a member for many years and have donated money several times a year. I am now questioning that. I am hoping that this will not really happen! Ann Hoover
Name: AW
Subject: democracy now et al
Message: What are you doing by removing one our most popular and informative shows!!!!!!!! What are you doing overall with no input from community??? Please begin to have more public meetins over all of these changes and the change of KPFA as we know it.
Name: Emily Levy
Subject: No corporate underwriting! No canceling Democracy Now!
Message: These changes are unacceptable to me as a KPFA member and a concerned community activist.
Name: Barbara and Terry Gutkin
Subject: Democracy Now
Message: Have you lost your mind? Keep Amy Goodman and Democracy Now on KPFA in the 9 AM time slot. Is it true that Pacifica is taking funding from Merrill Lynch? If so, it is the end of a dream. You corporate henchment have taken over. How very very sad.
Name: page
Subject: justice
Message: Democracy Now, Flashpoints & the Morning Show were by far the best shows on Pacifica. This is clearly sabotage of the progressive left & it must be stopped.
Name: Phoebe Sorgen
Subject: longevity of KPFA & Pacifica
Message: Hello, If it is true that Pacifica has accepted corporate underwriting from Merrill Lynch, that is unconscionable. We’ve always taken pride in Pacifica NOT being National Petroleum Radio. Also, please go back to the times of programs that loyal listeners expect. Listeners don’t like schedule changes. We’ll lose listeners and members if you abruptly change many of the times of programs. Please explain. Sincerely, Phoebe Sorgen
Name: Tom Miller
Subject: Corporate Underwriting/Democracy Now!
Message: At first I thought it was April 1st, when I read of the cancellation of Democracy Now!, but no, it’s apparently true. And corporate grants too? What is going on? I find this all hard to believe. Who are you people? Must we engage in another destructive battle as we did before?
Name: Dwayne Eutsey
Subject: KPFA changes
Message: Since this enitre drama with Pacifica began with the firing of two of my favorite KPFA hosts, I’ve been confused and angry about what’s going on. Now I can add saddened to how I’m feeling. It’s sad to see such a valuable resource like KPFA, one of the few news/culture outlets that has informed and inspired me for over a decade, being destroyed from within by Pacifica. At a time when so much of what the progressive community has struggled for is under a full frontal assault, it’s truly depressing to see KPFA stabbed in the back from within by Pacifica.
Name: david chase
Subject: Democracy Now at 9:00 am
Message: Whoever you are, whoever’s boots you are licking, DO NOT TAKE DEMOCRACY NOW OFF OF KPFA’S MORNING SLOT AT 9:00. What the hell is wrong with you ? Wanna be on commercial radio, get a big salary, fine, you have my blessing, knock yourselves out, leave KPFA the hell alone.
Name: HK
Subject: I object
Message: I object to your drastic and unnecessary changes to the program sequence at KPFA. I am a longtime KPFA listener, supporter, and volunteer. I especially object to your violation of the principle of taking NO money from corporations. This is an outrageous deviation from the 61-year bedrock policy initiated by Louis Hill: listener-supported community radio, free from obligation to and influence from the powerful commercial interests that dominate the rest of the media. Why are you trying to destroy KPFA??
Name: Diana Bohn
Subject: NO Corporate underwriting, no anti-union lawyers
Message: Corporate underwriting has no place in Pacifica. Also: Spending listener money – or anyone’s money on anti-union lawyers is also outrageous. Diana Bohn Long-time listener/subscriber
Name: John Lionheart
Subject: No to Merrill Lynch, Yes to DN
Message: Stop these absurd programming changes, and stop taking money from corporations.
Name: HL
Subject: Please Preserve KPFA
Message: Hello, I’m writing as a listener who enjoys and learns from many of the station’s programs. It’s alarming to notice the management changes that seem to undercut the values of free speech and truthfulness espoused by KPFA’s original mission. I feel compelled to write this letter to voice my dismay because I would like to ensure that KPFA’s integrity and authenticity is never compromised by corporate and political interests, as its programming will inevitably be affected by internal affairs. Please be reminded that this station serves as an invaluable and unique resource to the community and that allowing the current changes to continue would ultimately render the station no different from other local media and homogenize the programming. Please remember KPFA’s roots! Especially if you value the opinions of the listeners for whom this station was designed in the first place. Thank you for your time and consideration. Best, H.L.
Name: Ari Krawitz
Subject: Reprogramming KPFA
Message: Dear Pacifica Board, Andrew Phillips and Carrie Core, I’m a KPFA listener and supporter who has paid dues for more than 10 yrs (except for a short stint when I was on unemployment in 2008/2009). I’m also originally a KPFK listener as I’m from LA. I’m very disappointed with the heavy-handed management at KPFA recently, which is completely disregarding both the community and the staff. While there is obviously a dispute about who gets on the air, perhaps the best way to resolve some of these issues would be by considering the feedback of the listeners & staff, as well as the executives? Because of annoying recent changes at KPFA, including bumping Democracy Now to 7 from 6am and canceling my fav KPFA show ‘the Morning Show’ quite arbitrarily, and putting in Al Jazeera English (which I find surprisingly lacking in content vs Democracy Now), I am now feeling ‘forced’ to listen via Internet to KPFK & WBAI to hear content that I like & is useful. The upside is I learned I can stream either to my iPhone (TuneIn Radio app) and they also have other shows which are more hard-hitting than KPFA as well. I was surprised….! While we are under attack in the USA by the Right Wing & Tea Baggers, why am I being forced to listen to Al Jazeera?!?! I’m interested in the Middle East, certainly, but I’m far more interested in the USA!!! I really want a show like Democracy Now, which covers real news in-depth every day, and the Morning Show which expands on local & national news and had great interviews and perspectives. Switch your all-volunteer programming back to off-hours and late nights! Why am I listening to the worst of KPFA at 7am-8am?!?! Frankly, I’m quite annoyed — this year when I donated I requested that my money only go to KPFA and not Pacifica. The person taking my donation did not know if he could do that, but I encouraged him that we could. If you look at the history of mismanagement at Pacifica, it includes so many bad decisions, bad policies, & bad attempts at executing bad policies, that I’m surprised Pacifica is still the mother ship. I believe KPFA needs to become more independent of Pacifica bc the organization is so dangerous, so toxic, and runs so counter to the needs & wants of local listeners. In closing, please do not mess with Democracy Now — put it back to ‘live’ at 6 & rebroadcast at 9. Those are iconic timeslots. Then give us a local & national news show with editorial / opinions from Left Wingers (like the Morning Show!!!) And don’t get me wrong, I like ‘Hard Knock Radio’, but it is a niche show which probably focusses less on content interesting to ALL LISTENERS and more to under-represented groups, right? So keep it in the evening slot! Why doesn’t the management listen to the paid listeners? The KPFA board is pursuing a stupid and petty agenda, which will result in either hurting KPFA more than it already has, damaging Pacifica (more than it’s shoddy rep, but like taking private corporate underwriting as we are learning now), and moving listeners to other few & far between options like KQED & NPR. I implore you, listen to us, your paying supporters!!! PLEASE LISTEN TO YOUR STAFF!! Thank you, Ari Krawitz El Cerrito KPFA member
Name: Deborah Kearns
Subject: KPFA Destruction
Message: I have been patient, but if the terrible changes at KPFA beginning with the elimination of “The Morning Show” are not reversed soon, I will end my small but continuous (two decades plus) EFT contribution. Thank you for your consideration. Deborah Kearns San Francisco, CA
Name: BDemmerle
Subject: Program Changes/
Message: I understand that you are planning to move Amy Goodman’s “Democracy Now” and put in Hard Knock Radio at 9:00 AM. I listen to that show very often at just that time. Did you consult your listeners before you made that decision? I really wish you would resolve your issues with the union. I don’t appreciate the way the station manager is making decisions. Instead of saving the station, she is going to help destroy it.
Name: Lena Hahn-Schuman
Subject: program changes/corporate underwriting
Message: I am a listener/financial supporter of about 25 years: STOP TRYING TO TAKE OVER KPFA! it’s happened before so we know the drill already. BRING BACK DEMOCRACY NOW! TO THE 6AM AND 9AM TIMES! KEEP THE PROGRAMMING AS IT WAS AND BRING BACK THE MORNING SHOW! AMIE AND BRIAN WERE EXCELLENT! BRING BACK MORE LOCAL NEWS! NO CORPORATE FINANCING! I think that all the existing programmers and staff, paid and unpaid, should refuse to work until Arlene Englehart and similar LEAVE! Sincerely, Lena Hahn-Schuman
Name: Marge Weimer
Subject: KPFA’s schedule
Message: The LISTENERS have formed the comfortable and loyal habit of listening to their favorite programs at the same time for YEARS. To shift it around as you have has a serious demonic quality such as a cat might have as it plays with a mouse. Perhaps you have been taken over the prevailing destructive attitude that drenches our country.
Name: Letitia Berlin
Subject: KPFA
Message: Please get rid of Arlene Engelhardt and please reinstate the Morning Show at KPFA.
Name: Stephanie Jones
Subject: Changing KPFA
Message: I strongly object to the changes to the form and function of KPFA! The changes announced, both to the programing and to accept corporate underwriting is unacceptable. Change is good, but not to create yet another radio station controlled by corporations and computerized programming. Stephanie L. Jones Evergreen, CO (formally of Berkeley)
Name: Peter Leinau
Subject: Stop the destruction of KPFA & Corp Underwriting
Message: I am deeply offended by the news of corporate underwriting being accepted for Pacifica-If I wanted corporate controled media I have plenty of options including NPR. If corporate dollars are your idea of saving Pacifica and KPFA YOU lack appropriate vision for your position and YOU need to go! The appointed staff at KPFA seem determined to wreck the station, and their recent unilateral programming changes such as dropping the 9 AM Democracy Now are not supported by any rational logic and seem designed to intentionally allienate the listener base. Please find a new General Manager to provide vision and leadership toward the stabilization and sustainability of the KPFA we love, and keep corporate underwriting and influence OUT of Pacifica. Thank You! Peter Leinau KPFA/KFCF Listener and supporter.
Name: David Dowis, MD
Subject: Recent Programming changes/corporate sponsorship
Message: Dear Pacifica National Board, I am a longtime (35 year) supporter and listener to KPFA/KFCF and am dismayed at the changes that you are orchestrating at KPFA and at Pacifica. As I am sure you are well aware, the American mainstream media is severely compromised by corporate influence, and the political discussion has degenerated to lies and ideological intransigence, without meaningful dialogue. If your motivation for accepting business support, and changing programming is to make Pacifica profitable, I would rather you failed honorably, upholding independence and free thinking, than survive as another compromised media arm, supporting the destructive powers in our country.
Name: maria mana
Subject: kpfa scheduling changes
Message: To the Pacifica National Board: Please return to the schedule in operation prior to the changes instated in November 2010. The KPFA Morning Show with Aimee Allison and Brian Edward Tickert was excellent, informative, analytical and entertaining.
Name: Wendy Oser
Subject: Unacceptable changes at KPFA
Message: I have been a member of KPFA for over fifty years. The changes planned for KPFA are unacceptable. Don’t cancel the 9 a.m. broadcast of Democracy Now. Consult with and pay respectful attention with us, the listeners/supporters of KPFA and the Local Board regarding changes being considered. Reject corporate underwriting. Bring back the Morning Show and its hosts. Let KPFA return to being the valuable, unique and trustworthy source it had been for over half a century.
Name: Beth Olson
Subject: Program Changes
Message: I am not happy with the program changes. And it is just stupid to remove the most popular / best fund raising Democracy Now show from the 9am slot. You are putting this station in peril, thus putting in peril our ability to be a more powerful voice for change in the world. Bring back the Morning Show! Beth Olson Central Valley Listner
Name: Amy Gorman
Subject: Changes at KPFA
Message: Please keep your listeners and our station by maintaining many of the excellent, popular programs, like The Morning Show. The current changes, or those proposed make no sense. For example, Democracy Now is the best News Show on any media broadcast (and brings in listener-donated $$$ to KPFA).
Name: Robert Bagheri
Subject: KPFA program changes
Message: Dear Pacifica foundation board members, I have been an avid supporter of KPFA for almost 30 years now. This year in 2011 is the first time ever I stopped donating to KPFA. It is also the first time ever I am tuning out of morning show installed by new executive director. 1. I am opposing in the strongest terms, the recent installation of Andrew Philips as so called interim manager. He needs to be removed immediately. 2. I am absolutely opposed to Arlene Engelhardt appointment to executive director of the station. She is destroying everything this station has built and stood for as long as I remember. 3. How hypocritical of her to expect people to volunteer their time while she gets paid $90K per year. This is a salary paid in some private and for profit sectors. What on earth are you doing paying her this kind of salary. 4. Your acceptance of money from the corporate giant Merril Lynch is appealing. A concerned KPFA listener. Robert Bagheri
Name: Summer Brenner
Subject: corporate funding?
Message: Dear Pacifica: Nothing violates the spirit of Pacifica more than accepting corporate funds. By intention and design Pacifica broadcasting was the single source of media that guaranteed it could not be bought and sold — perhaps the only institution (media and otherwise) that remained uncorrupted. Like the future that haunts the last living polar bear, it too is about to be captured and taken to the zoo. Once yours, Summer Brenner
Name: James KOSS, MD FAAEM
Subject: KPFA’s destruction
Message: If not able to destroy KPFA directly then the approach being taken is from within. This is the FIFTH COLUMN technique used often by enemies of a state or system to subvert without obvious external evidence. MY KPFA IS DYING.
Name: Patty Hirota-Cohen
Subject: Kpfa Changes: STOP
Message: As a long time contributor to KPFA, I am outraged by these recently announced programming changes to Kpfa by new interim mgrs. Including eliminating 9 am Democracy Now! I appeal to your good senses to stop these changes and plz do not accept sponsorship by Merrill Lynch.
Name: Jane Vinson
Subject: Pacifica actions
Message: What is happening at KPFA, and who is responsible? These unbelievable, wrenching changes: deleting Amy Goodman’s 9:00 a.m. program, moving Flashpoints to an a.m. slot, and of course removing the Morning Show, which I miss the most — these changes strike at the core of KPFA. You on the National Board have the power and responsibility to make changes as needed to allow KPFA and its sister stations to stay true to the mission of KPFA. I ask (nay, respectfully demand) that you act now to take all actions needed to get KPFA back on track. I even hear that corporate powers like Merrill Lynch are sending thousands to dollars to paid Pacifica staff. This is unsupportable violation of Pacifica’s right to exist. I am a KPFA listener and supporter for 40 years. I cannot even take in such actions as Pacifica has undertaken in the past months, even years. With these actions not confronted I am considering leaving KPFA and taking with me as many listening friends as I can. Jane Vinson
Name: kathy deRosas
Subject: program changing
Message: to whom it may concern, I am so frustrated by all of these changes that does not support the LISTENERS of KPFA. I pay for this station ans there have been many fundraiser’s to support the morning show w/ Amiee Alison and nothing has changed. Are you listening? There are so many difficulities and hardships in our society and KPFA was a station to get a perspective that is compassionate and that is being hacked away. Do you realize how much money Amy Goodman has raised for KPFA? Do you realize how important Democracy Now is to oor community? Are you awake?
Name: Linda Nicoletto
Subject: HANDS OFF KPFA
Message: What are you doing? THis is NOT the station and programming I have have supported all these years. WHAT ARE YOU DOING? STOP THIS MADNESS of changing the schedule and decreasing the value of the station lineup. No one wants news at 8, that is when music is appropriate. Hands off the lineup and bring the morning show back. Get rid of Arlene Engelhardt, PLEASE!
Name: fletcher oakes
Subject: Programing changes, et.al
Message: That’s it. Drop Democracy Now rebroadcast? You gotta be kidding. I have been a loyal listener and supporter of KPFA for the better part of 40 years. The drastic changes that are being considered for KPFA would be the end of the line. Not everyone is awake at 7:00 AM to hear Amy. I got up with the Morning Show and segued into Democracy Now for years. It’s been disruptive since the struggle began over the Morning Show, but this reorg is not desirable for me, and, I presume, for many other listeners.
Name: L. Yaco
Subject: changes are outrageous
Message: NO SUPPORT FROM Companies, stop accepting money from Merrill Lynch. How outrageous. How can you make all these drastic changes to programming, you make me crazy.
Name: JC
Subject: STOP
Message: If you cannot allow a community radio station to serve the community it has served for longer than many of us have been alive, then you need to stop what you are doing completely and take a job somewhere else. You are causing great harm by your interference. Whatever you may kid yourself into thinking, these changes are not wanted by any listeners. If, as seems likely, you are trying to kill KPFA in a way more subtle than simply occupying the station with a police force then BE WARNED. Others have tried and failed. You should be ashamed of yourself for being involved in this disgusting activity. KPFA exists because of a broad community which supports it. You are injuring that community, not just whatever individuals you have personal beef with. Maybe it is your intention to hurt us. If so, know that we are prepared to fight on behalf of this station, and on behalf of ourselves. Also, if you are willing to take money from filth like merrill-lynch, then go work for them directly. Get out of the business of community radio. Go join NPR or some other such group. There is undoubtedly a place for you, but this is not it. And only arrogance and entitlement could lead someone to try to force their ideas and lifestyles on another. This community turns to KPFA by choice, because it is NOT NPR. Because it does not take corporate money and therefore owes nothing to the corporations that pollute our lives. We are not stupid, duped, we are making choices. Respect us, and back off. But, as I said, either you are doing this intentionally or you are too cowardly to resist it. Either way you should change your action, it is wrongful.
Name: James Vance
Subject: Arlene Engelhardt
Message: Dear Pacifica board member, I moved to the bay area three or four years ago and after tuning through the dial during my morning commutes, KPFA (due to the Morning Show) quickly became my love. After about a year I began donating on a regular basis and was donating about $500.00/year – not a king’s randsom but if everyone was doing it we’d be in good shape! This all changed fairly recently when Arlene Engelhardt laid off the staff of the Morning Show and removed the program from the air. The morning show was the reason I loved KPFA and donated. Because of her actions I, like so many others, was outraged, sent an email to the station, and stopped donating (although I’m still getting billed monthly from a previous donation). Now I hear Arlene Engelhardt has removed Democracy Now! from the station (my second favorite program after the morning show) and accepted $10,000.00 from Merryl Lynch?!? This is a total outrage. Not to mention her hiring of Andrew Phillips who, based on his on-air interview at the time of his hiring, is just as anti-union bordering on a right-wing nut as Arlene Engelhardt. If you, the board of Pacifica REMOVE Arlene Engelhardt, and REMOVE Andrew Phillips, and somehow get the Morning Show and Democracy Now! back on the air, I am very confident that people will come out in droves to support and donate to the station. This rightward, corporate underwriting trend the station is headed for is an utter disaster and will completely alienate all of KPFA’s listener base. Please do what you can to preserve KPFA and the entire Pacifica network. I believe this starts with ending Arlene Engelhardts employment. Thank you very much, James Vance
Name: Mary B. White
Subject: save Amy Goodman
Message: Dear Pacifica, First, I am a KPFA subscriber. Second, the followind changes proposed are alarming and I urge you not to go thru with them. The main reason I listen is the Amy Goodman Democracy Now program. Keep her program. Do not let Pacifica accept corporate underwriting. Mary White
Name: Lawrence Abbott
Subject: planned changes
Message: I have been a long time supporter of KPFA. However, I can not give my hard earned money anymore. Pacifica is on a an undemocratic path of self destruction. It is obviously intentional, and designed to destroy the last of community radio. It is my belief that the current board will fail, and that we, the listening public, will ultimately get our democratized station(s) back. (With our morning show, and no corporate underwriting!) At this point I will be back with my monetary support. Sincerely, Lawrence Abbott San Leandro, Ca.
Name: JB
Subject: FIRE Engelhart
Message: Enough already! Ms. Engelhart has demonstrated unethical, highly erratic behavior since she was hired to be executive director of Pacifica. She is ruining the station with her bizarre programming decisions. And the latest insult, accepting corporate underwriting is an obvious violation of the mission and a slap in the face of Pacifica’s founder, Lou Hill. Ms. Englehart, You are FIRED!
Name: Patricia Gray
Subject: MY radio station
Message: The radio in my home is set at 94.10. Either KPFA is on or the radio is off. Now it is off at 8 on weekdays. I will not listen to the Morning Mix—or, as you first tried to name it the Morning Show after you KILLED the real Morning Show. Now it really is a Mourning show, and I mourn as I turn off my radio. I have been a listener and PAYING MEMBER of KPFA for decades. This year I DID NOT DONATE. I put aside money to pay the wages of the Morning Show staff. I understand there is enough money now to pay these wages for a year—SO WHY ISN’T THE MORNING SHOW ON THE AIR?
Name: David Fisher
Subject: KPFA-Pacifica changes
Message: As a listener, I am outraged at what has been going on since Arlene Englehardt aka, the TROJAN HORSE, has taken reign. Her political spite (as it can not be otherwise) in firing Aimee Alyson and Brian Edwards Tigert and discontinuing the Morning Show have devasted the long time listeners of this very popular program. The Morning Show had just the right mix of hummor, intelligence, light heartedness and serious political and economic stories and interviews, along with a nice line up of other people interspersed through out the week. I came to know Jennifer Stone, Michu Kaku, Mumia Abujamal, Amy Goodman and many others, which led me to finding other shows or their own shows on KPFA. It made no sense to cancel a popular show, which always paid for itself and supported the other shows. This has been and continues to be an outrage! What happened to the common sense of, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” People get used to the timeslots of their shows, often work their lunch breaks around them (as do I) and look forward to each weeks message. Making sweeping overhauls in the Morning, Mid Day and Evening essential hours of programing is a big mistake. For exampl, I love flashpoints and Hardknock Radio but it takes me the entire day to get up for it, I don’t want to here Dennis, whom I respect yammering at me in the morning, afternoon, Ok but not when I’m starting my day. Hard knock Radio is not the morning market either, seriously people, who do you think supports the station? Its the adult population of I’m betting 35+ years. I’m happy to support programing directed at our future adults, but do I have to be sacrificed and turn off the morning programing to do that? Its insane to put Chris Welches Living Room on at 11am, when most people listen to it at lunch time, What is the value of music during the mid day? There is plenty of music programing at night (and if anything could use some changes it would be some of those selections). Then, the corporate donation acceptance is completely or should be completely against the Pacifica Charter, and why it is not I do not know. It is obvious that Arlene Englehardt has stuck another Trojan Horse in KPFA with the Interim Director as he supports corporate donations as well. This is inexuseable. Especially when KPFA and the Bay Area do so much to support the enitre network and other stations that do not raise as much money. I will no longer support this station or Pacifica until Arlene Englehard is gone and replaced it is obvious that she and her minions are bent on destroying KPFA and as a result turn Pacifica network into just another corporate voice or at least not our voice. They don’t even ask us what we want and people are telling them so they better listen. The last fund drive was not a mandate for them to continue, it was a life raft to those that remain, but sooner or later that will deflate and sink the station.
Name: John Flynn
Subject: Program changes @KPFA
Message: To Whom- My disappointment has prompted me to email. I am a morning listener to the Democracy Now program. Now that will not be available via KPFA . I’m letting it be known that I disapprove of this action by station managers, etc. Please roll back the clock! Best- JF
Name: John Iversen
Subject: Stop destroying KPFA
Message: Push is beginning to come to shove. Many in the community are wondering if you are rats, scabs or agents. I smell a rat with Rosenberg taking 5000 emails and I bet she’s giving them to Scott (Steve) Brown so he can use his bucks and mass marketing company to buy KPFA LSB elections like he did at WBAI
Name: Ellen Schwartz
Subject: Keep KPFA’s integrity
Message: Taking money from corporate giants and eliminating shows like Democracy Now are NOT what KPFA is about! Public radio is our last bastion of progressive, in-depth news, beyond sound-bites and political pablum. Let it be what the public wants and needs, and stop giving in to the funding sources that have interests in conflict with the mission of this station. We all need KPFA, more than ever, in this age of bailouts, budget cuts, and media bias. Do your job and protect it, for listeners now, and for the future!
Name: Jane Barbarow
Subject: Please Save KPFA!
Message: From a long time Pacifica listener and supporter: Remove Arlene Englehardt! Restore Aimee Alison and the Morning Show! Don’t accept corporate underwriting! Democracy Now!!!!!!!
Name: Marian Cruz
Subject: Pacifica
Message: When I heard about more drastic changes to KPFA’s programing, I was thoroughly disgusted. Many of my friends have already stopped listening and supporting KPFA. I have tried desperately to continue my support, but this may be the last straw.
Name: James Dexter-Lee
Subject: KPFA destruction by corporatist coup
Message: What the Fuck are you people doing!!! I refuse to support or even listen to the proposed radio programming at KPFA under the Englebright-Core-Phillips coup d’etat. You need to talk to your listeners. Better yet, you need to be overthrown! I will fully support that.
Name: Meg Siddheshwari Sullivan
Subject: What!
Message: I am appalled by the changes that are happening at KPFA and at Pacifica, without the voice of the listeners.
Name: Chuck Scurich
Subject: Stop the gag rule
Message: Please know that it is important never to impose a gag rule at KPFA. This was done in 1999 by the “authorities” This ended up with 10,000 people marching in the streets of Berkeley and sucessful lawsuits to get rid of these undemocratic authority figures. Now you are the “authorities” and doing the same thing. Learn from History. Learn from the present dictators of Egypt, Libya, trying to keep the truth from getting out. Do not use the excuse that it is “not good news,” because it is news that we the listeners want to know about. I can understand that you do not want the truth out because the truth may result in your loss of power. Stop this behaviour now!
Name: sheldon warren
Subject: censorship
Message: 1. KPFA journalists’ have rights to cover internal issues with “the same editorial autonomy they enjoy when reporting on external issues. 2. remove ARLENE ENGLEHART 3 i am angry over the loss of the morning show. i have stopped listening to KPFA’s AM program 8 – am 4. stop spending listener support funds for anti-union lawyers 5. do not lay off journalist John Hamilton
Name: Louisa Arndt
Subject: end the gag rule!
Message: Gentlepeople: Pacifica’s treatment of KPFA is outrageous! I want my donations to KPFA to be used at, by, and for KPFA! Not siphoned off in legal fees! I have supported and listened to KPFA for a couple of decades now. I want it to stay strong, and I want it to stay independent of Pacifica’s dictatorial policies.
Name: James KOSS, MD FAAEM
Subject: KPFA FREE SPEECH AND A FIFTH COLUMN
Message: I DO NOT SUPPORT THE RECENT TAKEOVER AND DESTRUCTIVE ACTIONS OF THE COUP D’ETAT I SEE OCCURRING AT MY FAVORITE STATION. IF THE DONORS GIVE TO A PROGRAM IT MEANS THEY WANT THAT PROGRAM. IF YOU DENY THAT PROGRAM EXISTENCE YOU ARE DESTROYING THE VERY STATION WE ALL SUPPORT. IT IS YOU WHO MUST GO-NOT THE MORNING SHOW AND OTHERS SO ADVERSELY AFFECTED BY YOUR ACTIONS.
Name: Ron Wizelman
Subject: The Current at KPFA
Message: Dear KPFA Board, KPFA is free speech radio, sponsored by we, the subscribers. It is very importante for us to know that Arlene Engelhardt has imposed a gag order on the staff, and has squandered $30.000 of our hard earned money to defend her firing of a station employee. This must stop. KPFA is our community radio. We brag that we are truly listener sponsored, but yet we let the likes of Ms. Berry, and now Ms. Engelhardt try and rob us of our station. KPFA does not need Pacifica, but Pacifica does need the strength of KPFA. Let’s get our house in order. Many years ago you lost Nicole Sawaya (Sp?) to KALW. Now KALW is a better station for it. You killed the morning news, drop Mitch Jeserich’s, Cris Welch, and one or two more shows, and you will not get sufficient funds from our community to support what used to be great radio station. At this point if Mitch and Chris went to KALW, I would never listen to or contribute to KPFA. Sincerely, Ron W
Name: Mary Dosch
Subject: censorship, gag rules, etc.
Message: I’m very troubled to hear about new allegations of censorship, gag rules & other limitations being imposed on KPFA staff & other members. This is the antithesis of the principles upon which KPFA was founded. I am an ongoing supporter of KPFA, making a sacrifice to help this cherished voice of the people. I really resent the corruption of this beacon of sanity by Ms. Engelhart (sp?) & her supporters. Isn’t it time for them to be replaced by people of good will who support the true mission of KPFA???
Name: nsomeka gomes
Subject: public relations
Message: Hello Pacifica Management: I can understand your concern about limiting what is said on the airwaves for fear of people not getting complete context and creating potentially more drama, however, because we are listener-sponsored, I think it is a difficult think to get around and may just be easier in the long run–not to mention democratic and fair– to let those discussions flow freely and trust that your listeners and the staff (volunteers) will gain more insight from the inculsion of discourse.
Name: wendell otu’upu
Subject: KPFA
Message: Why aren’t Arlene Engelhardt and Carrie Core getting fired? They seem to be costing you money.
Name: L. Yaco
Message: I am so angry that the democratic process is “dead” at KPFA. I absolutely oppose gag rules that limit open discussion of the network’s problems, and that their actions jeopardize KPFA’s important role as an independent source of news and information. The public is the owner of KPFA, please come to your senses. The listeners must be kept informed of what is happening at KPFA, that includes behind the scenes. Please stop this outrageous behavior or KPFA will just become another useless radio station that the public won’t support. Thank you.
Name: SB
Subject: End the Gag Rule, stop the layoffs
Message: I oppose the gag rules that Pacifica management has put on KPFA to limit open discussion of the network’s problems. These actions jeopardize KPFA’s important role as an independent source of news and information. As one of the people who has offered money to get the morning show back with Amy and Brian, I hope you will accept our money. The morning show that you have substituted is ok but not up to the quality that the co-hosts and the un-paid staff of KPFA gave us. Please stop the unionbusting tactics that you are doing to our wonderful KPFA staff. Stop limiting or firing staff for speaking out. John Hamilton should be reinstated. It is clear that money is not the issue.
Name: Bruce McGaw
Subject: Free Speech Radio
Message: I think the radio station devoted to “Free Speech” should do the following: 1) end the gag rule; 2) hands off the KPFA News; 3) do not lay off John Hamilton; 4) accept the $63,000 in pledges listeners have given to restore KPFA’s Morning Show and its EXCELLENT co-hosts and unpaid staff.
Name: Rachel Howard
Subject: Pacifica’s involvement with on-air content
Message: One of the reasons why I love KPFA so much and continuously pledge my membership to them is because I enjoy feeling involved in the process and informed about internal happenings. I strongly believe that ALL on-air hosts have the right and responsibility to inform listeners of any proposed changes made by Pacifica’s leaders. I would welcome an entire FSRN dedicated to what is going on. I would love a segment on Letter’s and Politics that discusses how and why Pacifica is making decisions. And I wholeheartedly support the decision to discuss “layoffs” or staff changes on air. Please allow them to disperse content as they please!!
Name: TAP
Subject: Unwelcomed changes to KPFA
Message: My family members and I have been listening to (and supporting) KPFA as our primary source of information since I moved to Berkeley in 1970. The KPFA news hour is my source of alternative news to counter the “lock-in-step” information received on the other networks. I am deeply concerned about all the recent events to end KPFA as we know it, including laying off valued KPFA workers and reporters, trying to eliminate excellent programs, and “gag orders” about KPFA off the air – remember KPFA is supposed to be about “free speech”. Please listen to our community!
Name: EL
Subject: No gag rule if you are really “free speech”
Message: Dear Pacifica: I have delayed sending in my pledges for several months due to what is going on at KPFA. You say it is “internal,” but it is not an internal affair! It is my station, my money, and my news. KPFA is a station of the people, not of Pacifica. Pacifica came on board after KPFA was founded. You must know that most (99%?) of your listeners believe that Arlene Englehart is an embarrassment to the progressive community. She is pursuing a course that is destructive to a station we all care deeply about. On top of this, gagging journalists is directly opposed to all principles the station stands for. Your actions are anti-union, they violate principles of free speech and accountability, and they represent only Pacifica’s interests — aimed at protecting Pacifica (and Arlene Englehart) from having their actions see the light of day. Secrecy is the enemy of democracy! KPFA, if nothing else at this moment in time, must stand up for democracy, in its words and its actions, in all that it is and all that is does. Thank you for taking this message to heart.
Name: Leslie Waltzer
Subject: wake up & restore the morning show
Message: Hello? Please wake up and start acting like progressives – end the gag rule – hands off the KPFA News – do not lay off journalist John Hamilton – accept the $63,000 in pledges Be honest – money does not appear to be the issue. It seems more about fear and conservative control. Listeners are aware.
Name: Ellen N. Duell
Subject: Save KPFA
Message: KPFA is the best station I have listened to around the country, for excellent reporting and programming. It facilitates the kind of involved citizenship we need in order to strengthen real democracy in our land. “Democracy Now!” provides news and discussions of current issues with knowledgeable people that is dependable and needed. The music of many cultures is well presented. Other programs provide a voice to many who are voiceless otherwise. I urge that you maintain your integrity as an outstanding broadcasting facility and proudly KEEP KPFA!
Name: Teresa McFarland
Subject: Protesting Pacifica Board Actions
Message: I write to protest the many appalling recent actions the Pacifica National Board has taken to weaken our local KPFA station, starting with the firing of the Morning Show staff, and continuing through the more recent lay-offs, gag orders and expenditures on anti-union lawyers. I was also unhappy to hear the newly hired station manager state in a speech today that paid staff inevitably ‘lose their edge’, heralding an era of all-volunteer programming. The paid staff are excellent and necessary. One has only to listen to the current weak and inconsistent volunteer morning program to understand the superiority of the paid Morning Show staff. I am calling KFPA this morning to stop my automatic monthly donation of $18, because I can’t bear to have it spent by you on lawyers to obfuscate your illegal actions. Please reconsider the course you are on and let local listeners determine local policy. Sincerely and angrily, Dr. Teresa McFarland
Name: RS
Subject: End the gag rule
Message: The KPFA listeners deserved to hear from Arlene Engelhardt and Carrie Core on Letters and Politics to discuss an email they had sent to thousands of KPFA listeners. Today Arlene Engelhardt like a smelly mouse that spoiled the whole good pot of a democratic soup, and a slimy worm ruined a good test of a free-speech apple. I am hopping she would be a good seasoning to favor the soup, and out of that good testy apple as KPFA station. Thanks.
Name: James Curran
Subject: CENSORING KPFA IS WRONG!
Message: Repeat: 1) end the gag rule; 2) hands off the KPFA News; 3) do not lay off journalist John Hamilton; 4) accept the $63,000 in pledges listeners have so generously given to restore KPFA’s Morning Show and its excellent co-hosts and unpaid staff.
Name: BA
Subject: Pacifica management gag rule
Message: Arlene Engelhardt, Please resign your position. You are destroying an invaluable community resource with your gag rules, layoffs of journalists, and general disdain for the entire KPFA community. How dare you dictate what the KPFA News can and cannot broadcast? For the sake of Free Speech, go.
Name: Sandy King
Subject: Management of KPFA
Message: I continue to be dismayed at the way Pacifica is handling the personnel crisis at KPFA. The station has an outstanding reputation throughout the Bay Area community (and beyond). One of the reasons for this is the quality of the employees in putting together excellence in each broadcast. Pacifica fumbled badly in the heavy handed treatment of the Morning Show last fall. The replacement Morning Mix is frequently inept in presentation of reports, plus it seems some of the content is now devoted to news trivia. Now you are planning to layoff John Hamilton, another experienced and respected Journalist. You seem to want to keep the problems you have with the station secret (gag rule). As a loyal KPFA member, I contributed my financial pledge to keep our Morning Show intact. You refused the $63K collected by loyal listeners. Your actions seem irrational and retaliatory. Please reconsider your position.
Name: Barrie Ann Mason
Subject: Censorship at KPFA
Message: I am very unimpressed with the “interim manager” chosen to replace Carrie Core at KPFA. He said that KPFA has an auto-immune disease. The problem is an allergic reaction to the censorship, bullying, removal of popular and very effective programmers, and ignoring the wishes of listeners on the part of Pacifica. I have decided not to hold good on my recent pledge because you dismissed John Hamilton. Please accept the money we donated so that KPFA can rehire the Morning Show staff. Please spare us the mediocracy of the morning mess. Please let Mitch J. and others keep us informed ON THE AIR about what is happening at KPFA. IT IS OUR STATION!!!!!! WE HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON.
Name: Dallas Sacher
Subject: RE: DENIAL OF FREE SPEECH
Message: To the Pacifica Board, I am a long-time listener and financial contributor to KPFA. I am writing in response to the recent “discipline” and gag orders imposed on the KPFA staff regarding the discussion of internal KPFA matters. I am personally interested in learning about these matters. I seem to recall that KPFA is supposed to be a “free speech” station. I would suggest that you honor the mission of the station by allowing for free speech. The disciplinary orders should be rescinded and the gag orders should be abrogated. Dallas Sacher
Name: DS
Subject: Free Speech Radio
Message: Dear Pacifica, Bring back the Morning Show with Aimee and Brian (that very valuable, professional, Bay Area program that I so depend on and miss). I am very displeased with the current morning line-up. If you are genuinely concerned about financial issues at KPFA, bring back the show, which is the biggest fund-raiser, and stop funding expensive union- busting attorneys to battle the workers who have given us years of excellent reporting. And if you want to continue referring to KPFA as “Free Speech Radio”, you will have to stop gag-ruling the station (ABOUT ANYTHING). I gave you the benefit of the doubt at the beginning of this situation, but your actions have made it quite clear that you are not telling the truth regarding your actions. You have another agenda which you are trying to implement, which I believe runs counter to everything KPFA was founded on. I look forward to the day when you are no longer involved with KPFA and Pacifica, so that the much-needed clean-up can then begin.
Name: sheila goldmacher
Subject: Censorship at KPFA
Message: The behavior of Pacifica with regard to KPFA is shameful and horrific. We support a public independent radio station to get all the news all the time in an open and honest way. The tactics of Arlene Englehardt in continuing battle with KPFA’s union staff including the recent layoffs, ending of the Morning Show as we know and love it and want it back NOW,and the most recent outrages of disallowing an open and frank discussion of other staff, goes from the sublime to the ridiculous. Now to find out that $30,000 of money has been used to pay ANTI-UNION LAWYERS, is the final straw! Why is Ms E. still heading up Pacifica? I will not send any more of my hard to come by money until she is fired. Open the airwaves once again to honesty and truth telling. Truth always wins in t he end. Shame on you Pacifica!
Name: Susan Bradford
Subject: who the heck is on Pacifica’s board ?
Message: I certainly want to make sure this letter is understood that I want Pacifica to stop the gag rule, keep hands off KPFA news, keep John Hamilton on and accept the $63,000 in listener pledges to bring back the Morning Show. But I also want to address the facts that because KPFA is “listener sponsored” we have every right to complete transparency of internal affairs. It seems like the Pacifica Board members are people who have nothing in common with Lew Hill’s mission, in fact they are antithecal to everything KPFA stands for… it feels like there is a hostile take-over happening. Arlene Englehart is so far off the mark in everything she has said or done since she started here and she lies, she needs to go immediately. The Morning Mix isn’t working,and the listeners have spoken loud and clear, she is completely wrong in thinking listeners would be upset if it went back to a 2 hour show. THIS is so RIDICULOUS! Look at what is happening in Wisconsin … if Pacifica and the Union busting goons they have hired with our money try to mess our station and with KPFA listeners… it will be Wisconsin in Berkeley!
Name: David Romano
Subject: KPFA
Message: Dear Pacifica, Hands off KPFA! Arlene Engelhardt must go! The entire handling of personnel issues at KPFA by the Pacifica Board has been badly bungled by Ms. Engelhardt and now she is spending our money on union-busting management consultants? I pledge never to give another dime to Pacifica until Ms. Engelhardt is removed and the KPFA Morning Show is returned. My support will go directly to KPFA. San Francisco does NOT want a morning show imported from Los Angeles. No censorship at KPFA. Speak truth to power. Union-busting has no place at Pacifica.
Name: Laurie Baumgarten
Subject: censorship at KPFA
Message: I am completely shocked, and have been the last few months, by the attempts of Pacifica management to undermine freedom of press at KPFA. What happens here at our local station is news and any attempt to silence a full disclosure and open discussion of the attacks on this historic and progressive station reeks of right- wing bullying tactics. I am also fully disgusted that even one penny is being used to pay for union busting lawyers. You should be ashamed of yourselves!
Name: Linda Brunner
Subject: Censorship
Message: Censorship is not in the spirit of the station or it’s mission or supported by it’s loyal listeners. Stop censoring the programming!
Name: John Farrell
Subject: Censorship
Message: I thought KPFA’s was Free Speech Radio? Curtailing its own Free Speech is unethical. The other oft quoted line of the station is: “Listener Supported”. How can we the listeners make informed decisions about the station and voting if we are not allowed to freely hear what is going on. This is Democracy in action. President Kennedy said: “The very word secrecy is repugnant in a free and open society”. I support this station for free speech. Lets see it.
Name: David Fisher
Subject: Pacifica
Message: I have written before, but still can not believe the attack that Arlene has mounted on KPFA. I will no longer support KPFA or Pacifica as long as Ms.Englehardt is at the help and gaging the announcers and me every morning. She is the biggest danger to the network. I will be sure in the future to encourage others to no longer donate. The last fund drive did well because people believe in KPFA and as usual, the uninformed are gaged in protest, which explains Arlenes recent order. So much for free speech. She is our own little George Bu$h.
Name: Marian Cruz
Subject: KPFA
Message: I want KPFA to continue as it was. There is no need for Pacifica to be interferring with programing and journalists. We demonstratetd our support for the Morning Show by raising over $60,000.00 and want it back on the air. I’ve been a listener and supporter of KPFA for over 20 years and see not need for Pacifica to take these extreme measures.
Name: lawrence dorfman
Subject: bay area needs free speech KPFA
Message: I am a long time, constant money contributor to KPFA. KPFA has kept me informed on what is really going on in the world and in the arts, particularly music. I marched against the Pacifica take over before and will march against the current attempt. We need KPFA to represent the Berkeley-San Francisco bay area people and those people require fair working practices including union representation, the real news even if it is about KPFA, the morning show returned in full and a FREE SPEECH KPFA that is about and for all the beautiful people.
Name: Thomas Stocking
Subject: Censoring discussions of KPFA
Message: The recent events reported regarding Pacifica’s handling of labor issues at KPFA is most disturbing. Shutting off debate and open discussions runs counter to the mission of Pacifica and KPFA. Reverse this short-sighted decision now, and have your discussions in the open.
Name: Laurel M. Marshall
Subject: KPFA Meltdown by Arlene Elglehardt and Pacifica
Message: I have been listening to KPFA since I was a teenager back in the late ’60’s, because my dad always liked the station. I have supported the station with monetary contributions at times over the years when there were fund drives. I have enjoyed hearing the hard-hitting news-behind-the news, the radical ‘truth’ and the political viewpoints, as well as Amy Goodman’s programs that I have gotten from this “independent” station. I remember the time about twelve years ago when KPFA was essentially off the air, replaced by MUZAK. At this moment in KPFA’s history, it seems like a similar time. The station is but a “shell”, or “skeleton” of its past glory days. I used to look to KPFA for inspiration, new ways of thinking, new, independent ideas. Unfortunately the COUP that the Pacifica Organization, headed by Arlene Englehardt has been the most destructive, earthquake shake-up, tsunami-like DISASTER I have ever heard of. KPFA is going through a MELTDOWN. It may never recover. Who’s making the big money off of it besides Arlene Englehardt and Pacifica executives. Arlene Englehardt is an overpaid, petty dictator who has spearheaded the unprecidented destruction of KPFA radio. I used to be merely disgusted, sad and hurt by this change in the station. Now, I am angry. I will not be donating any money to KPFA as long as Arlene Englehardt is in control. I will not support KPFA as long as Pacificacontinues their ‘chokehold’ on KPFA’s staff. Arlene Englehardt must GO. Pacifica needs to GO too, or be revamped into a more democratic, co-operative intitution. I don’t NEED KPFA, if it’s going to become a facist radio station.
Name: Robert Loomis
Subject: Morning Show
Message: It appears that unlike in 1999, you have decided to dismantle KPFA on a show-by-show basis. This does not fit with either KPFA’s posted policies on news coverage or its proud history as a purveyor of all the news. What’s next, Glenn Beck? Shame on you.
Name: David Eifler
Subject: Stop Union Busting – Reinstate good programming
Message: It is with great sadness that I read the news of Pacifica management using $30,000 of listener funding to pay for anti-union legal services. There seems no better way to alienate a progressive audience than to use it’s voluntary contributions to fund right wing lawyers. The Pacifica board seems intent on destroying the network we have volunteered and paid for over decades. I was a newsroom volunteer in the 1980’s and have been a subscriber ever since. Stop the union busting and bring back the paid Morning Show.
Name: Jorge G. Martinez
Subject: Cease and Desist!
Message: To Pacifica Management, I write to you today as a proud listener/sponsor of KPFA to demand that you end your outrageous assault on OUR precious resource. Have you no shame or sense of decency? Have you forgotten the sound defeat of similar actions by your body against OUR station a mere decade ago? Have you forgotten the concessions that were made by Pacifica management as a result of this defeat? Perhaps you think that we have forgotten; well, we have NOT!!! How can you tout your network as “Free Speech Radio” whilst issuing gag orders on radio hosts? Your actions are hypocritical and vindictive; a judge has issued a gag order injunction on your body for your actions against KPFA and you lash out like a spoiled toddler. The listener/sponsors of KPFA left no doubt a decade ago about where we stand on LOCAL control of OUR station and we are NOT about to let you off-the-hook for the concessions that you agreed to as a result of your DEFEAT! Lastly, the listener/sponsors spoke resoundingly and unequivocally during the most recent fund drive in support of OUR station and the paid/unpaid staff being antagonized by Pacifica Management. Cease and desist!!! YOU WILL LOSE AGAIN!!! Sincerely, Jorge Martinez
Name: Marie Giardino
Subject: KPFA
Message: There will be no donations from me until you clean up your act and get rid of Englehart. She is a cancer on KPFA.
Name: Tyler James Lee
Subject: management
Message: Around here we’re beginning to suspect that Engelhart is a secret right-wing operative doing a Reagan on KPFA: you know, destroy from within…It can’t be merely coincidental that the fascists are union-busting on a grand scale nationwide, and Arlene is union-busting at KPFA. This is not something we will support.
Name: Tom Miller
Subject: Pacifica Management
Message: Once again inept or worse Pacifica management, through ham-handed and insensitive decisions, is threatening the destruction of its flagship station. It’s time to roll back the irresponsible decisions that have been made before doing further damage to this unique institution.
Name: C. Hanson
Subject: “free speech”
Message: Ms Englehardt: You say “we have decided not to permit further discussion of KPFA internal disputes (including personnel or financial matters) on your program at this time. The program is broadcast nationally; KPFA’s internal personnel matters are not of national interest…” How do YOU know what thousands of national listeners are interested in? Did YOU take a poll of them? Haven’t you heard that secrecy is the #1 destroyer of democracy? A founder said that centuries ago. Of course national listeners are interested in this! When I think of you and what you are doing at KPFA, words like “totalitarianism,” “fascism,” “national security state,” etc., come to mind. You are trying to destroy this station, probably for money. Get out of here!
Name: JL
Subject: Strife at KPFA
Message: I am writing to express my utter dismay at the lack of cooperation and worse by Pacifica Management. This behaviour is completely unacceptable. We want you to bring back the Morning Show now, retain John Hamilton, to end the gag rule, and leave the News Dept alone. The listening community will accept nothing less, and remember, we pay the bills. Including that $30.000 dollars just spent for lawyer fees against the very people we want returned and retained.
Name: Margaret Spillane
Subject: Don’t gag Pacifica
Message: It is shameful to see a great and vital resource like Pacifica acting like Clear Channel. The gag rule is appalling, and utterly unworthy of a once-proud bastion of free speech. KPFA News needs to be unshackled, John Hamilton needs to stay, and the $63,000 in listener pledges needs to be accepted so that KPFA’s Morning Show and its unpaid staff can resume their critical roles. Thank you. Margaret Spillane
Name: Richard Walker
Subject: What are you doing to KPFA?
Message: KPFA is the heart of Pacifica, yet you are war with us. What madness is this? You won’t let the dispute between KPFA and Pacifica be discussed on Mitch Jeserich’s show? You won’t accept $60K in pledges to restore the morning show and the brilliant Aimee Allison? This is pig-headedness raised to an art form. R. Walker Professor UC Berkeley
Name: Dave Hart
Subject: Pacifica National Board
Message: As a long term subscriber, since 1971, I call on the Board to end the vitriolic control being exercised over station operations. It’s toxic to the station and the network. I’m especially upset that you are allowing listener dollars to be used to pay attorneys to represent Ms. Engelhardt against station employees. Her behavior is high-handed and arrogant. This is the last thing the public needs at this time. Whenever I have heard her speak and heard her arguments, it only sounds like she is incompetent and inept. I’m disappointed in you as a Board that you are allowing the situation deteriorate. I’m left without any kind of idea other than the Pacifica Board is hoping KPFA goes under so you an sell off the frequency. That’s where this is headed and it is a shame.
Name: Kristen Burlington
Subject:
Message: I am truly sad. It is an act of violence to spend $30,000 of the people’s funds on a lawyer, when there is such actual need in our world. I am the director of a preschool by day, and a waitress at night. I work hard, because I believe in leaving this planet in better shape than when I arrived. Tonight, I am furious that the hundreds of dollars I’ve donated to KPFA this year could potentially be used to injure the station’s workers. Look around, Arlene. We don’t have time for this. There is quaking and melting and oppression in this world. The humans are committing a global murder/suicide. There are those of us who are trying to help. Please get out of our way. We want the morning show back. We want John Hamilton back. We want our right to free speech back. We want our hard earned money to go to the propagation of truth and justice. And we want no more evasion and manipulation from you, Arlene. Whatever forces are compelling you to act injustly cannot be more important than your responsibility to the listeners, and to the greater good.
Name: Ari Krawitz
Subject: Pacifica – shameful!!!
Message: Attention Pacifica Board & ED, I’m a listener & a paying supporter of KPFA. This fund drive, I donated my normal $100 to KPFA but specifically requested that $0 go to Pacifica. The shameful management Pacifica has practiced with both KPFA & KPFK is both outrageous and saddening. I believe all stations should operate independently of Pacifica because of this history, and then optionally ‘buy in’ to Pacifica’s programs (at a realistic price) — or completely be autonomous when Pacifica’s management is abrasive or abusive or questionable, as you have been. Please be respectful of the unions, learn to manage by listening and helping stations to be more united rather than more divided, and cease this top-down hierarchical management style. Please cease ordering obnoxious gag rules, laying off staff, & restore the Morning Show (which was far better than Al Jazeera English, which would be far better taking the timeslot of a music show, not Democracy Now’s timeslot). Michael Moore said it well when he said Democracy should not end when you go to work. Please consider my opinion as I have been one of your paying supporters up to now. I also think the Exec Dir should be compensated *no more* than the compensation of the Station Mgrs. Ari Krawitz El Cerrito, CA
Name: Natashja Dewolf
Subject: Censorship of KPFA workers
Message: It isn’t Free Speech Radio if there is a gag rule at KPFA — your actions are anti-union, violate free speech and accountability and are solely there to protect you from having your actions see the light of day. I want to express to you that the current move to ‘restructure’ KPFA is an affront. I stand by the workers and hope the management will find themselves ‘restructured’ out of a job.
Name: Art Weller
Subject: what KPFA listeners want
Message: – No gag rule – Leave KPFA News alone – Stop the layoffs, including John Hamilton – Accept the pledge of $63K for The Morning Show and reinstate the hosts and staff
Name: Mel Chapman
Subject: Are you nuts or just plain mean??
Message: Why are you trying to wreck one of the greatest assets not only of the Bay Area but of Northern California and the nation [via internet]? The actions of “management” make no sense at all, unless you are actually pawns of the commercial interests who want to get their hands on 94.1 and turn it into a Fox radio station. You have good people– scholars, progressives, intellectuals, skeptics– let them go, let them follow their interests and ideas. Listeners support the people at KPFA– not your attempts to destroy the network. Please go get a job at a commercial station, or just be still and let the station be itself. In a word– Knock it Off!! Mel Chapman
Name: lani mulholland
Subject: We need local control of KPFA
Message: I want my Bay Area radio station to be programmed for Bay Area listeners and supporters. You are taking that away and ruining this valuable resource. The Morning Show is missed. Why are we not allowed to know why these decisions are made? I understand that a lot of money has been donated to restore the show. Why is Pacifica trying to kill it? Why can’t we listen to John Hamilton?
Name: Charlie Wambeke
Subject: What are you doing????
Message: I am an avid listener, supporter within my means, occasional volunteer, promoter of your station, customer of KPFA Crafts Fair. As a past union officer, it disheartens me to see KPFA MANAGEMENT shutting off free speech on a Free Speech network. Shame on you. You are spending our contributions on efforts to close down your own network.
Name: VP
Subject: Original Morning Show and John Hamilton
Message: I am outraged at what is still happening. As a progressive and longtime supporter of KPFA I am shocked to see how people are being fired/reinstated and how the union’s budget proposals aren’t being considered. Shame on you management. I demand that you: 1) end the gag rule; 2) keep your hands off the KPFA News; 3) do not lay off journalist John Hamilton; 4) accept the $63,000 in pledges listeners have so generously given to restore KPFA’s Morning Show and its excellent co-hosts and unpaid staff
Name: marilyn cooper
Subject: no gag on journalists
Message: How can KPFA raise $ for programming and then use it to pay lawyers to defend laying off the raisers of that $? It is as if they are being forced to dig their own graves. Why is Arlene E. in power at all? Shouldn’t she be the one to be removed? I have noticed the downgrade since all this began, hearing the amateurish, youthful interns voices instead of the mature and informed voices of paid staff. I am listening to NPR more and KPFA less for this reason. $ raised should go to great journalism and not internal power struggles.
Name: Kathleen Walkup
Subject: I would donate . . .
Message: but I need some assurance that Pacifica will acknowledge the importance of KPFA’s Morning Show with Brian Edwards-Tiekert and Aimee Allison. Their work should be recognized for the outstanding news program that it was, finally lifting KPFA’s morning news slot into an articulate and deeply interesting program. Your dismissal and now evident refusal to allow even open discussion about your decision is deplorable. I am no longer a listener of the Morning Show (I was a 100% loyal listener to that program when Brian and Aimee were hosts) nor will I contribute to any fund raising that might benefit Pacifica in any way. I don’t want to lose KPFA as a resource, but the recent repugnant heavy-handedness on the part of Pacifica goes well beyond decency.
Name: carolyn cobb
Subject: morning mix
Message: yet again, this programming is dreadful…today, coverage of japan was shortened in order to play program about women’s studies at sonoma state…not a bad concept piece at all, but bad timing AND a program that is totally UNLISTENABLE because there is funeral music playing under the voice all through out the piece. THIS IS AWFUL and makes another reason why I can not stand this new morning show. fading music for a few seconds at the beginning or end of a piece is one thing, but forcing a listener to hear BOTH music and voice at the same time makes it impossible to listen to. You must accept the pledges to bring back Brian and Aimee to the former morning show. This new show is CRAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Name: John Farrell
Subject: KPFA
Message: As a long time listener and supporter, I can’t believe what Pacifica is doing to my favorite station. Talk about killing the golden goose. Engelhardt should step down immediately. Refusing 63k in pledges. Take it from her pay. Don’t forget this station is in Berkeley. You want to see a mass movement against Pacifica…….keep doing what you are doing. John Farrell Los Altos
Name: DE
Subject: What are you doing?
Message: It seems to me that Pacifica’s “leadership” is either completely inept or is intentionally attempting to sabotage what makes KPFA such a valuable resource. Killing the Morning Show, laying off journalists like John Hamilton, Aimee Allison, and Brian Edwards-Tiekert (at least he’s back), rejecting $63k in pledges during this supposed financial crisis you keep telling us about, being more concerned with self-serving spin and covering your asses than with good, transparent stewardship of the station. Really, you should reconsider whether Pacifica is really the right place for you. With your track record, you’d be more at home working for Scott Walker’s regime in Wisconsin, don’t you think?
Name: Nina Sprecher
Subject: Stop your destructive actions!
Message: Ms Engelhardt seems hell-bent on destroying KPFA, with one outrageous action following another. As fiscal facts show, there was no financial reason for laying off the Morning Show staff. Similarly, it’s an outrage to lay off John Hamilton. The outpouring of support for our radio station should make it crystal clear that Engelhardt’s actions are dead-wrong, even criminal.
Name: Rose Elizondo
Subject: KPFA news hour and morning show
Message: To Pacifica management: I find it troubling that after removing your morning show, you now “claim” to need to lay-off John Hamilton. He is a wonderful anchor and by his style and manner is a great fundraiser for the News dept. Why does it seem that you, the management, seem intent on destroying the best that KPFA has to offer? It almost seems you want to destroy the station! If $63,000 have been raised to re-instate the morning show, how can you possibly “justify” not accepting this money and then re-instating the program? Obviously, both of these programs are of vital interest and importance to your listening audience. We,the listeners, demand that you re-instate the morning program, retract John Hamilton’s layoff notice, and leave KPFA’s News hour alone. If there is a request to have a separate News program at KPFK, it can be done using the resources of FSRN and local programmers. In this day and age of so many take aways by the right-wingers in the country, don’t become part of the PROBLEM. Allow KPFA to continue it’s path to be the voice of the voiceless.
Name: DA
Subject: Hands Off!
Message: As a listener and as a donor to KPFA, I support the efforts of SaveKPFA organization. I am not supportive of the changes that Pacifica Foundation has made these past months to KPFA. Please do not layoff John Hamilton. Please use the $63,000 that listeners have contributed in support of the Morning News show by reinstating it’s staff.
Name: JA
Subject: Layoffs, the Morning Show, KPFA News
Message: I have long appreciated the KPFA News Department’s coverage of California state politics. Its more recent collaboration with KPFK has made California news coverage even better. I urge you to continue this effort. Also….the KPFA News Department seems to be working; do not “fix” something that works. I have learned that John Hamilton will be laid off at the end of March 2011. Mr. Hamilton seems to be a very fine journalist; I urge you not to follow through with this layoff. Finally, about the now defunct Morning Show. I am one of the many who have pledged my scarce dollars to support the Morning Show. It should be restored to its 2-hour slot, with Brian Edwards-Tiekert and Aimee Allison hosting. Especially now, when labor resistance to austerity policies and programs is emerging, especially in Wisconsin, I miss David Bacon’s weekly segment. Likewise Aimee Allison’s bi-weekly “Oakland Seen.” You owe it to KPFA listeners to present the best possible programming in the morning. The “Morning Mix” simply does not make the grade.
Name: Mary Sepulveda
Subject: John Hamilton, morning show and no more Arlene Engelhardt
Message: I certainly want to keep John Hamilton NOW AND AFTER March 30. I STILL want my morning Show BACK. with ALL it’s staff. What I don’t want is Arlene Engelhardt making any more CRAZY decisions!
Name: Linda Nicoletto
Subject: Save Kpfa
Message: Restore Morning show Hands off KPFA news Do not lay off John Hamilton I have been a loyal supporter and have already pledged $300. Please listen, Linda Nicoletto
Name: Jennie Orvino
Subject: Hands off KPFA news
Message: I’ve already pledged $100. I just want to say, don’t mess with KPFA news. Reinstate John Hamilton. He is a top reporter and fundraiser. Look what happened to the Morning Show from your ill-advised decisions. It’s limping along, but I don’t listen any more, except to Peter Phillips, Mickey Huff and Project Censored who used to visit the Morning Show anyway. All the financial excuses are bull—-. This is about Union busting, retaliation and conservative politics. Just like Wisconsin. I do applaud Pacifica for adding Al Jezeera, but that’s international news and had been in the works for two years. STOP MESSING WITH KPFA AND THE UNION. Don’t wreck our station!
Name: Eric Larsen
Subject: Hands off KPFA evening news
Message: KPFA provides an extremely important independent news outlet. I contributed $50 (which is a large amount relative to my dispensable income) this campaign cycle and regularly contribute and volunteer to answer phones. Do not cut Hard Knock radio, Flashpoint or the evening news. These services are far too valuable to loose in this era.
Name: EC
Subject: control of kpfa
Message: please fire a.englehardt which will save kpfa several times what j. hamilton is paid and keep our news on the air . once i know that kpfa is under local control and that none of my money will go to pay englehardt or pacifica foundation i will contribute- again- to kpfa.
Name: Marian Cruz
Subject: Layoffs
Message: No more layoffs. The money raised to bring back the Morning Show, must be used for that purpose. I’m a long time listener and contributor and want my voice to be heard.
Name: Marc Pilisuk
Subject: mediation
Message: Too much effort is being spent on the decisions about hiring, firing and budgeting. For the good of Kpfa, and everyone, we need a mediated resolution. Thanks
Name: ASK
Subject: Hamilton’s Layoff
Message: Dear Pacifica: I am confused by Pacifica Executive Director Arlene Engelardt’s actions. Yet another unjustified layoff executed under the guise of budget woes -even though John Hamilton has managed to increase the amount that the KPFA Evening News brings in during fund drives, which more than pay his part-time salary of 25K. Will this be followed by more litigation and labor disputes, only to have Pacifica management lose? STOP WASTING KPFA’S RESOURCES ON PETTY POLITICS AND GET THE STATION BACK UP AND RUNNING. Engelhardt’s mismanagement of this station leads me to ask whether she is the one who should be given a layoff notice. Arpi S. Kupelian
Name: Saraswathi Devi
Subject: John Hamilton lay-off
Message: To whom it may concern – I am shocked and amazed that John Hamilton, who makes a very small salary at KPFA, has been let go from the Evening News program. This cannot be for a money saving reason. I can’t understand who Arlene Englehardt is – why her behavior is so destructive and dishonest – even bizarre. She seems bent on destrying our station. Why? As a listener-supporter since 1966, I strongly call for this valuable person to be restored to his position. What happened to the Pacifica values? The foundation’s bylaws or SOMEthing ought to be revised so that the stations can avoid this kind of sabotage in the future. How can this woman have so much power? Lou Hill must be turning in his grave. Sincerely, Saraswathi Devi Berkeley
Name: SW
Subject: Do not lay off John Hamilton & Restore AM Show
Message: Dear Arlene and Pacifica, Do not lay off John Hamilton whose reporting I greatly value. Restore the Morning Show with Brian E-T and Aimee Allison–use the money raised by us all to put this excellent show back on the air. Arlene, if you are not willing to disclose your salary, share in the cuts and sacrifice some of your pay, or stop using union busting law firms, you should resign immediately and allow new leadership to emerge based on openness, respect and support for unions, equity and justice. Thank You for putting the needs of the community above your own selfish needs. Susan Wallace
Name: Judy Shull
Subject: John Hamiliton
Message: Pacifica should not layoff John Hamilton or destroy our news department.” Hamilton is employed part-time and makes only about $25,000 a year, according to KPFAWorker.org . John Hamilton is an amazingly talented journalist and fundraiser — he was able to raise over a quarter of his yearly pay in just an hour on the air,” said Margy Wilkinson. Newly-released balance sheets show that KPFA outperformed its budget by $290,000 by the end of 2010, casting doubt on management’s claims that layoffs are necessary. Listeners have also pledged an additional $63,000 to restore the KPFA Morning Show, an offer that management refused. After Pacifica took the popular Morning Show off the air and laid off its co-hosts, fundraising in the 8am hour went into a tailspin. “The Evening News is the heart of KPFA,” “We don’t want to see Pacifica do to it what they did to the Morning Show. The station has suffered a steep drop in quality and credibility — not to mention financial health — as a result of these ill-advised disruptions. Get rid of Pacifica Management…… not our hard working KPFA employees. Judy Shull, long time listener and supporter Richmond CA
Name: Valerie Lasciak
Subject: Staff decisions
Message: The managing Directors job must include honoring the contributions of the listeners. If there are large contributions to a particular program it is a strong indication that the listenership is pleased, n’est pas? What is the use of our sponsorship if you once again choose to ignore our monetary votes? Who are you listening to?
Name: Mary Dosch
Subject: aghast at the layoff of John Hamilton
Message: I am VERY DISAPPOINTED! First the Morning Show staff were laid off & now John Hamilton! By laying off staff from both of those programs you are contributing to the deterioration of the quality of programming on KPFA. Please accept the $63,000 (I contributed to that amount) in pledges and restore the Morning Show. Finally, please consider the best interests of KPFA and therefore cancel the layoff of John Hamilton! Thank you! Mary Dosch
Name: Frances Goff
Subject: The First Rule of Holes
Message: Several times over the last two decades, Pacifica Management has demonstrated it’s inability to understand the First Rule of Holes: When You Find Yourself in a Deep, Dark Hole, STOP DIGGING! Arlene Engelhardt and the Ivory Tower Dilettantes at Pacifica National need to pick their heads up out of the enormous hole they seem unable to stop digging, and realize they are the WRONG SIDE of the KPFA News issue. Good Managers (they do exist) know how to LISTEN. They know who put them where they are (we, the Listener-Supporters). We at KPFK went through something similar a while back, and when we hear our KPFA shared programs, we REMEMBER how management has behaved and whether or not the air is good or bad because of them.
Name: Ed Treuting
Subject: Bad approaches to management!!!
Message: Dear Ms. Engelhardt: As a long-time (35+ years) listener and subscriber to KPFA, and former volunteer in the News Department, I am appalled at the amazingly inept and bungled “management” Pacifica has shown toward KPFA over the last few months. First, to take one of the most well-supported and listened-to programs (The Morning Show) off the air in the name of “financial necessity”, though it brought in more than three times what it cost to produce, and had a large and loyal following, is irrational and counter-productive, if financial prudence were the real goal. Clearly, it was in truth a thinly-veiled, and very obvious political vendetta, and a reprehensible one at that. Further, it cost a huge amount in lawyers’ fees that the station could ill-afford, only to have Brian Edwards-Tiekert re-hired with back pay. So what was accomplished??? Mr. Edwards-Tiekert lost no money in the deal, but the station had to foot an expensive legal tab for nothing. Brilliant move, Ms. Engelhardt! Next, a terrific reporter/anchor, John Hamilton is laid off, with the loss again of a very strong voice in the news department, and a powerful fund-raiser as well. Now there is talk of dismantling the State-wide Pacifica Evening News, with it’s California-wide perspective, and fund-raising reach of virtually the entire California market. What are you thinking??? Here’s the plan: 1. Bring back Aimee, David Bacon, and the rest of the paid and un-paid Morning Show team. The more than $63,000 in pledges (including mine) for this purpose will more than cover this effort. 2. Recind the Layoff Notice for John Hamilton 3. Commit to no further layoffs at KPFA, and the budget plan developed by KPFA workers and management. 4. Keep the State-wide Pacifica Evening News News intact as it has been for the last year and more. 5. Insist on the immediate resignation or dismissal of Arlene Engelhardt.
Name: Nancy Jackson
Subject: Fund raising w/o the Morning Show
Message: Please accept the money pledged that KPFA so desperately needs. You have a ready source of income, but you are unwilling to utilize it. Why? I have given $100.00 during every pledge drive for the last 10 years! Yet, I am boycotting this fund raising period specifically because of Pacifica’s anti-labor actions with the Morning Show staff and their continuing lack of transparency.
Name: mary sepulveda
Subject: accept the pledges already!
Message: Accept the pledges already! I want my MORNING SHOW back. I’m sorry but the show on now does NOT “cut the cake.”
Name: Gilma Palma
Subject: RE: PLEASE ACCEPT THE $61,000 PLEADE
Message: PLEASE! accept the $61,000 in pledges listeners have so generously given, and restore KPFA’s excellent Morning Show immediately!
Name: Kirk Lumpkin
Subject: Morning Show Pledges
Message: Please accept the pledges made for the return of the Morning Show. People have voted with their dollars and you should be listening to what they have to say. People want the return of the Morning Show and are willing to pay for it.
Name: Celia Reyes
Subject: restore the morning show
Message: We, the overwhelming majority of KPFA listeners, want the Morning Show restored, the money is available and there is no legitimate reason not to do this. We are not going to change our minds and KPFA is our station and we are not going to stop insisting that you do what is right and most probably prudent.
Name: AG
Subject: please restore Morning Show & hosts
Message: Please use the $61 000 pledged by listeners to restore the Morning Show with its original hosts! Thank you!
Name: Teresa McFarland
Subject: Restore KPFA Morning Show
Message: Dear Ms. Englehardt, I urge you to restore the KPFA Morning Show and its staff, who have been major fund-raisers for the station. There doesn’t seem to be an economic reason to cut the show when listeners have raised $61,000 to fund it. Please reconsider your earlier decision and restore the Morning Show. Thank you, Dr. Teresa McFarland
Name: JR
Subject: restore the morning show
Message: I’ve started listening to KPFK in the morning, and that’s depressing. I miss the great guests, the insight, and the local coverage of the Morning Show. Community radio doesn’t mean volunteer radio. I am a member because I want professional journalists. I want the Morning Show back.
Name: Maryann Smith
Subject: Restore Morning Show
Message: I have listened to KPFA for 30 years and have thoroughly enjoyed the Morning Show for its professionalism and news content. Please accept the $61,000 in pledges and bring back this excellent program.
Name: RH
Subject: Thanks and request for reinstating The Morning Show
Message: Dear Ms. Engelhardt, I spoke to you briefly this evening thanking you for the hard work you do and urging you to accept the money pledged to SaveKPFA. In addition to the several hundred dollars my family sends annually to KPFA, I have pledged additional hundreds if The Morning Show is reinstated. I urge you to accept my pledge and those of countless others and restore the quality local programming I have come to expect from KPFA during the morning. I began listening to Chris and Phillip with Mike McGrath doing the early morning news oh so many decades ago. Please don’t allow personnel issues to get in the way of what is best for the listeners. Assuming financial reasons were the basis for the discontinuance and layoffs, my and countless others pledges are a testament to our commitment to removing that concern from the discussion. I urge you once again to accept our pledge and return The Morning Show to its regular programming slot. Sincerely, Rick Herbert
Name: Peggy Olsen
Subject: Morning Show restoration
Message: I urge you to accept the listener pledges and restore the Morning Show. I do not feel the Morning Show was terminated in a democratic, just fashion, but in an autocratic way. Reconsider!!!
Name: John L Erhart
Subject: Restore local programming to KPFA
Message: Please accept the pledges that have been offered through KPFA on behalf of restoring the Morning Show to local stations.
Name: Susan Weiss
Subject: The Morning Show
Message: Please accept the $61,000 we have pledged to bring back the Morning Show. It should be clear by now that the community is unhappy with your decision and is willing to go to the mat over it.
Name: Gayle Mills
Subject: Restore the Morning Show
Message: Pacifica Management: In light of the recent LSB meeting and the current fundraising drive, I suggest you accept the $61K listener pledge and restore the Morning Show immediately. I have lost faith in your willingness/ability to appropriately govern my radio station and will do everything in my power to have you replaced.
Name: RF
Subject: my pledge
Message: Dear Pacifica Manager, It is definitely time to bring back the Morning Show, with Brian and Aimee. Enough is enough, already. Let the volunteer folks join the apprenticeship program, or give them a midnight slot, but give us back our professional and coherent Morning Show. In so doing, you will also be following the union contract — something I would expect from Pacifica. Please accept my check included with the bunched pledges. Sincerely, Ruth Fallenbaum, Ph.D.
Name: Marsha Moore
Subject: Over $60,000 in Pledges!!
Message: Dear Pacifica, With the new $60,000 in generous pledges, we eagerly await the return of the marvelous Morning Show! Thank you, Marsha Moore
Name: carolyn cobb
Subject: 61K to restore the Morning Show
Message: Please restore the morning show. The new morning mix is not good. Please put Al Jezeera on in the evening when it is broadcast instead of the next morning when it is stale, and restore Amy Goodman to the 6am slot, Morning Show 7-9 and then an a repeat of Amy at 9.
Name: Linda Krantz
Subject:
Message: KPFA listeners, myself included, clearly miss listening to The Morning Show. It is time to reinstate it!
Name: Jennie Orvino
Subject: Restore the morning show
Message: Volunteers won’t last forever. Bring back our young hosts Amy and Brian. They were a breath of fresh air, the next generation of KPFA. Accept the $61,000 pledge. And cut the expenses at the executive level. KPFA shouldn’t operate like the corrupt regime of a third world country. Accept the cost cutting suggestions. Honor the union. Bring back the Morning Show. Jennie Orvino subscriber non stop since 1983
Name: Saraswathi Devi
Subject: Restoring the Morning Show
Message: Dear Ms. Englehardt – I have been a KPFA listener-supporter since 1966 and a regular listener to the Morning Show for a very long time. This program is vital to our community. Please do the right thing and place the $61,000, donated by so many who feel as I do, where it belongs – in support of this program. I cannot see any reason why you would refuse to do so. And, here is another way you can solve KPFA’s financial crisis: please reduce your salary and the salaries of other Pacifica administrators who are similarly endowed. In the name of Lou Hill – please do the right thing! Thank-you, Saraswathi Devi Berkeley
Name: craig reinarman
Subject: morning show
Message: Please restore the morning show!
Name: Jane Vinson
Subject: Restoring KPFA’s Morning Show
Message: Dear Ms. Engelhardt. Please restore the Morning Show. We have donated sufficient funds to do so. I have tried listening to the substitute morning show. Though the volunteers are good people, I am sure, I cannot stay with the program for more than a few minutes. The professional, thoughtful and expert original (now fired) members of the Morning Show are of such a high caliber that they bring in more money during marathons than any other locally produced program. I don’t think you understand, Ms. Engelhardt, the commitment KPFA listeners have to The Morning Show. This stand-off between KKPFA listeners and you can be nothing but destructive to Pacifica. Like the Egyptians we will not be ignored. Jane Vinson
Name: Rasa Gustaitis
Subject: kpfa
Message: To Arlene Englehart: What are you doing to KPFA? Is the goal to destroy its independent existence? Looks that way from the perspective of this decades-long listener and contributor. I’ve been trying and failing to understand how it is that you believe that you have the prerogative to dictate our station’s programming. The Morning Show must be restored. Rasa Gustaitis
Name: June Brumer
Subject: Morning Show
Message: I truly do not understand why you will not accept the money raised by listeners to restore the Morning Show. I saw your discussion with Tom Bates and you simply made no sense. What’s going on? I can not help but think that you are withholding something that listener/subscribers have a right to know.
Name: Carol Kiparsky
Subject: The Real Morning Show
Message: To the Pacifica board, Along with many other listeners, I urge you to accept the $61,000 that has been pledged by listeners to restore the real morning show, and to restore that show with Teichert, Allison, and the rest of its paid staff. I assure you that if I have been listening to KPFA in the morning, I turn it off promptly at 8 am. I refuse to listen to the scab show that you have imposed on us. This show is an insult to listeners who have for years supported the station with its highly professional, local, intelligent morning show.
Name: Burnis Tuck
Subject: Please re-instate the Morning Show
Message: Dear Management: I respectfully ask you to accept the $61,000 that listeners have pledged to get the Morning Show going again. We really miss this show down here in Fresno, as much as folks do up there. Please? Burnis Tuck
Name: Stephen Sacks
Subject: Morning Show
Message: Bring it back-we raised the money. You said money was the issue and now it’s raised.
Name: Robert-Harry Rovin
Subject: Morning Show
Message: Please accept the $61,200 in pledges and restore the Morning Show to KPFA as soon as possible. Thank you, Robert-Harry Rovin W R I T E O N ! *the creative writing program that nurtures well being through self expression*
Name: Roxanna Marinak
Subject: The Morning
Message: Dear Ilene Engelhardt I urge you to accept the KPFA pledge to bring back the morning show that was so inspirational, interesting and keep me pledging to KPFA ! I miss the show very much and sorry to say the morning mixer no longer holds my attention.. A true supporter of KPFA Sincerely Roxanna Marina
Name: Anne Wayman
Subject: Restore the Morning Show
Message: I don’t know what’s going on that would prevent the Pacifica powers that be from accepting the $61,000 in pledges and restoring the Morning Show but it’s starting to feel like people may be stuck in a position. The Morning Show is a wonderful program… let’s let us hear it again. Please.
Name: Catherine Lowrey
Subject: Pledges
Message: Please accept the $61,200 pledges before you destroy KPFA in case the tipping point has not yet been reached.
Name: Clark Natwick
Subject: $61,000 check to restore Morning Show
Message: Please accept the $61,000 in pledges listeners have so generously given, and restore KPFA’s excellent Morning Show immediately! Thank you, Clark Natwick
Name: helen baum
Subject: funds
Message: Please settle the conflict and direct the stations energy and talent toward broadcasting. It is time that we all give up our control for the good of the masses. We need to learn what kids in kindergarten know about sharing.
Name: Barbara Schumacher
Subject: Support Your Station
Message: Please give the $61thousand in pledge money to KPFA now!! I have never seen anything so childish. Did you all pass kindergarten? Seriously, OMG!!!!!
Name: Ian McWethy
Subject: Morning show
Message: Aljazeera is great and Democracy Now but after that I turn off the radio or change the station. Bring back the Morning show as it was, even if only 1 hour long from 8:00-9:00. KPFA is not Pacifica but Pacifica is a piece of KPFA.
Name: Dallas Sacher
Subject: THE MORNING SHOW
Message: Ms. Engelhardt, I have twice previously written to you and requested that the Morning Show be reinstated. Insofar as the supporters of the Morning Show have now presented over $61,000 in pledges in support of the show (including my own pledge of $1000), I am once again calling upon you to do the right thing and reinstate the show. In all candor, the decision to cancel the Morning Show made no sense from either a financial or broadcasting perspective. Your continued refusal to reinstate the show has caused severe damage to both the reputation of KPFA and the quality of programming available to the public. It is most ironic that at a time when the people of the Middle East are protesting for their democratic rights, those of us who fund KPFA do not seem to have any rights. I trust you that will listen to the voices of your listeners and reinstate the Morning Show. Dallas Sacher
Name: Molly Holm
Subject: do the right thing
Message: Dear Pacifica Management, Not to restore the Morning Show, seems absurd. Stop fighting!! Let go!! Hear the voices of real people here!! It would be so much easier to honor the community. This certainly seems to be an unnecessary resistance on your part. Let’s put these rigid politics aside. Let people make a difference. If Egypt can do it, so can we!! Sincerely, Molly Holm Vocalist, jazz and improvisation, Composer
Name: Ron Peterson
Subject: Our Money For Our Station.
Message: Accept our pledge’s for the real morning show!
Name: Joan Fiser
Subject: The Morning Show
Message: Please restore the Morning Show. All the KPFA listeners that I know, both here on the Peninsula (Palo Alto, Redwood City, etc.) and in the East Bay, miss it and believe that it was a huge mistake to remove it. The Morning Mix is okay, but my morning commute just hasn’t been the same without the Morning Show. I’m also concerned that KPFA will continue to lose listeners since this has been one of the most popular shows. As a loyal long-time listener who first tuned in in 1982, I find this whole situation upsetting and hope that you will do your part to arrive at a solution.
Name: Barbara Rozen
Subject: funding the Morning Show
Message: I believe that there are funds for the Morning Show and that it should be restored asap. As soon as I hear the terrible theme “music” for the morning mixup I turn off the radio. To date there has been no coverage of the budget cuts that affect thousands of disabled and elderly people here in California while all kinds of trivial topics are covered. Stop playing games and bring back the Morning Show.
Name: sheldon warren
Subject: Morning Show
Message: Accept the pledges & restore the Morning Show to KPFA 7-9 AM
Name: Blair Moser
Subject: Please restore the Morning Show
Message: Ms. Engelhardt, As a decades-long member of KPFA, I’ve pledged to support The Morning Show, on which I have long depended for reliable local news. I don’t understand your determination to banish this excellent program and its superb staff, a great loss to Pacifica Radio. Please restore the Morning Show immediately, and stop meddling in local broadcasting decisions.
Name: Jennifer Sullivan
Subject: Restore the morning show
Message: Listeners should be the deciders. As a past listener & fairly large supporter to WMNF(where you were on the Women’s Show), I feel for these people on our other coast. It’s like Jim Bennett went to WMNF to do a hatchet job to the people’s station here & YOU were sent to KPFA to do the same.
Name: AE
Subject: Restoring the Morning Show
Message: To Arlene Englehardt: Since listeners have pledged the $61,000 needed to fund the Morning Show, why not put it back on the air? You can return to loyal listeners and supporters one of the stations best loved and most admired programs. Thank you.
Name: Jerome Rice
Subject: Restore the Morning Show on KPFA
Message: Please restore the Morning Show on KPFA. It is a much needed program and I enjoyed that show a lot.
Name: Laurie Mackenzie
Subject: Restore the Morning Show!
Message: Plaese accept the 61,000 dollars in pledges that we the local KPFA listeners raised and allow us to have a say in our radio station. We want the Morning Show with Brian and Aimee back! We need professional reporting and analysis on Bay Area issues.
Name: Nancy M Friedman
Subject: Restore Morning Show!
Message: Dear Ms. Engelhardt: I am one of the many small pledges that helped add up to $61,200 in support for the morning show. I urge you to accept this money and restore the program. I no longer listen to KPFA in the mornings, and find myself turning on other stations except for a couple of other favorites during the week. I don’t want KPFA to fold, but am not sure whether I’ll contribute anything to this fund drive, for the first time in 35 years.
Name: Michael Coan
The new morning line-up is mixed. AlJazeera News is wonderful. Glad you have it. Democracy Now is great, but twice, only an hour apart makes no sense. I listen at 7 or at 9, and go elsewhere for the other hour.
The 8 am morning mix is a total embarrassment for the station. I do not listen, and I have read that there are many like me who leave the station for that hour.
Name: John
Hello,
My understanding is that contributions were offered to bring back the morning show, but refused by KPFA. This message is to encourage you to reconsider that decision. In 2010 I donated to KPFA for the first time, and continue to be a devoted listener to Domocrary Now, however, after repeated attempts to listen to the revised morning show, I now turn to NPR at 8am because the volunteer staff (despite their best efforts) consistently results is a rather “amaturish” attempt at a morning show radio broadcast. I do not plan to donate to KPFA until the previous morning show is returned to the air, which I sincerely hope is soon.
Thanks very much,
John
Name: BB
I held my nose and kept tuned to KPFA at 8 a.m. as it broke away from Al Jazeera as it was covering the clampdown unfolding in Cairo. I assumed that the “Morning Mix” would provide analysis of what was occurring in Egypt. The fact that the programming, other than an awkward segway worthy of a parody of local TV news, was oblivious to the momentous and rapidly changing events in Egypt is an eloquent argument for the return of the Morning Show. The Morning Show was an invaluable source of high calibre analysis of international, national and local politics and culture. Please bring it back.
Name: Lake Perry
Dear General Manager of KPFA,
I respectfully submit this note of protest at the changes made to KPFA programming. We have listened to the Morning Show daily since 1975. Now we do not. We do check in, anticipating the voices of Amy Allison and Brian Edward Teickert (spelling?) but when they are not there, we change the dial. Guest hosts may have every intention of producing a good show. The politics behind the substitutions require that we not support the Morning Show until Allison and Teickert are reinstated. We certainly hope that management at KPFA soon understands the correctness of this and acts as soon as possible.
Name: Michael Blathers
I continue to be disheartened by the taken away of the morning show the way it was with the former staff it had. I no longer listen the program. Please bring them and the former program back.
Name: LL
I am a long time listener/subscriber to KPFA. Recent events at the station, specifically, the removal of Brian Tiekert and Aimee Allison have prompted me to write this letter. The Morning Show as it stands now, is practically unpalatable and downright unlistenable. It is clearly obvious that what is happening is political in nature. You people need to do the right thing and bring back the Morning Show. The experience that Brian Tickert and Aimee Alison bring is invaluable and the knowledge they share with us, the listeners is essential to a well informed, activist community. Again, take the pledge money and return the morning show to the air.
Name: Claurier
How ironic that what silenced possibly the best progressive radio show in America was a power hungry egomaniac dictator from inside KPFA. We should completely boycott KPFA until she is removed.
Name: L. Darlene Pratt
I remain distressed by the mismanagement of KPFA and the destructive elimination of the morning show and it’s talented staff. The National Board and some of our local board are obviously not interested in what the majority of the listener/supporters want! When did they/you come to believe that this is “your” station?
At some point, you will be forced to stop your short-sighted political behaviors, but how much damage will be done in the interim gives me pause. Yes, I do believe they are “political” behaviors. If it were financial, you would now restore the Morning Show as many of us have pledged to support it. I am also a little bemused that Brian is being blamed for “airing dirty laundry” when one of the hosts of another popular show often talks about his fear of being terminated–“they are coming after me from INSIDE the station and from without” He also asked that we contact management about the termination of one of his programmers (I did). I do not think this host should be terminated, but let’s have a fair standard. Also, a few years ago, one of our younger programmers, later associated with Hard Knock, personally knocked Larry Bensky on a show–he was not terminated.
Also, abruptly canceling a popular show is very unwise. Listeners become “attached” to particular programmers and feel devastated when these hosts are not on the air. That is the nature of media–certain people have a following. At KPFA that worked to our benefit as the Morning Show was popular and helped to support the station.
I am also appalled that the local station manager appears to have no power. We need a station with a strong manager who also has RADIO EXPERIENCE.
Ms. Englehart, you are not the manager of our station.
But even as I write this, I have no hope that I will be heard. But I am optimistic that as this plays out, the situation will eventually be righted. Those of us who love this station will continue to work for this cause.
L. Darlene Pratt
Name: Laurel M. Marshall
Dear Whoever It May Concern:
I am a former subscriber to KPFA. I am on a limited income right now. If Pacifica would fire Arlene Englehardt, I would be quite willing to donate a small sum to KPFA. However, since Ms. Englehardt seems to have some unstated goals for herself and KPFA, my donating money to the station is out of the question at this time.
Sincerely,
Laurel M. Marshall
Name: DLT
Hello,
I am taking a few minutes from a very hectic work schedule to plead, implore, beg you to please reinstate the Morning Show.
Name: Sylvia Sherman
I am one of the listeners who has stopped listening to KPFA morning programs because of the morning program changes. I have been a diligent listener and regular donor (annually) for close to twenty years. I did not give in 2010 because of the elimination of the morning program. I did pledge to give at double my normal rate if the morning show were re-instated. Of course, we understand that KPFA and Pacifica need to make adjustments in their operations to live within a reduced budget. However, the decision to cut the morning show, which is a strong revenue producing show and obviously greatly enjoyed and listened to by the local community has never made sense.
Please do not stay entrenched in your position. Leadership is so much more meaningful when you can adjust based on new information. It is clear that KPFA’s listenership has plummeted, donations have followed and the money has been pledged to bring back the morning show. Please make the smart decision for the station and Pacifica for economic reasons, for community feedback reasons, for strong programming decision reasons.
Sylvia Sherman
Name: Barbara Schumacher
We are rally furious out here! What do you not understand? Give us back our morning show and SHOW a little democracy! We are even paying for it! WTF?
Name: Barbara Schumacher
Please get it together and stop the fighting. You can get volunteers to raise funds if you just call them and invite them. Get off your butts and earn your keep! And
Reinstate the morning show on kpfa.
Name: Susan Moon
Dear Arlene Engelhardt-
I have been a faithful KPFA listener since I moved to Berkeley in 1969. I have been waking up to KPFA every morning. For the first time in 40 years, I have tuned my clock radio to another station, and this is not out of some kind of political loyalty to particular people; it’s because I don’t like the new programming. It’s an interesting idea to have Al-Jazeera news, but it turns out I don’t like the endless repetition of news stories and the horrible theme song repeating every 5 minutes. It seems sloppily edited, and also redundant with Amy Goodman’s show, which has excellent international news at the beginning. Personally, I wish you’d go back to world music between 6 and 7, but I might be the only one saying that.
The new morning mix really IS a mix- a patchwork with no continuity. For a morning show like that it’s important to have a host or hosts who the listeners can look forward to hearing as part of their day, to give a sense of continuity to the programming. I’m afraid you’ve lost me, and I feel like I’ve lost KPFA–I’m very sad about it.
Name: CJS
I have listened to KPFA for years. The professional hosts of the Morning Show made it worth listening to. The shows were well produced, researched and delivered. You will continue to lose listeners if the Morning Show is not returned to its former format. The Bay area and Central Valley can support a professional Morning Show. Thank you.
Name: Ellena Isabel Clee
arlene engelhardt must provide what the listerner’s are willing to pay for and requested. i cannot believe arelene is still there when she is failing in your position. i do not listen to kpfa as much because of what you have put into play. the morning show was critical for me in the morning. i drive a lot and wonder what you motives are for the station.
Name: Hank Levin
What is it about Pacifica’s organization that causes it to periodically bring in executives that attempt to destroy the organization by selling it off, emasculating its power or otherwise blatantly sabotaging it from within? Is there something in its corporate charter that stipulates this or something?
It was just a few years ago that thousands of us had to rally in the streets of Berkely to keep KPFA from selling itself off, under the “leadership” of another “executive director.” Is it time to call Joan Baez again and ask her to get ready for another benefit performance?
Hank Levin
KPFA Supporter
Name: Redwood Mary
I think this is highly unacceptable the divisions that are occurring.
I was hoping that KPFA and Pacifica could model Good Governance and the takes into account ALL stakeholders as well as setting aside entrenched patterns of attitudes by all involved that hinder god organizational development.
Watching this from the sidelines is emotionally and spiritually taxing.
Pacific Radio is not a cookie cutter entity — and locally produced programming is important. Yet I keep hearing how people are turned off from rants on and off the air including me.
I value the public airways– yet in the dynamic world of fundraising and friendraising, KPFA, Pacifica and many of allies and opponents get a rating of F for civil dialouge, an F for inability in reaching compromise that benefits listeners and the fiscal operations , and F- for inability to listen to the local listeners and supporters and weigh their concerns.
Many local listeners and supporters also get an F for inability to articulate factual points and present solutions that are workable.
Please place egos aside, learn to deeply listen and obtain a knowledge base in organizational operations, ethics and the philanthropic landscape and then teach others and share .
Name: Richard Saunders
I urge the reinstatement of KPFA’s Morning Show hosts. The listeners have demonstrated that desire through pledges to pay for it. The choice is 1. kill the station through internecine conflicts or 2. reinstate the staff, with large community support.
I also urge the resignation of Arlene Engelhardt. She is clearly not capable of performing her job.
Name: susan Bradford
I’m so frustrated that all the protests and letters and additional fundraising efforts are not being heard by the Pacifica board .
I am calling for the firing of Arlene Englehart… and if it were possible to dump Pacifica all together and let KPFA run itself independently.
Lew Hill would be mortified if he wasn’t already dead!
Name: Frances (in California) Goff
Dear Pacifica: As a long-time KPFK supporter, I find your stubbornness regarding the KPFA morning show counterproductive toward Lew Hill’s Mission. I don’t know what it is about getting on Corporate Boards, non-profit or otherwise, that makes some people act in contravention of their own best interests. How does the Pacifica Board – not the Bill Gates Foundation or the people who launder Walmart money – the Pacifica Board (!) think that the remedy for having shot itself in the foot is to shoot itself in the other foot? If your actions had convinced anyone that you did the right thing, everyone – SF Board, Fresno Alliance, even CWA – would not be in your face now. This tells me you just don’t get it. The people who should have diminished influence are not the Morning Show people; they are you. Wake up before it’s too late for all of us.
Name: Augusto Cardoso
Hi!
The only decent thing to do is for the Morning Show to return and these useless legal disputes to end.
As a bonus, I will donate $5K (in 5 years) to KPFA if Arlene Engelhardt resigns and completely leaves Pacifica and KPFA, after reinstating the Morning Show before February 14, 2011.
Augusto
Name: Ilona Sturm
Hello,
I am very disturbed and disappointed that the Morning Show had not been reinstated. I have been a member of KPFA for years and this is the show that I have listened to most consistently, until now.
As you have already heard numerous times, this show is critically important to the community it serves. As a parent, artist, and involved member of the East Bay Community, I am *only* able to stay up with important information affecting me and my family through The Morning Show. In addition to this, Aimee and Brian are absolutely world-class journalists that we so lucky to have work with the station. What a disgrace for everyone that their jobs and the show they have worked so hard to make excellent, are not being restored!
Ilona Sturm
Name: Lee Block
This crap that is going on is typical of the LEFT — petty squabbles that eventually unravel anything that is good going on.
The Morning Show was a great drive-time staple for bringing important information in a well managed format to the Progressive Community. And like with Democracy Now, Free Speech Radio News, etc, PAID STAFF are essential to running a good program.
Regardless of whatever superfluous pissiness going on between Pacifica and the Morning Show staff, the Morning Show staff were highly professional and good @ what they did.
As I’ve mentioned in previous e-mails, I’ve given about $2000 over the past five years; and have pledged a minimum of $600 to bring back the Morning Show. For this, the only return I want is bringing back the Morning Show.
Otherwise, I’l play along — I’ll let the LEFT eat itself again @ KPFA; and find other Progressive organization to which to donate my financial support.
Sincerely,
Lee Block
Name: L. Yacobucci
I no longer listen to your morning show. What a shame. I am also considering no longer supporting you if you don’t listen to what your listeners want.
KPFA is paid for by the listeners and you are obligated to do our wishes, especially when the funds are so available.
Take the right course, reinstate the Morning Show and KPFA is truly for the listeners.
Name: martha gilbertson
I used to be a regular listener of the KPFA morning show. I have listened to the new program a couple of times and find it to be of inferior quality and now I no longer listen to KPFA in the morning. Please reinstate the old morning show. Thank you.
Name: Linda Nicoletto
I fear this is a plot to diffuse KPFA and take away its listener base. Please get out of the way and let us have our local programming the way we like it.
This is why it is FREE SPEECH RADIO and we want our show back!!!!
You are sabotaging the station and the listeners with your unreasonable claims.
LInda Nicoletto
Name: Derryl Hayes
To: Arlene Engelhardt & The power Mongers at Pacifica & KPFA
I listen to KPFA to get info & entertainment without corporate seasoning. It is the height of hypocrisy that this organization is run like a corporation. I always thought, much to my ignorance, that since it’s listener supported, without advertisers & underwriters; it was a “people’s” station. An example for others to follow.
Perhaps, it’s time think outside of the box. A different way of doing things. How can you boast about no corporate influence, when you think, act and are a corporation.
I am no longer a loyal listener & contributor. This has created a great void in my daily auditory input but such is life. I will tune in from time to time for certain shows & also, be looking for positive change in the way things work.
Happy Workers (this includes management) & Happy Listeners = Support!!!
Until such time, I’ll listen to the network (disintegrate) with no more “mula” from me & many others = Exploitative Boycott or Listener Strike.
Name: Brooke Passano
Don’t you know that the 8-9am slot is useless….amateur hour!! I wake up, hear 7am Amy and then switch stations as 8-9am is a bore on KPFA. Why are you doing this to the station? Someone is holding a STUPID grudge……Shall I name her??…a regular listener. New management please!!!
Name: JD-L
Um…I don’t really understand you guys in management.
Why are you sabotaging KPFA and its dedicated unionized workers?
Seriously, what’s going on?
We, the supporting listeners and members of KPFA, have a right to know.
When you say that the Morning Show is cancelled because of “economic reasons” and then money is raised that will pay for that show specifically, and you refuse it saying “other reasons”, I want to know what is up?
You have an obligation to do this. If it is not economic, then what is it?
Secrecy and evasion should not play into the workings of a station like KPFA or Pacifica. That is what the government and Corporations do, not publicly supported public radio!
Who do you think you are, anyway?
I am so sick of small cabals gaining power and usurping power inside supposedly democratically inclined institutions.
Please remember what happened a decade ago. It will happen again if you do not do as the members demand. You are beholden to us, the listeners and members of KPFA.
I support the Morning Show, the CWA workers of KPFA and all of the supporters of a progressive and free radio station.
Remember this.
Name: Kathleen Weaver
Amit Pendyal
Manager
KPFA
Dear Mr Pendyal,
Thanks for receiving the delegation requesting that the Morning Show be restored. I’m very disappointed to learn that you do not have the authority to make those rehires of the exceptional team we had going, namely Brian Edwards Tiekert and Aimee Alison. Even without that hiring power I hope you will do what you can to bring to the attention of Pacifica’s management that without restoring the Morning Show, the station is going to be in trouble, most likely, when it comes to fundraising–and lend your considerable voice as KPFA manager to the others voices calling for redress and sanity.
There is strong distaste for happened and it is very widespread. I urge you to ally yourself with the cause of justice and support the union’s efforts to remedy this wrongful firing, which apparently isn’t even about the cost. You can see for yourself the obfuscation those who want the Morning Show back are up against. What on earth is going on?
Wishing you the best in your new position.
Yours,
Kathleen Weaver
Name: AG
Subject: please restore Morning Show
Hi,
I am writing as a KPFA listener-subscriber to ask again that the Morning Show with previous hosts be restored with the funds pledged for that purpose by KPFA listeners. I am not affiliated with any particular group, am just a regular listener who greatly valued The Morning Show and was very disturbed by its murky and high-handed cancellation, especially as it has been such a fund-raiser.
I appreciate the efforts of participants in Morning Mix and I understand that KPFA has budget problems. But the whole process, including the ready participation of so many progressive people in a program created amidst a labor dispute, has made me feel very uneasy and distanced from Morning Mix.
I also appreciate the inclusion of Al Jazeera English, but don’t understand why it is the previous day’s program, and am concerned that it might block the return of the 2-hour Morning Show.
Also, I listened to The Morning Show just about every day and didn’t hear any unfair attacks etc. I heard Brian read out a list of proposed cuts, which seem mostly to have come to pass, and I heard Ms Engelhart and the financial officer have a chance to repond on-air to questioning. That all seemed perfectly fair to me.
Anyway, please know that although I am tuning in to Morning Mix from time-to-time and continue to value the station, I have been seriously alienated by all these events, and I imagine I am not alone among former faithful Morning Show listeners. Please act with good faith and transparency and with care for listeners, the future of the radio station, and the rights of KPFA workers.
Name: Bruce Wilson
I have listened to KPFA over the years since I moved to California in 1990. About 6 months ago, I began listening to the Morning Show with Brian Edwards-Tiekert and Aimee Allison. I was really impressed with the quality of the content and reporting. I began listening as often as I was able to. I was shocked when it was taken off the air. I understand it is the one show that brings in more money for itself and the support of other shows on KPFA than any other show at the station.
So when is the gross mismanagement by the Pacifica Board and specifically Ms. Englehardt in her autocratic power grab going to end. Such actions betray the original intent of Pacifica for transparency and mimic the actions of oppressive regimes found around the world that want to quiet the voices of intelligent dialogue.
Name: Leslie Waltzer
Please reinstate the Morning Show and all it’s people. Otherwise management is looking soooo politically off base.
Name: PK
I have tried to listen to the “amateur hour” you are now airing instead of the highly professional and interesting Morning Show, and I just can’t.
Since it is now clear that finances were and are not the reason for firing the hosts of the Morning Show, it is time to reinstate them and stop the game-playing. KPFA is not your playground, it is the subscribers’ valuable resource. Set aside any “hurt feelings” you may have, grow up, and treat the Morning Show hosts and KPFA subscribers with the respect they deserve.
Name: Mary Sepulveda
Who IS she(Ms Englehart)? That she gets to say what’s right and what’s wrong? We want OUR Morning Show back.
From: MS
I cannot believe how terrible the changes to the programming of the Morning Show have been since the dictat from Arleane Englehardt appeared on our horizon. The presenters may be well-meaning but they are the worst examples of amateur radio that I have ever heard on the Pacifica network. We are used to experienced political interviewers with long backgrounds in political and economic issues and a strong grasp of American history and politics and a sense of what KPFA stands for.
The only thing that gives me some hope is that I do hear the voices of Philip, Aileen, Rose, Chris and Mitch.
Please give us back our station.
A listener and subscriber since 1954
MS
Name: Roslainda
Subject: Return the Morning Show and Labor Programer
This is getting so boring..can you please return the Morning Show hosts and the labor program to KPFA! How much of this political witch hunting do we need to sit through until you folks finally get it that the programs you are now running in the morning are boring! Have no relevance to our area (Bay Area – N Calif). And, are so badly produced it give community radio a bad image. Enough of the stalling, just bring them all back!
Thank you.
Name: Robert Mason
Subject: morning show and related matters
I’ve been listening to KPFA ever since I joined the struggle in 1999 to keep the station what it is. Please listen to those who have fought to keep the morning show and solid, independent, quality news programming on KPFA. Anyone familiar with the situation recognizes that this is not primarily about money, but politics — the pacifica board and kpfa ‘listener-activists’ have a high percentage of polemical, narrow minded leftists who think only people who think like them should have programs. KPFA should be a place for independent, intelligent, free thinking and truly investigative programming (unlike programs that call themselves ‘investigative’ but always know who the bad guys are and who the good guys are, before investigating) . That’s the real issue in saving the morning show as it was before the firings.
Please join with those who support open-minded quality public affairs programming.
Bob Mason
Name: SW and EW
Subject: Support for the Morning Show
To: Amit Pendyal
We are long time listeners and supporters of KPFA. The Morning Show has been our source of local news and culture for many years. Frankly, we miss the show so much we’re considering cutting back our gifts to kpfa. We do not listen to the current Morning Mix because it lacks professionalism and does not engage us. The canceling of a successful, money generating show by Pacifica is a foolish decision. Decisions of programing should be made by the local station, not a detached Pacifica executive.
Brian Edwards Tiekert is not only a marvelous producer and host, but also the principal fund-raiser for the station. Aimee Allison’s skills and connections as a host and producer are widely recognized.
We urge you to reinstate the morning show and rehire Tiekert and Allison with the back pay that is due to them. If this is accomplished, we would be happy to once again resume our considerable gifts and participation in the pledge room and at kpfa events.
Thank you for your consideration of the listeners’ desires.
Name: DD
Subject: bring back the wonderful Morning Show please
I was astounded when I discovered one morning that the KPFA Morning Show was no longer airing. It was a bay area institution, where people turned for the first day’s news, analysis and interviews. What can you be thinking in destroying this essential program? Please reinstate it immediately. Thank you.
Name: Arinna Weisman
Subject: KPFA Morning Show
Every year I pledge money to support KPFA and feel strongly that there should be a fair and democratic process in this conflict and the morning show should be put back on the air. Thank you
Name: Dave Hart
Subject: The “New” Morning Show
I am troubled by the decline in the quality of the Morning Show over the last few weeks. I’ve simply quit listening. I will say I don’t really care for radio Al Jazeera, though it is okay, I suppose. I don’t even mind the rescheduling of Democracy Now. But the morning show is amateurish and lacks the kind of gravitas that the former hosts had in terms of the depth of questions and sense that they had done their homework before interviewing guests. It’s just weak. You need to get it fixed because those of us who have jobs and can afford to contribute to KPFA are not inspired to do so with the current Morning Show that is the primary program we listen to in the time between rising and reporting for work. The morning slot is a critical time. You can’t afford to waste that time slot.
Name: Michael Gilfillan
Subject: morning programmming
When I “discovered” KPFA online due to the “winter soldier” coverage, I really could not believe my ears! I became an avid listening member very quickly and have donated and kept my membership active ever since.
During the week I arise at 0530 for work, and almost the first thing I do is go online to my “favorites” and bring up KPFA. This gave me a half hour to wake up so I would be able to take in the news at 0600 followed by the in-depth journalism of “Democracy Now”. This was once followed by my personal favorite, “The Morning Show”, which I think of and describe as in depth analysis of significant events, both current and historic. Listening and learning has without question contributed to my personal knowledge of history, and the story behind the days headlines. As you know, such knowledge is essential for people such a myself to think, speak and act in the ways that bring hope for change, real and positive change (not to be confused with the jingoistic “hope we can believe in”).
I very much miss “The Morning Show”, and it’s hard hitting and sometimes hard to take hold-your-nose-and-swallow, it’s-good-for-you dose of precious reality.
I expect I’ll survive the absence of The Morning Show, but as I have said earlier. until this matter of the show’s cancellation is dealt with in a proper manner, respectful of the terms of the collective agreement and employees, I will no longer donate to KPFA; I will maintain my membership, so my voice will (hopefully) carry it’s proper weight.
If the cancellation of my “The Morning Show” has merit, please explain to me, as I have requested previously, why the show’s hosts were sent home with pay before the date of it’s cancellation.
As the song says “(sometimes) you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone”.
With deep respect and love, I am, US and Canadian citizen Michael Gilfillan, living small and hoping to the last for sanity to prevail.
Name: Kirk Lumpkin
Subject: Morning Show on KPFA
I am a long time member of KPFA and a supporter of the Morning Show. Not only does the termination of the Morning Show spit in the faces of the many KPFA listeners that have supported this show for years, it is extremely stupid as it has regularly been the KPFA show that has gotten the most listener donations. Pacifica’s actions are highhanded and out of synch with the democratic ideals it has espoused. Please bring back the Morning Show with its regular hosts and producers.
Name: mona jhaveri
Subject: Unfair Pacifica against KPFA
To Whom it may concern,
I think that what Pacifica is trying to do to KPFA is unconscionable. Considering Pacifica would not exist if it was not for KPFA there is NO justification for the assault on KPFA. As a long time listener I am appalled at Pacificas actions. Please cease and desist from your assault immediately. Bring the real morning show on KPFA back right now!
Name: Blair Moser
Subject: Save KPFA
KPFA’s Morning Show with Aimee Allison and Brian Edwards-Tiekert was the welcome start to my day for many years, providing up-to-the-minute news and insights on local issues that can’t be found elsewhere, and it’s one of the main reasons that I’ve been a proud supporter of KPFA for so many years.
The “new” morning news program is a sorry substitute; as a result, I no longer tune in KPFA until 10 AM, for Letters to Washington.
Pacifica seems weirdly bent on destroying the station’s best programming, in a manner that appears to be suicidal.
I have pledged my continued support based only on a full restoration of The Morning Show.
PLEASE save KPFA!!!
Name: LY
Subject: KPFA’s behavior
I am deeply disturbed by your actions since firing the Morning Show and the staff. I am now deciding whether to support your station since you are no longer listening to the public who funds you. Since the economy has hit me, I have only donated to KPFA because I feel you are crucial. I would love to financially support all but I cannot so I chose you. Please come to your senses so I can continue to support the KPFA we used to love. Thank you.
Name: Deborah Kearns
Subject: Return the Morning Show
Hello,
I have made a small monthly contribution to KPFA for two decades.
I am angry and becoming hopeless about the removal of The Morning Show.
I have valued KPFA for a very long time, but if The Morning Show is not returned soon, I will finally have to go elsewhere for thoughtful, progressive political and social coverage.
Thank you for your consideration.
Deborah Kearns
San Francisco, CA
Name: Sara Olson
Subject: Save KPFA programming
I was released in 2009 from California’s state prison system, a truly draconian world apart. I was kept in a Central Valley prison just north of Fresno. I was able to receive KPFA through Fresno State College’s Free College service. I firmly believe that KPFA programming helped not only to keep me informed but sane as well while I was incarcerated for seven years. Many of the programs I counted on for information and entertainment, especially the Morning Show, are now being axed by the station’s administration with no reasonable explanation, actions that have unfortunate resonances with the administrative ploys of those in charge of the prison in which I was kept. It never does anyone, including administrators and bureaucrats, any good trying to keep people in the dark, whether they be free or imprisoned. We always eventually find out the truth. I urge the administrators of KPFA and the Pacifica Foundation to come forward with reasons for their actions. This course of action will breed much better good will and possible support from the listening community. Continuing with the present course will only exacerbate and escalate protest.
Name: Damian I. Cano
Subject: The Morning Show
I have written previously to Arlene Englehardt asking that she restore The Morning Show, and also politely asking her to resign. It is clear that personal animus has driven her decision to cut the show. As one volunteer told me when I called in to pledge support (I have also pledged support to Save KPFA, pending restoration of TMS), “She [Englehardt] has dug in her heels.” So it would seem that she is beyond reason. I am told that a similar disastrous policy is also working toward the destruction of WBAI (AIDS deniers given prime airtime?). Please don’t let it happen here. Also, the ridiculous and hideously expensive choice to hire anti-union lawyers to defend her decisions will almost certainly cost more than the show itself. This is sheer obstinacy.
I think most listeners would rather have continuous pledge drives than to lose the show, which I believe is the best of all the news programs in Northern California, thanks to the hardworking paid and upaid staff of The Morning Show.
Please, bring back The Morning Show.
Name: Laurie Rubin
Subject: Morning Show
Please return the KPFA Morning Show with Brian Edwards Tiekert and Aimee Allyson to the air. The current Pacifica general manager and CFO should resign.
Name: CR
Subject: KPFA Morning Show, etc.
Just to let you know that I have been a supporter and fan of KPFA since approx. 1966. However, since the morning show has been changed (abruptly, at that) my husband and I no longer listen to KPFA (with the exception of Amy Goodman and we are trying Al Jazeera radio for a while). For years we awoke to Morning Show and enjoyed the different hosts and interviews, programs etc. Kris and Phillip, Andrea Lewis, and Aimee and Philip or Brian…..we miss them, and have not been inspired to listen to KPFA morning radio since Aimee and Brian were removed. After listening to Democracy Now, we change the station to KALW (97.1), our new best friend, which by the way, has become a very good station. You know that KPFA let Nicole Sawaya go and she became KALW St. Manager, turning the station around. Our loss, their gain. (the new manager there has kept the high standards going, in my opinion). Let us know if and when the old Morning Show returns and we will be listening to KPFA again.
Name: K
Subject: morning show//Mourning becomes elected
KPFA General Manager,
You are here for us, not for the hacks at Pacifica. What did they do to earn the right to alienate so many loyal listeners? What kind of whack-job takes $90,000 + per year doing the work many of us could do and would do for far far less, and, at the least, given the nature of the financial crisis and the acrimony that has resulted from their moves, be as ‘competent’. Is it because they had the motivation to run and so many of us don’t. Geez, that sure is a justification for why they can do a crappy job with impunity. I guess it was a way to save the Pacifica board’s salaries.
Hey, firing the morning show staff was ridiculous. Please, undo the stupidity done by someone who is clueless, but has the tact to get elected to a cush job. Save the probing reporting on local, national, and international issues; on homelessness, on labor, on peace, on justice, on the economy… Most of all, save the process of democracy, of doing things from the bottom up. This is a local issue (meaning the listeners and the local station) – the Pacifica board has overstepped. I guess they are taking their clues to popular democracy from Citizens United.
Name: Scott Smith
Subject: Listener supported radio
I have been a KPFA supporter and volunteer for more than 10 years, and have seen much drama at Pacifica. I perhaps naively believed that this era of undemocratic practices at Pacifica was done. Alas, the latest episode of canceling The Morning Show, one of the most listened to and biggest fundraiser at KPFA, demostrates that some hold overs from the Bush era Pacifica takeover attempt are still operating at the Pacifica National Board. I certainly hope that the staff and you as the new general manager will resist these dictatorial decisions that undermine local control of programing. My household will no longer donate any money or time to this beloved station until this matter is resolved equitably. After all, without the listeners, KPFA will cease to exist at all.
Name: Ronald M Nagata
Subject: The Morning Show
I wake up with KFCF 88.1 Fresno to the 6 am version of al Jazeera and the Morning show. Unfortunately, it does little to replace the famed Morning Show with Aimee and Brian. The new show at the beginning who first replaced them was a show out of KPFK. That was OK and I quite liked it, but really it lacked more regional news connected to the BayArea and even Fresno. I have much more connections with the Bay Area so it kept me in touch with the local activities. I’ll have to say, but not to disparage any of those who are working freely for the Morning Show slot, and I praise them for that. Somehow we need to get Aimee and Brian back. They really gave life to their show and even If I am a small time contributor, I would like, when our economy comes back, to see them back. Strangely, I was a listener back in the 70’s to KPFA (KFCF) during the Vietnam war protests, but actually started back in listen to KPFA when the War in Iraq started. We would receive little newspapers from your station in the Vietnam War days. I really never thought war could be such a motivation to listening to such a show, but it is changing the face of the Central Valley. As I am surrounded by Ditto heads. I strongly promote that these folks get a more well rounded version of our history and suggest that they listen to KPFA. Generally that doesn’t happen, but the young hardly listen to their parents and attitudes are changing the face of the San Joaquin Valley. The most powerful radio station that pushes the right wing agenda (KMJ radio), is very well financed. Sadly, as I point out continually to my friends in the Bay Area, that they live in a progressive bubble. That bubble is slowly pushing into areas into the Valley were it is sorely needed.
Name: Lynn Feinerman
Subject: MORNING SHOW
Hello,
I am given to understand that since the KPFA Morning Show was removed from the air in November, listeners have generously pledged over $55,000 to rehire the hosts and bring it back to KPFA’s airwaves via SaveKPFA’s PLEDGE TO RESTORE THE MORNING SHOW.
So why’s Pacifica’s national board ordered the network’s CFO to file a complaint with the California attorney general’s office over SaveKPFA’s fundraising? This is really undermining our station. I feel that the entire episode with the MORNING SHOW has been simply an effort to sabotage our news.
Lynn Feinerman
Listener Sponsor
Producer, WOMEN RISING/MAKING CONTACT
Name: Rick and Roz Cobb
Subject: morning show
Please Please bring back Aimee and Brian and the wonderful informative morning show…We love Amy Goodman and Democracy Now.. but do not like the Morning Mix…very unprofessional and amatuerish…The Morning show along with Democracy now are the two best shows on radio.. Now that the Morning Show has been cancelled we hardly listen to KPFA after Democracy Now is over…and will not contribute to the station…You are ruining your station and credibility please reinstate this show with the original hosts…..thank you
Name: Lois Roberts
Subject: New General Manager
Dear GM: good luck on your new assignment. I have been interested and a listener since 1984, also a volunteen for marathons. I have followed the many vicissitudes of power within the government of the station and do hope you will be able to bring everyone to the table , as they say.
Some of the power politicos in the online letter I just read on this site are people I know and have agreed with on other things. I have not been active lately so have to just listen to others, but do hope the station can come out of the recent conflict invigorated and in fairness to the fired employees.
Name: Christophe Kreis
Subject: Morning Show
I, together with my wife, contribute whatever I can to the fund drives during the course of a year. However, I will not contribute any money directly to KPFA until the Morning Show is re-instituted. This bothers me a lot because I need KPFA and KPFA needs my financial support. But, I feel that Pacifica and possibly the KPFA management are acting irrationnally (seems to a national trend in the US- like repealing the health bill in Congress).
To show Pacifica and the KPFA management how disappointed I am with their programming decision, I am doubling my pledge to SaveKPFA (from $100 to $200).
By the way, I don’t need Al-Jazeera and DemocracyNow in the morning when I can get them elsewhere (they are excellent programs but in the wrong time slot). I need a local program with a national and international outlook. That was the genius of the Morning Show.
Name: Siddika Angle
Subject: Morning Show
For heaven’s sake, this is a no-brainer. The Morning Show is a KPFA anchor program, something like a big box store at a shopping mall. It’s local. It’s interesting and diverse. I used to listen every day. It’s how I knew what was happening of interest in our local progressive community. It’s early enough that most working people can listen and stay in touch.
Why in the world would Pacifica cancel the show? It makes no sense at all. Without the Morning Show, I find I don’t listen to KPFA anymore. When I tuned in to the MS, it set the tone for the day and I found myself listening at various intervals. These days I go to progressive web sites on my computer instead or listen to KALW. You’re losing me, and that’s just the way it is. No threats but the truth is, if the Morning Show is gone for good, I probably am too.
Name: Nancy Coulombe
Subject: KPFA Morning show Cancellation
I am very disappointed in the cancellation of the Morning Show as well as the time change of Democracy Now. It seems that I am not getting the News I have helped fund. I support all employees and other listeners that are fighting to restore the morning schedule. This move stinks of politics. I’m in favor of removing the Board Members involved in this change. I am a very UNHAPPY contributor, listener, and supporter of Democracy and public radio.
Name: Vlad Popescu
Subject: Pacifica Morning Show
Dear General Manager,
The Morning Show with Aimee Allison and Brian Edwards-Tiekert is the only KPFA show which I listen to with regularity. It kept me informed with local and international events better than any other show on KPFA. I particularly liked the format which allowed enough time for in depth discussion and coverage of the issues. Aimee and Brian were doing a fantastic job. I felt that their questions elicited very informative responses from the people being interviewed and they are one of my primary reasons for tuning in to the show every day.
Please restore the morning show with Aimee and Brian. I refuse to make donations during fund drives otherwise. Thank you.
Name: Barrie Ann Mason
Subject: Morning Show
I support SaveKPFA and the return of Aimee Allison and Brian E-T to a professionally done Morning Show. Their knowledge of civic issues, skill at interviewing, and professional contacts make a MUCH better program than the current voluteer efforts. I hope that when they return it will be a 2 hour program again. You can take a poll on how to arrange Amy Goodman and Al Jazera.
Name: cheryl kozanitas
Subject: Morning Show
Dear Amit Pandyal:
I miss the Morning Show. The hosts were consistently very strong and clear. The show replacing it sometimes is not. I think it is only fair to follow the rules of the union contract. How can a people’s radio station not abide by the contract? Who is this Engelhart person anyway and how does she have the nerve to step on our station?
I’ve been a supporter for over 25 years, and I did contribute recently but under duress due to the treatment of the Morning Show hosts. I want them back on the air- pronto!
Also, I do like the addition of Aljazeera English, but what’s with so much music on a news show?? The tune is even nice, but it plays too much!! Less music, more news during the morning rush hours. And I want Democracy Now! back at 6:00 AM. Put Aljazeera at 7:00 AM.
But mostly, I feel like two of my favorite hosts have been robbed from me, and I’m still supposed to pledge to KPFA?
It’s much harder to pledge with this situation. It makes me think someone is trying to turn KPFA into a corporate station.
Sincerely, Cheryl Kozanitas
Name: TM
Subject: The Morning Show
Dear KPFA general manager–
As you may be aware, your listening audience wants The Morning Show restored, as it was last October with Brian Edwards-Tiekert and Aimee Allison as co-hosts. I have found this program to be the most interesting on the air, anywhere (having lived in six large metropolitan areas). The level of discourse is broad and deep, and I am impressed with the knowledge that both Brian and Aimee bring to the subjects. The subjects are relevant, informative and important.
Democracy Now continues to be a superior program, and pairs beautifully with The Morning Show.
I want KPFA to thrive and serve its listeners with the best programming possible. The Morning Show is indispensable. I am a member, and I will increase my support if The Morning Show is restored.
Thank you.
Name: Doris Smith
Subject: The new Morning Show
To the KPFA General Manager and Pacifica:
Although I contributed to the recent fund drive out of my love and loyalty to the greatest radio station in the world, I can honestly tell you that it has made me almost physically ill to try and listen at the Morning Show time slot because it is no longer the best KPFA show, my favorite source of information and news, in the hands of the most competent team KPFA has had since I began listening in 1970. Aimee and Brian have a combined heart and intelligence that can’t be beat. They can interview anybody. Not that I begrudge any of the current hosts and guests–I can tell that they are heartfelt in what they bring to us by way of local programming. But they just don’t have it for that time slot. I’m sorry. I have a discriminating ear and think of myself as a compassionate person, and they just don’t measure up to the Bay Area audience’s expectations–certainly not mine. I really don’t know what I will do in future if this doesn’t stop. To be honest, I can feel myself losing interest in the station. I don’t turn on the radio early in the morning now, whereas before, it was on from 6 or 7 oclock for about 12 hours whenever I was near a radio. You might say I was obsessed with being connected with truth telling and world music. Now, even when I listen to some of my other favorite programs–Democracy Now, Letters & Politics, World Music, C.S. Sung (sp?), Herbal Highway, Hard Knock, Flashpoints– it’s a bittersweet experience, and I wonder why they should exist when the best program of them all can not. Please listen to us–don’t play politics with our station. It is frightening that it is happening here of all places, and if it continues I fear I may really lose interest, and that would break my heart. I’m 76 on limited fixed income, but I’m willing to keep myself in debt in perpetuity for KPFA. What is Pacifica willing to sacrifice for us? Thank you.
Name: Terri Anderson
Subject: KPFA Morning Show
I so greatly miss the Morning Show, with Aimee and Brian. Used to listen most mornings. Have not listened since they were removed and will not return until the show is restored as it was. Needless to say, my donations will also cease until it returns.
Name: Katherine Oberle
Subject: The Morning Show
Dear Amit Pendyal,
Congratulations on your new position as general manager of KPFA. As a long-time listener and supporter of KPFA, I would like you to know that I am extremely disappointed that the Morning Show was cancelled and its hosts, Aimee Allison and Brian Edwards-Tieckert, were laid off. The volunteers who have stepped are doing the best job they can, but they cannot take the place of the professional hosts of the Morning Show, who were able to obtain interviews with national, as well as local, political figures and academics. In addititon, Pacifica’s handling of the matter has alienated union members and supporters alike.
As much as I love KPFA, I cannot condone Pacifica’s actions. As a result, I will not be able to offer further financial support to KPFA until the Morning Show is restored with Allison and Edwards-Tiekert at the helm.
I wish you the best of luck in your new position.
Katherine Oberle
Attorney
Oakland
Name: Sandy King
Subject: KPFA Morning Show
Dear Sir:
I deeply miss the Morning Show as it existed prior to last November. I was shocked the day I turned to listen and discovered Amy and Brian were gone! They are superb at news interviews and are trusted local voices.
Over the last few months, I have checked in to see what is happening on the new Morning Show. The quality of programming is at best uneven. When the show originated in Los Angeles it didn’t show any concern for listeners outside their local area. For example, one day one of the hosts mentioned something occurring in Clovis and the host actually said, “Where is Clovis, actually?” How professional is that? Speakers and other local events were totally focused on the LA area as well. I miss the local angle previously a part of the Morning Show format.
Then there was the disastrous time period when various KPFA Board Members tried to step into the gap. Bless their hearts but they were awful– awkward and uncomfortable in front of the microphone.
Please consider the concerns of the the KPFA loyal listeners of the Morning Show and restore its previous hosts, Brian and Amy.
Sincerely,
Sandy King
Lafayette, CA
Name: Lynne Portnoy
Subject: Morning Show
Please don’t let the wonderful Morning Show be lost. I just don’t understand why this is happening. Many of Morning Shows’ faithful fans will pledge cold cash to keep the show AND the hosts we love.
Please negotiate to fix this situation in favor of the listener community.
Thanks,
Lynne Portnoy
Name: Susan Lynn
Subject: Listener feedback concerningThe MorningShow
I welcome you as the new General Manager of KPFA. I have been a member for what seems like forever and though I listen to a variety of programing it is the Morning Show that has always been most important to me. The new format leaves me so cold and disinterested that for the first time in more than 35 years I am no longer tuning in. I tried. I really did, as I appreciate the financial situation the station faces. I also appreciate the efforts of the revolving volunteer hosts, but it simply is not working. The news is important to me and I am totally dependent on the analysis of issues the staff from the days of Phillip and Kris to Amy and Brian have always provided. That is what lead me to join in the first place and has kept me a regular member, even when changes to my bottom line forced me to give up many of my other nonprofit program donations. Please return the Morning Show to its original format, before people like me lose total interest in what is being offered and let our subscriptions lapse.
Name: William Ray Yeager
Subject: I liked the old morning show . . .
. . . And have pledged $200 on the condition that the original staff is re-hired. Please honor the community consensus.
Kind Regards,
William Ray Yeager
Petaluma
Name: IB
Subject: KPFA Morning Show
As a long-time listener, I am deeply disturbed by the elimination of the Morning Show and the harassment of the SaveKPFA volunteers who are trying to save truly progressive radio. I don’t listen to the Morning Show any more. Please bring back the Morning Show and stop acting like the union-busters the KPFA has long fought against!
Name: L. Darlene Pratt
Subject: Staff changes
I remain distressed with the current changes at KPFA. I am also distressed at the dissension and the lack of transparency. How do we “preach” a fair and just world/politics/govt. when we cannot, ourselves, achieve that?
It also grieves me that some friends and colleagues agree with the current firings and the removal of the Morning Show. As I pondered our differences, it seems that we have very different views of what is needed to keep our station/network viable. My hunch is that they believe we need “grassroots” programming that does not need to be professional. I strongly disagree.
I want a professional station. I believe that is what is needed if we are to have a national reputation, if we are to be heard, if we want to expand our listener base. I want a station that has producers/hosts who can claim a Pulitzer Prize. I want a station with an experienced staff who can carry off a program of high quality, like “The Winter Soldier Project”. I also believe that what I want is what is needed. Only time will tell.
Before the “purge” we had a good mix of professionals and volunteers, a mix of professional and grassroots. Unfortunately, at KPFA many people seem to want a “piece of the pie”, but I do not donate money so everyone who wants a show gets one. This is not 1970 and it is not Humboldt County. We are in an important urban area and we need excellent programming. Without this, we will not succeed. Perhaps for those who want all volunteer/grassroots programming this is okay. Without any money for paid staff, they will get their wish! But our influence in changing the political climate will cease to exist.
I do not even believe the station needs to be a “democracy”, it is a RADIO STATION!. Yes, it should operate with democratic principles, but it first and foremost needs to be a class radio station. Even those who seem to believe it is a “democracy” do not seem to living up to their pronouncements. If they were, they would consider the voices calling for the return of the Morning Show. If they were following democratic principles, they would not support arbitrary decisions which may not be in the best interests of the station or of the majority of it’s listeners.
If the programming continues to deteriorate, my grief will deepen and my donations will decrease. Please return Brian and Aimee and the Morning Show staff. As I understand it, funds have been pledged to pay for the show for many months.
L. Darlene Pratt (listener/supporter)
Name: Silke Jork Valentine
Subject: Morning Show
Dear Mr. Amit Pendyal
Since 6 years I am a KPFA listener and supporter, I come from Germany and as a true lefty this is the Radio station to inform and connect myself . I love the spirit of KPFA and get a lot of inspirations out of it.
The last move from Arlene Engelhardt to lay off the staff of the morning show
is very concerning to me and represents not only bad politics but although a bad spirit. I am wondering now what the Pacifica Board stands for. I hope for the restoring of the Morning Show and the reverse of the direction Arlene Engelhardt took. As a member of KPFA I ask you as our General Manager to take action, please do all you can to negotiate with Pacifica in this terms.
May we all work together for true democracy.
Thank you and bless your heart
Silke
Name: EDW
Subject: Morning Show
Dear Mr. Pendyal,
I am writing to request that you reinstate the Morning Show on KPFA. If indeed it pays for itself through successful fund-raising, then it should be allowed to continue.
I am a long time listener to the station and enjoyed listening to the new hosts of the program. They captured a more youthful view that is missing from the station.
I wish you the best in these difficult times and hope that a peaceful and just resolution is reached. You can count on my continued financial support as long as I continue to agree with the philosophy of the station: Local programming and local control.
Name: Nina Sprecher
Subject: morning show
Many have already fully expressed my disappointment ( to put it mildly!) at the dismantling of KPFA’s excellent morning show–the injustice, the fiscal folly, and the loss to listeners. I only want to add that I have been an avid listener for 30 years. Now, I listen to Amy Goodman, of course, and to Letters and Politics, and have quiet time from 8-9am.
While I am fine with quiet time, please bring back our morning show!
Name: PE
Subject: Grieving Over The Pending Death Of KPFA
1/21/11 To The General Manager:
The only thing that gives me hope anymore that KPFA isn’t going down like the Berkeley Coops is when I receive the SAVE KPFA email bulletins. But the longer this stalemate goes on, the more discouraged I become. I absolutely refuse to be tricked into listening to the 6am and 7am filler programs. The few times that I accidentally turned on the 8am show, I thought it was pathetic, and immediately turned it off. I only turn KPFA on in the mornings at 9 and 10. If Brian and Aimee aren’t returned, I am now seriously considering withdrawing my monthly contribution. I have pledged a larger monthly amount to SAVE KPFA.
We prevented KPFA from being sabotaged by Pacifica in 1999, but this current crop of saboteurs, particularly Engelhardt and Rosenberg, have imposed their insidious station-killing agenda in a fashion reminiscent of Cointelpro infiltrators.
My heart has been broken ever since this political coup shattered our beloved station in November.
I hope you’re not in cahoots with these spoilers.
From: Tyler James Lee
Subject: local control
When I voted in the last local board election I thought it meant something: now I see that the local board has no authority to run it’s own station. At what point did KPFA lose autonomy to such a degree? What can be done about it, if anything?
BTW, I don’t like the changes at all, especially when we have yesterdays Al Jazeera (which repeats itself at least three times each broadcast) in place of a vibrant and relevant Morning Show!
Name: Wakean Maclean
Subject: morning show
Hi, Please do what you can to restore the Morning show as it was a very popular and insightful program – the replacement show is very much less professional and on target, won’t grow our audience or mission I think. Questions of seniority in firing and the budget have been addressed by the Save KPFA folks and need to be dealt with!
Name: Allan Fisher
Subject: save morning show
Please restore the morning show with Brian and Aimee. I always listened to them. Thanks.
Allan
Name: carolyn cobb
Subject: bring back the morning show!
I am a long time listener and supporter…I have also pledged an additional $50 toward bringing back the morning show full time paid staff.
why would you get rid of these programmers when they brought in the highest amount of pledges!!??
the new morning people are not nearly as good, i often turn them off…i will never contribute during their pledge drives.
Name: Jan Boudart
Subject: the Morning Show
I don’t know how the Morning Show got cut. I live in Chicago and I accessed it on my computer because I liked it so much. Losing Andrea Lewis was a blow, but it is unconscionable to eliminate the whole show. It can only be for political reasons, which are, of course why I liked the show.
Name: John Erhart
Subject: Keep KPFA Morning Show
It appears that the Morning Show, in addition to be an important feature of Pacifica for listeners in the Bay Area, is capable of generating enough financial support to pay for itself. Please restore The Morning Show.
Name: FH, Ph.D.
Subject: Restore local control to KPFA, Morning Show
The unwarranted intrusion of the Pacifica Board into local KPFA staffing, programming, and funding has been outrageous. KPFA should restore Aimee Allison and Brian to the Morning Show immediately and KPFA should initiate a recall or impeachment campaign against the Pacifica Board chair for her incomprehensible stupidity in scuttling our most successful fundraising team on KPFA. A separate and locally controlled funding mechanism should be instituted to insulate KPFA against future interference by Pacifica.
Name: Erik Hoffman
Subject: Rehire Morning Show Hosts
I miss Aimee Allison and Brian Edwards-Teikert. The new “Morning Mix” has been a hit and miss hodge-podge of OK to pretty poor interviewing, with many “ums,” and “ahs.” Both Aimee and Brian come in really well prepared, and ask question that get to the depths of the topics they pursue.
Please accept Save KPFA’s fundraising money, and bring back a really great Morning program.
Thank you,
~Erik Hoffman
Name: Lawrence Abbott
Subject: morning show
I miss my local morning show. I need and want my local morning show back. It was the best of KPFA.
Lawrence Abbott- member
Name: Lee Block
Subject: Bring back the Morning Show
I have pledged $600 through the SAVE KPFA effort to bring back the Morning Show. Given the Pacifica National Board’s on-going obstreperous response to this sincere effort to bring back a popular program, as I’ve stated previously, I will not donate another dime to KPFA until the Morning Show is restored (I’ve donated over $2000 over the last five years).
Sincerely,
Lee C. Block
Name: Daniel del Solar
Subject: Listener/Supporter Programming Input: Morning Show
So as a friendly support to insure high quality staff for the morning show…which is now a nice experiment but NOT radio that will fundraise well…
Please give every consideration to the positive opportunities to build bridges to an important segment of the KPFA supporters, and profit at the same time.
I have been a Pacifica volunteer and contributor for over 30 years.
Daniel del Solar
Name: CC
Subject: bring back Aimee and Brian
The substitute morning show is pathetic. It is well intentioned, but there is no coherence, no real capable attention to public affairs – its just filling the air. And doing so poorly. Before, I could proudly share programs and promote KPFA to my friends and colleagues. But not now. I have devoted many years of work in support of and raised or donated many thousands of dollars for KPFA but I am ashamed of what Pacifica is doing. Again.
Please do whatever you can to support the return of the Morning Show and Brian and Aimee and I am sure you will be pleased at the support it will bring to the station and its mission.
The professionalism and abilities of Brian and Aimee to entertain and inspire were the best part of KPFA! Bring them back!
Name: Art Weller
Subject: Mourning Show
I’m in mourning for the Morning Show. The Morning Mix is a very weak substitute. I reduced my annual donation by 2/3 because the Morning show was 2/3 of my KPFA listening time.
I’ve pledged to reinstate the 2/3 through Save KPFA if the Morning Show is returned to the air. If the show is not returned to the air, I’ll have to give serious thought as to whether the two or three hours I listen to the weekend music programs is worth the $100 I donated in 2010.
Bring back the Morning Show!
Name: Berkeley Native
Subject: Ulterior Motives
The elimination of the morning show and other factors may be a plot by the B.O.D. or others to destroy KPFA from within so it can be sold to commercial interests. There are reports that the KUSF broadcast license, transmitter, etc., in the non-commercial part of the FM band, was just sold for $3.75 million. KPFA is a plum in the middle of the commercial part off the FM dial, with the best possible coverage of the SF bay area. I have even read that they own their transmitter site. Imagine what that would be worth. Tens of millions at least. Just the sales commission would make somebody rich. If you want to “save” KPFA the entire Pacifica board and top management should be sacked. Good luck with that.
Name: Susan Sico
Subject: Morning Show
Please bring back KPFA’s Morning Show with Aimee Allison and Brian Edwards-Tiekert. It was a great show and I really enjoyed listening to it. Both Aimee and Brian are top-notch professionals. I do not tune in to the show you have on now from 8 to 9 in the morning because when I first listened to it, I found it to be a really unprofessional and pathetic attempt at a morning show and I thought the hosts were boring.
Thank you,
Susan Sico
P.S. Between last year and the year before I donated $325.00 to KPFA. I will not donate any more money until the station sets aside the stupid politics and gets back to the business of news.
Name: Susan Bradford
Subject: the new Morning Show
Dear Amit [KPFA general manager],
I listened to you today and thought you sounded very fair-minded, humble, inclusive and willing to work with the KPFA team. I have been a member for many years, I have heard many hosts of the morning show come and go, and I enjoyed them all but none have been as good as Brian and Aimee. The show was brought to a level of excellence by them that was never seen before. Now (no offense to anyone) the show isn’t worth listening to, it’s pathetic. KPFA has been seriously undermined and perhaps it’s best show has been destroyed. I don’t know what political plays were happening but Arlene Englehart came in as an outsider and ruined our community station. I would like to see her fired.
I won’t contribute to KPFA fund-drives anymore, I will only contribute to KPFA benefits ( meaning I only want my money to go directly to KPFA) as long as Pacifica screws up my station. Since enough money has now been raised by separate listener fundraising to hire Brian and Aimee back for the rest of the fiscal year, if that doesn’t happen it will be very clear that some kind of stinky business is happening here. Lew Hill would be so ashamed of the Pacifica Board.
Please bring Aimee and Brian back and thus the high quality, worth listening to Morning Show back. Thank you.
Name: KLP
Subject: restore the Morning Show
Dear Mr. Amit Pendyal,
Thank you for asking for the input of the people who put KPFA on the air. I have previously written expressing my disgust & frustration with the firing of the morning show hosts & disbanding the show. In short, I do not listen to KPFA in the morning at all anymore. I listen to Amy Goodman from her website on my computer from 6 to 7, then I listen to NPR on my commute to work. I gave the new programming a chance, but I do not want to listen to a chopped up version of a show from southern CA. I want Aimee & Brian back with the type of programming the did – BECAUSE THERE WAS NO REASON TO LET THEM GO IN THE FIRST PLACE. When this first happened, I vowed that I would not support KPFA financially at all until the morning show was returned. I realize that Save KPFA is asking for our contributions, but the politics just anger me so much that I still refuse. I used to give upwards of $100 to $300 a year to KPFA. I will not give another cent until the politics is at least under control & reason is restored. Why shouldn’t the public be the ones to decide what they listen to? Well, they are & it has happened. We are not listening like we used to & the only reason that anyone is giving is to restore programming that makes sense…. NOT just because we like certain people or have gotten used to them or don’t like Sojourner Truth. The previous format was effective, educational, inspirational — & I am one of them who would like to have it back. Please do the right thing. This should not be about politics or saving face. This should be about getting the most critical, effective information out to the Bay Area, FROM the Bay Area. Thank you for your time & consideration.
Name: Marian Cruz
Subject: Morning Show
I have been a faithful contributor and listener to KPFA for 25 years. I was very disturbed when the Morning Show was taken off the air. I continue listening to KPFA, but many of my friends are so upset, they refuse to, because of the decision by Pacifica to remove the show.
I urge you to have the Morning Show back on the air.
Marian Cruz
Hollister, CA
Name: PK
Subject: Bring back the Morning Show, Aimee, and Brian
I have stopped listening to KPFA in the a.m. since the Morning Show hosts were removed. And since I no longer listen, I am much less motivated to continue my financial support.
We need the excellent programming that was taken away, and I hope to hear it again very soon!
Name: Armand Der-Hacobian
Subject: Get the morning show going
Arlene,
As the manager of KPFA I am asking you to rehire the hosts of the morning show now that there is enough money from donation.
I turn around Silicon valley businesses around for a living and canceling the morning show is business sucide. It is one of the best programs. The quality of the morning program is terrible now and I wait for Amy Goodman to come on and listen to KQED.
I certainly understand why people think that your decision is politically motivated because it simply does not make business sense. If you want to turn KPFA around, you should re-hire the hosts and focus on fundraising. I will help/KPFA management you turn the station around , pro-bono. KPFA is one of the best radio stations in the country and reasonable people should put differences aside, unite and help turn around the station.
Name: Susan Chacin
Subject: Support for the Morning Show
I have been a loyal supporter of KPFA for years, but it was hard for me to pledge in the last fund drive. The unilateral action of Pacifica national office in eliminating the Morning Show as we have known it came as a shock. I was particularly distressed because the CWA local representing the paid staff had presented an alternative budget that seems to have been dismissed without much consideration. The Morning Show substitutes are unsatisfactory replacements for the show as it existed. It is even more disturbing to hear that precious resources might be wasted in a legal battle against those who are trying to help support the station. Please don’t add insult to injury by threatening a lawsuit against Save Pacifica. It would be very unwise.
Name: Saraswathi Devi
Subject: Morning Show
As a listener-sponsor since 1967, I treasure KPFA. I am concerned that these odd decisions on the part of Pacifica rescently are diminishing KPFA’s ability to do the important work it does. In particular, I am deeply concerned about the lay-off of the Morning Show hosts. Aimee Allison and Brian Edwards Tickertt are top notch, sophisticated journalists that Bay Area progressives rely on, not to mention that the show is the station’s biggest money maker.
Please assure that the $55,000 raised to return this program to the air waves and keep it there for the current fiscal year be used as such.
What has happened to the Pacifica Foundation?
Saraswathi Devi
Berkeley
Name: Charlene Woodcock
Subject: Reinstate our Morning Show
The decision by Arlene Englehardt to terminate one of the most-listened-to programs on KPFA, in defiance of the wishes of subscribers, is an intolerable attack on our station. She has no business making such decisions that result in the loss of financial support of listeners who value the professional work of Brian Edwards-Tiekert and Aimee Allison. We don’t want this excellent local program replaced by volunteers. I have supported KPFA for years on a monthly basis, but I have discontinued my monthly contribution until the Morning Show is returned. I am very angry that one of the most important programs, for which I offer financial support, has been unilaterally terminated. KPFA workers proposed less destructive ways to address the budget problems. It is time our station be returned to us, the listener-supporters
Name: evo bluestein
Subject: new morning show
so sad. i don’t listen anymore. bring back aimee and brian.
Name: Barbara Dane
Subject: Morning show
I am a listener, programmer and guest of KPFA, KPFK and WBAI over the course of their existence, since the early 1950s. I am 83 years old now, and never dreamed that I would see the Pacifica management act in such a self-defeating manner as it has in the matter of the Morning Show. You need to resolve this matter speedily and transparently, restoring the show and allowing the real owners of the station (the listeners) to have what they have faithfully supported and forcefully requested. Otherwise, you need to be replaced.
Name: Rosanne Liggett
Subject: mourning show
I am a long time KPFA subscriber and listener and find it extremely grievous that all this in-fighting is happening. The work atmosphere must be horrendously difficult. I loved the Morning Show and support its return with the original people but was surprised to learn from Save KPFA that the Morning Mix is now a source of contention. Not following all the details of what is going on, hoping sanity would prevail and everyone would sort things out, I thought it was good that volunteers and staff members were putting on a local morning program instead of broadcasting the program from the LA station. It does not bode well for staff members and supporters of KPFA to be fighting each other. Don’t destroy what you are trying to save! Maybe the guidance of a Non-Violent Communications facilitator would be useful now. Breathe deeply.
Name: KD
Subject: the morning show
I am VERY disappointed wit the “new morning show”. I have been donating to KPFA for ten years and the majority of my money has gone to the morning show because of its programming. I have stopped listening to the morning show since the lay offs Amiee and Brian. Please pay attention to your listeners!!!!!!!
kathy deRosas
Name: David Ellis
Subject: Restore The Morning Show!
The “New Morning Show,” though well intentioned from volunteers, is simply inadequate! Bring back Amy and Brian! Except for sampling, I’ve stopped listening to “The New MOURNING Show!
Name: Cheryl Buckingham
Subject: the morning show
Dear Mr. Pendyal:
As a longtime listener and supporter of KPFA I am writing to express my disappointment that The Morning Show with Aimee Allison and Brian Edwards-Tiekert has not been reinstated. It was the one program on KPFA that I made a point of always tuning in to and I miss it greatly.
Please put it back on the air, as it was before last November, as soon as possible.
Thank you.
Name: Roxanna Marinak
Subject: KPFA Morning News
It is a Huge Disappointment to no longer have the Original KPFA Morning News
at least an hour of it.
I have attempted to listen to what has replaced it and sad to say it does not hold my interest.
I still support KPFA but no longer bring myself to bother to listen to your morning news…
This is sad that KPFA removed one of the most exciting programs you had.
Name: James Koiss, MD FAAEM
Subject: Mourning the morning show
It brings in triple what it costs to produce and you cancel it. What kind of business sense is this?
IT APPEARS YOU ARE IN THE PROCESS OF DISEMBOWELING PACIFICA. MY FUTURE DONATIONS NOW GO TO COUNTER YOUR ACTIONS NOT SUPPORT THEM.
Name: Daniel Oxenhandler
Subject: Bring Back the Morning Show
Dear Amit,
I just wanted to add my brief thoughts to the chorus of disgruntled listeners regarding the recent layoffs and programming changes at KPFA. I have been a listener and supporter of KPFA for over 20 years. I especially value the news and public affairs programming, and the Morning Show is the one program that I most frequently listen to. I think Aimee and Brian were doing a great job, and I would like to see them return to their regular slot. I have checked out the new volunteer produced efforts, and I am not interested. So you have basically lost a listener. I understand finances is an issue, but as the Morning Show more than supports itself, it seems like cuts should be made somewhere else.
Best regards, ~Daniel
Name: Maribeth Halloran
Subject: Morning Show
Please bring back the Morning Show & its brilliant newscasters. The present substitute is not worth listening to. I am a long time listener and supporter, but this attack on quality newscasting has sent me searching for a substitute. I still listen to Amy Goodman, but before her show, listen (and support) news from another station.
Name: SB
Subject: The KPFA Morning Show….
Please bring back the OLD Morning Show with Aimee Allison and company. The new Morning Show is lame by comparison. It makes no sense to listeners to overthrow the most popular and highest fund-generating show on KPFA airwaves.
Name: Anne Wayman
Subject: Morning Show etc.
Please, take our pledges, make good use of them and return the Morning Show to KPFA – demonstrate good faith along with some justice and restore peace. Please.
Name: Jonel Larson
Subject: Restore the Morning Show
Do what is right and bring back the Morning Show. The listening and contributing community has clearly expressed itself. Don’t let a misguided faction rule our station.
Thank you, Jonel Larson and David Wirt
Name: Tim Brand
Subject: morning show
I am not happy with the new morning show and I want the old one back. I have been contributing $100/month for years and I am beginning to wonder if this is the best use of my money.
Name: Susan Hayase
Subject: KPFA Morning show substitute
Dear KPFA General Manager,
I have listened to the all-volunteer Morning Show a number of times now and have been disappointed. I now listen to a commercial station during my commute. The all-volunteer show no longer has as broad a focus (I’m one of many KPFA listeners who does not reside in Berkeley) and the local activists you have interviewed at great length cannot hold my interest for the amount of time allotted to them. Although very appropriate for other time slots, the type of micro-local programming you are presenting as the Morning Show is not appropriate for the prime time commute. Because of the local, micro activist focus and the in-group tone this kind of programming quality is not attractive or useful to people who are not local Berkeley activists. Features that tended to broaden listeners’ knowledge such as David Bacon’s section on labor are missing. I remember when KPFA first started covering San Jose and other areas in the Bay Area which marked a real advance in KPFA’s reach and relevance. Now, it seems that KPFA has retreated back to Berkeley and the limited number of people already known personally by the staff.
KPFA’s bandwidth is being wasted on a project of amateur quality. Please restore the high quality professional programming of the Morning Show with Brian and Aimee.
Name: GW
Subject: Save KPFA
Gen manager,
KPFA is going downhill. I’m only continuing my monthly donation for a while, while I wait to see if something gets done about it. I’m thinking of deleting my donation to you and giving it to Democracy Now, which along with Free Speech TV and Link are now the only news media that are worth anything.
You Start at 6 am now with Al Jazeera English, which is no better than CNN. Al Jazeera in Arabic tells what’s happening, but the English version is not just a translation it’s just another kiss up to the US Empire news media. You guys are not stupid, you have to know this. Thank god you still have Democracy Now, C.S. Song, and Guns and Butter. Your other programing is lacking too. I hardly listen anymore.
Why??? I can’t believe you are also being bought off!! I’ll keep giving for a while, but if you don’t get back to being a legitimate voice of the people, dedicated to helping educate us in this “dumbing down” period, I’m going to cancel and help the real voices of truth, who are really suffering in need of money, but are not willing to sell out, and be part of the hypocritical, lying “news” media.
I support the “Save KPFA” group. Bring back Allison and Tiekert for the morning show. Become ethical again.
Name: Marsha Dawson
Subject: the “new” morning show
This is difficult. I don’t have names, just the new voices I hear. Most of the time I have to turn the channel during that time, after Democracy Now. The nice girl with the voice that sounds like she’s having trouble breathing and is deep and raspy–I’ve tried to adjust but can’t seem to. I know she’s trying. Then I’ll tune in and think I’m on a jazz station with another female announcer basically talking smoothly and quickly with music constantly playing in the background. She very sing songey, again trying, but not coming through as someone to be taken seriously. These two are the best — the others, well I would just sound to mean to tell you what it’s like to listen to them. You must already be aware of how they sound. You are losing listeners by the droves. Pacifica made a very stupid move.
Name: Suzanne Korey
Subject: morning show
As a long time listener to KPFA I no longer tune into your station for news and information in the morning – I go to KALW. Are you in the business of driving away your listeners? If so you are doing a good job of bringing down a good program and a good station. Is this what you were selected to do?
Name: CJS
Subject: BRING BACK MORNING SHOW
I miss the morning show that was taken off the air. The replacement show is not adequate. I have stopped listening since the change. Please bring back the old professional format. Thank you.
Name: DALLAS SACHER
Subject: THE MORNING SHOW
Mr. Pendyal,
I have been a faithful listener and financial contributor to KPFA for many years. The decision to eliminate the Morning Show (as hosted by Mr. Tiekert and Ms. Allison) is truly inexplicable to me. The quality of the show was excellent. In addition, it is my understanding that the show was a prolific fundraiser for the station.
In all candor, the present “Morning Show” is a pale shadow of its former self. I can rarely bring myself to tune in. I suspect that many others feel the same way.
Regardless of the motive for eliminating the Morning Show, the effect was to punish the listeners by removing a superior program. In the long run, this move will cause substantial harm to KPFA. I urge you to reinstate the Morning Show for the benefit of both the listeners and the station.
Dallas Sacher
Name: Stanley Poss
Subject: Morning Show
Dear New Manager, Along with so many others I hope you’ll join us in calling for the restoration of the Morning Show with Brian and Aimee. Their dismissal doesn’t smell at all good.
Name: Denise Minter
Subject: Save the Morning Show on KPFA
Dear Amit Pendyal,
I have written several letters in support of The Morning Show on KPFA, as well as reached out to the SF Board of Supervisors. I tried listening to KPFA in the morning since the cutbacks, but I am not interested in the details of local LA politics. I want the Bay Area Morning Crew back on KPFA.
Yesterday, I learned that my other favorite radio station KUSF is possibly RIP. The trustees want to sell the station against the wishes of the volunteers. Please don’t let this happen to KPFA.
I have supported KFPA as a volunteer and as a subscriber for many years. Please respect the wishes of the community and restore the Morning Show again on KPFA.
Name: DM
Subject: Morning Show
Dear Mr. Pendyal,
I would very much like to see the Morning Show with Aimee and Brian restored. I have also contributed money to do just that.
At the moment I listen to KPFA until 8 in the morning, turn off the radio and listen again at 9 a.m. I do not find the present Morning Show from 8 to 9 a.m. interesting nor informative.
It would be a real gift to the listeners to have the Morning Show restored. Thank you.
Name: Mary Yoshimura
Subject: KPFA Morning Show
I have been a financial supporter and listener of KPFA for many years. The Morning Show was one of my favorite programs. PLEASE restore the show and my trust and appreciation for Pacifica.
Name: Suzanne Shelhart
Subject: Loss of Morning Show
Please bring back the old morning show. The new one is just not as good and I stopped listening when the change was made. I have been a loyal supporter of KPFA and I do not understand why such a great show was stopped.
Bring back the old Morning show PLEASE!
Name: Kim Waldron
Subject: KPFA morning show
Please bring back the morning show. The new program is not comparable – the original was unique and the primary reason I listened to KPFA. For years, KPFA was the #1 memory button on all of my radios. home and car. Now I skip over the button.
Name: ammello
Subject: KPFA
wow, just wow. can’t believe you’re complaining that we the listening public donated money for the morning show. obviously, we want and we’re willing to pay for it. remove the complaint, please, and restore the morning show pronto.
Name: Chet Zebroski
Subject: Admit an error…
…and return the Morning Show as it was before your mistake.
no hard feelings, we all make mistakes. 🙂
Name: Linda Nicoletto
Subject: Bring Back the Old Morning Show
I miss it VERY much. I tried listening to the new version but I stopped. It just does not have the same punch, analysis, insight and interest. The old Morning Show was one of the premier shows on KPFA and the loss of this was devastating to me as a listener and other folks I know too.
Please bring it back so I can listen to KPFA in the mornings again!
Name: cecile leneman
Subject: restoring morning show
there may be a way to do this. it’s called COMPROMISE.
there are many formulae for compromise. a predictable one is “going halves.”
for example: mon, wed, friday: being morning show back
tues and thurs: continue the insipid and rather colorless whatever it is you’re offering now (i am not particularly drawn ever to listen to it.
Name: Maia Craig
Subject: Morning show
I have been in the habit of listening to the morning show 7-9AM for decades. Since everyone on the show has been laid off, and with apparently no preparation or reason,
I find myself no longer listening to KPFA in the morning. I try to catch Amy Goodman, but also have her on my DVR just in case. I never listen after 8. I instead either have the radio off or listen to Stephanie Miller on AM. You are losing listeners; I know I am not alone in shifting my habits. I feel betrayed by Pacifica’s actions, a precious long time source of excellent local information gone, and it makes no sense.
Name: JK
Subject: Aimee Allison is sadly missing and missed!
Please restore the KPFA Morning Show with Host Aimee Allison! Her time there was a Highlight of all of KPFA, which is saying a lot! Informative, thorough, respectful, investigative, exceptional! As of now, I turn off the 8 am show and miss out on the depth of information that she brought to the airwaves! Having the ‘morning show’ dictated by a Pacifica director is unacceptable. This is a Listener Supported Station and listeners have made their voices and their funding clear.
Name: JS
Subject: Restore the Morning Show!
Please please please restore the KPFA Morning Show and its hosts, Aimee Allison and Brian Edwards Teekert. The Morning Show is by far the most important show on KPFA. It’s unique and absolutely essential to the mission of KPFA. My own listening to KPFA has dropped significantly since the cancelation of the Morning Show. Equally disheartening was the horrible way in which the cancelation was handled.
If you cannot find a way to repair the tremendous damage done to KPFA by Ms. Englehardt and her colleagues, I will have no choice but to end my monthly financial support of KPFA.
Name: Susan Wallace
Subject: Restore Aimee Allison & Brian Edwards Tiekert to Morning Show
Please return the paid staff Aimee and Brian to the air for the Morning Show which I loved and miss very much. I was shocked when they were removed and to hear Ms. Englehardt insulting their program which I have consistently found extremely informative, inspiring and useful. I am a UC graduate (1976) and a contributor to KPFA, and was also shocked to hear that an anti-labor law firm was hired to defend against this unfortunate and foolhardy decision.
I do not feel that Ms. Englehardt exercised good judgment and I feel she should be replaced by someone who has values in line with what I thought KPFA stands for–peace, justice, respect for labor and unions, free speech, etc. Thank you for doing the right thing by returning these talented commentators to the KPFA air-waves in their previous paid capacity. Susan Wallace
Name: Stephanie Effros
Subject: Save the KPFA Morning Show!
I was shocked and dismayed when the KPFA Morning Show was pulled from the air back in November 2010. In my opinion the show’s hosts and sources were the most intelligent and the best source of local and global information on a variety of subjects. They reported with journalistic integrity which lacks in our country’s mass media outlets and they were a true example of the role of journalism in a working democracy by informing citizens of the real issues.
Please bring the show and the hosts back! Thank you.
Name: Judy Baker
Subject: Donation Process
It is hard to believe that complaints by the Pacifica Board of Directors have lodged against people raising money for KPFA. It is hard to believe that the Board of Directors can be so irresponsible as to refuse funding from individuals to KPFA. Why not work with Save KPFA to see who has donated, get the proper documentation to the donors etc. This is money that KPFA needs and people gave it to help KPFA. If we all work together and all are interested in the goal of helping KPFA then it doesn’t make sense that the Board of Directors would act aggressively AGAINST receiving these funds.
Name: DE
Subject: Welcome to the New GM/Bring Back the Morning Show
I wanted to welcome the new KPFA General Manager and to express my support for reinstating the staff of the Morning Show.
As an out-of-state supporter of KPFA for going on 10 years now, the main reason I support the station with my pledges has been the Morning Show. Although I opposed firing Brian and Aimee I did give the new show a chance after the KPFK interim replacement ran its course.
Sorry, it just doesn’t do anything for me.
I either tune into an archive show of another program I like or turn off my iPhone altogether.
Based on my own feelings and the enormous outpouring of support (financially and otherwise) for the real Morning Show, I strongly encourage you to bring it back on air so that we can all stop this fruitless squabbling and get back to building a stronger KPFA together.
Name: Steven Jenner
Subject: KPFA Morning Show
I depended on the Morning Show! It must be returned in its original form!! Period!!!
Name: Zeese Papanikolas
Subject: Morning Show
Dear Amit Pendyal,
I am a long-time KPFA listener and supporter. I urge you to restore the Morning Show with its original staff. A point that seems to have gotten lost in all the rancor is that two very professional journalists have been fired for reasons that are murky, to say the least. I cannot see how such abrupt and arbitrary firings can in any way help KPFA and restore some level of peace to the station and its local board.
Name: Jennie Carpenter
Subject: Why I No Longer Listen to KPFA – much
To KPFA’s New General Manager: I rarely listen to KPFA in the morning because, frankly, the program is TERRIBLE. In fact, I don’t tune in to the station much at all now because it is just too painful to do so now that the Pacifica Board has pretty much demolished KPFA. And my radio dial has been “stuck” at 94.1 for decades.
Here is the letter I sent to Ms. Englehardt recently which pretty much sums up my feelings (no I have not received a reply from her:
December 18, 2010
Arlene Englehardt
Executive Director, Pacifica Radio
POB 11408
Berkeley, CA 94712-2408
Dear Ms. Englehardt,
It is with conflicted head and heart that I am sending my considerably overdue payment for the Fall 2010 Fund Drive pledge I made. As a long time listener, member and contributor to KPFA, supporting the station has, until recently, been a pleasure.
Some weeks ago just as I was prepared to send my payment for this pledge, decisions made by Pacifica’s Board, under your leadership, launched a series of actions seemingly intended to destroy the station. These actions have gutted some of the station’s finest program, manipulated the Local Advisory Board elections for your and the Pacifica Board’s own purposes, violated the union’s contract with the termination of Aimee Allison and Brian Edwards-Tiekert, and replaced the Morning Show, the station’s highest revenue-generating programs, with non-local, journalistically inferior, canned programming.
Over the twenty-something years I have contributed to the station there have been times when doing so poses a challenge to my personal finances, as in the instance of the previous pledge. Regardless of personal financial pressures, KPFA is a vital and necessary part of my life, providing me (until recently) with a richer and deeper understanding of the world and critical analysis of both local and global economic, political and environmental forces, and deserves my support.
As a philanthropic professional whose job it is to evaluate the financial and managerial health of non-profit organizations for purposes of funding recommendations, I find the your actions and those of the Pacifica Board to be unconscionable, both fiscally and ethically.
Thousands of KPFA listeners and supporters, elected officials, Labor Councils, programmers, former and regular guests on the station have called for you, members of both the Pacifica Board Local Advisory Board, and the Union to engage in a process that will resolve this dispute in a responsible and respectful manner. Doing so includes consideration of the budget recommendations put forth by the Union.
In closing, for all the reasons stated above, I will not participate in the current fund drive. Rather, I will contribute directly to the station in ways that will ensure my dollars do not support Pacifica Radio itself.
Sincerely,
Jennie Carpenter
Name: Timothy Milos
Subject: The Morning Show
I am a long time listener and supporter of the KPFA. I have endured many shakeups and the loss of my favorites programs over the years (Chapel, Court and Countryside, Bill Mandel’s show, among others). This latest travesty continues to degrade the quality and integrity of KFPA programming and the Pacifica mission. When you have an organization composed of rabble-rousers whose mission is speaking truth to power, you should expect healthy debate from within. To misuse the corporate structure of Pacifica to stifle that debate is in the worst tradition of the Left. KPFA and Pacifica can do better. Return the fired employees who believe in the mission of Pacifica. Work with the Unions to achieve a compromise. To fail to do so is to fail in your mission, for we proud liberals will Not support you.
Name: Mel Chapman
Subject: The Morning “Show”
Why are you killing the goose that lays the golden egg? Three times the cost in fundraising is worthy ,merely from the point of view of business sense, not to mention quality of programming. The current volunteers who program the show are obviously sincere and well-meaning, but for a 55 thousand watt urban radio station with the listenership you have, they are somewhere between inadequate and pathetic. I’ve essentially quit listening to the morning show. When you restore the successful team of Aimee and Brian and use the $55,000 in pledged money to rehire them, I’ll personally send lots more money. Petty personality conflicts and ignorant agendas sent from back East do not help the progressive cause in California. The old Morning Show was the best I’ve heard in 20 years. They were professional, provocative, and interesting. BRING THEM BACK. This is a good radio station. I’ve listened to the sister station in LA and KPFA is vastly superior. Why wreck a good thing?
ps Leave the Sunday programming AS IS ! ! ! It is a treasure– award winning music shows like this are rare and important.
Name: Clyde Leland
Subject: Morning Show
Dear Amit Pendyal:
Although I’ve already written both as an individual and to sign the educators’ statement, I understand you want to know what listeners think of the new Morning Show format. I can’t say, because I listen only to the news and Democracy Now! in the morning. I refuse to listen to amateur scabs.
This has not been easy for me. When completely remodeling our kitchen last year, we had a chance to build in our media while there were no walls or ceilings. One design requirement we insisted on was that we needed to be able to push one button in the morning to hear KPFA – – because we were that dedicated to the morning show and to Amy and Brian (listen to someone every day and you feel you can use their first names).
We take this cut quite personally. And we won’t listen or donate to the KPFA Morning Show until Pacifica makes this right.
Name: Chris Lock
Subject: Morning show
Please bring back the morning show. I have to change stations after Democracy Now the way things stand. It was a bad and unpopular decision to cancel the previous programming.
Thanks,
Christopher Lock
From: SM
I have subscribed to KPFA for over 35 years. I will no longer subscribe unless the layoffs and cutbacks that have impacted Berkeley’s flagship station are restored. The Morning Show is one of the most important offered during the day. It is outrageous that an administrator with limited vision could be given the power to cut such an essential program. She needs to be replaced with someone who understands the value of those essential programs at KPFA like the Morning Show.
Name: Terry Paris
Arlene Englehardt needs to return The Morning Show IMMEDIATELY. It only looks badly for her because her statements have too many holes in them. She has proven herself incompetent to handle KPFA and, indeed, she is someone who needs to be monitored for the lack of transparency of a non-profit foundation. Please return KPFA to its listeners and supporters NOW!
Name: MR
As a 30-year listener-sponsor of KPFA and a labor activist even longer, I urge you to adopt the proposals from KPFA’s union to reduce layoffs and explore alternatives in good faith.
I rely on KPFA every day for news, analysis, and cultural programming not to be found elsewhere, and I have the greatest respect for the hosts of the Morning Show who have been laid off contrary to the rules of ethical union negotiation.
Please do not violate the 62-year tradition of KPFA by using undemocratic practices as executive director and Board member when the vast majority of listener-sponsors support fair labor practices at KPFA.
Name: AK
Arlene & Pacifica Management,
Please act responsibly!!! I’m attempting to communicate my distress to Arlene Englehardt and the Pacifica Foundation board, and I insist that you sit down with the union and agree to a solution in accord with the contract.
Once you have started to act like the organization you’re supposed to be, I will resume my membership — I’m only skipping your current fund-drive b/c of the horrible manner the Pacifica board is handling KPFA.
Name: MD
Dear Arlene,
You and I both know that KPFA is a priceless treasure that must not be lost! In good consience I therefore urge you to adopt KPFA’s union proposals and BRING BACK THE MORNING SHOW! If the Morning Show is not brought back, aside from being unfair & counterproductive, the other programs may not be able to bring in sufficient funds during fund drives to keep an already precarious financial “boat” afloat. If you care about the survival of KPFA, please act accordingly! If you don’t care, then please step aside & let someone who does care take the helm. Thanks for reading my plea!
A devoted listener & supporter of KPFA, MD
Name: JV
I am saddened that KPFA has chosen to disregard the union proposals in favor of firing the Morning Show. It was one of my favorite programs on KPFA, and the heavy-handed firing tactics shows me KPFA is not as different from main stream corporate America as I had believed. I have been a yearly contributor to KPFA, and this will stop until the Morning Show returns.
Name: DS
Pacifica Board and Arlene Engelhardt
This is the fourth & final time I am writing. I will not be pledging to KPFA until the Morning Show is reinstated with all its programmers (paid or volunteer) and Arlene Engelhardt steps down. The cancellation of the Morning Show appears politically motivated not budget based. It appears more a power play, than a carefully calculated change in programming.
The Bay Area deserves the quality of local news the Morning Show provided. I personally think there should be more local news (not less). LA-based news is secondary to a Bay Area resident.
I regularly check to see if the show is on since it was canceled, and yesterday I heard Arlene asking for emergency pledge money. It was pathetic compared to the professional manner of Brian, Aimee and others when soliciting funds to sustain KPFA. Arlene, you messed up. It’s time to face it and the consequences without hurting the station and the progressive community in the Bay Area more than you already have.
Name: MO
As a long time, generous donor to KPFA, I beg of you to adopt the union proposals asap, and bring back the Morning Show. This is like paying my taxes, only to find my hard earned money is going to pay for secret bailouts and an obscene military defense budget.
Please do not destroy the only REAL people’s radio anywhere. Thank you and hear our appeals!
Name: LR
Dear Ms. Englehardt,
Please return Brian Edwards-Tikert and the rest of the Morning Show staff to the air. Work with the KPFA union to adopt its alternate cost-cutting proposals. Decrease the expenses and top salaries at the Pacifica National office.
Name: C. Tom Ross
To Arlene Engelhardt and Pacifica Board:
I must vigorously protest your lay off of the morning show staff. The burden of proof is yours, that is, you must prove that you are NOT trying to destroy the station and the network. The current fund drive would be much more successful with the morning show staff. Your actions are the biggest threat to the life of KPFA.
What views expressed on that program did you disagree with ? As Larry Bensky said on KQED with you: it seems your action was a political purge. I urge you and the Pacifica board to respect and uphold the sustainable budget adopted by the KPFA staff, so the station can return to its true mission.
Name: DK
I have contributed to KPFA each month for over a decade, and have just increased the amount of that contribution. I want the Morning Show returned to the air as soon as possible.
Name: Marian Cruz
I want the Morning Show back on the air. Pacifica Board acted without cause and has disrupted one of the best shows on KPFA.
Name: JC
arlene:
please respond to my request for information:
which entity or person or people authorized a $90,000 annual pay for you while the stations are suffering?
why doesn’t pacifica pay rent for the space in the kpfa building in berkeley?
why did you fire people (the morning show) who not only pay their way, but also draw in enough money to pay for other programming as well?
please respond to my request for information.
Name: BR
I am very unhappy with the changes to KPFA. I do not want international news early in the morning. I do support the sustainable budget proposed by KPFA and I urge you to bring back the Morning Show. You have deprived Bay Area Supporters of local news. There are many listeners like myself in Marin County who have been cut off. While democracy Now and Al Jazeera are important they can be aired at another time. Pacifica took the heart of KPFA. Give it back!
Name: Gabe
Hello Pacifica Board Members,
My name is Gabe and I am a 10 year KPFA listener and member. I receive a majority of my news from this radio station. I listion what they say more than any other news source that I have found to date. Rarely can you find a news source with information as diverse as you can here in Berkeley. The stories and the views aired are unique to any other station.
These are difficult times all of us are aware of it and few have been unaffected. But if the Boards goal is to keep this station fiscally viable it needs to reinstate the KPFA Morning Show with it’s paid and unpaid staff and work with the Union layoff process in the correct manor which is stated in the union contract the signed by the board in good faith.
The Morning Show program and the familiar voices which bring the news are what bring the largest fiscal support of any show locally. For the Pacifica Board to claim in financial crisis to fire the members who are best supported by the community financially is a poor way to invest for the future of this station and Pacifica as a whole.
For the future of KPFA and the support of Pacifica Broadcasting you need to work with the Union and explore alternatives and to reinstate the Morning Show with it paid and unpaid staff for this station to remain fiscally viable. Thank you.
Name: RG
Ms. Engelhardt….We still continue to be unhappy with your morning programming. Even though we love Amy Goodman and democracy now, we need the morning show back to give us more of news for the Bay Area..both are great and should go back to the way it was.. It is wonderful that you are airing Al Jazeera English, but that should be current as well and not from the previous day that is old news already….You have taken a wonderful radio station and ruined it..we urge you to please reconsider and bring back “The Morning Show” the two hosts, Brian and Amiee are terrific and their programs current and informational. We will not contribute to your station until their is a change or you answer to the real reason this show was cancelled particulary due to the fact that it brought in three times more money than any other show.. makes no sense… could it be a political move! Please surprise with an early Christmas present and reinstate The Morning Show.. R. Goldstein
Name: JJ
Exec. Director Arlene Englhardt,
Please reconsider your actions. Restore the Morning Show and its staff and negotiate with the KPFA’s Union to reduce layoffs and restore KPFA to solvency. Last year I believe I contributed over $300. I had planned to contribute $150 during the Fall fund drive but did not because of the threats to the Morning Show. At this time I feel Pacifica Foundation is acting in detrimental ways to KPFA. I am concerned that if KPFA dies so will the Pacifica Network. This would be the destruction of the only progressive radio network in our country. We all know KPFA is the heart of the network. I would like to continue to give money to support KPFA and Pacifica but at this time taking away the local morning news show and its labor programming causes me to withhold contributions. KPFA has been an important source of information to me for many years. Please take appropriate actions so I can continue to provide financial support to KPFA and Pacifica. Thanks for your consideration.
Name: BAM
Please restore the KPFA Morning Show. I have heard WPFW and now the LA station, neither are up to the standards of the KPFA Morning Show. The people of Northern and Central California contribute to support KPFA and excellent programming like the Morning Show, we don’t want our money spent on union busting lawyers to destroy our station.
Putting Arlene Engelhardt on the Morning Show during the fund drive was a REALLY STUPID thing to do! Why would any of us send money for her to continue to mis-spend?
Please listen to the union, please look at the proposed budget cutting proposals, and please respect that this is OUR station.
Name: MC
I agree with David Bacon. I want the Morning Show back and I do not agree with the Pacifica Board regarding the firing of the hosts. The actions of the President of the Board to remove this program was uncalled for.
Return the Morning Show to KPFA!
Name: LHS
Arlene Engelhardt,
It is a crime what you have done, removing The Morning Show in general and the Labor Segment in particular. David Bacon’s program is probably the only labor focused program in the Bay Area, if not the West Coast. It is a much needed program and a very interesting one as well, produced by someone who is articulate and passionate about workers and their struggles. You need to bring back Amiee Allison, Brian Edwards Tiekert and David Bacon for starters! These programmers are very sorely missed and have been dealt an injustice.
While the Al Jazeera program is a great idea in theory, in practise the news it presents is a day old and not locally based. You and the Board have messed up a radio station I have been listening to and supporting with my pledges for more than 25 years and you need to realize this and reinstate the Morning Show and the Wednesday Labor Segment produced by David Bacon!
Name: DB
As a subscriber to KPFA I, and my family loved the programming on KPFA prior to Pacifica radio’s poor management decision to change the programming that brought you the most donation dollars. Money is the bottom line, RIGHT! We pay for the programming that we like to hear, not you. If you kill or change things, I and everyone else will take our money somewhere else.
Name: C
I am outraged to hear the FSRN news team have to plead for money now more than ever to stay on air! How dare Pacifica think we the listeners are stupid! If I donate now all the money will have to pay lawsuits pacifica is acquiring during these foolish moves. Man Pacifica is STUPID! Talk about shooting yourselves in the foot!
IRRESPONSIBLE. Practice what you preach and give the employees their due grievance process.
Name: KC
I pledged this evening, but only because Brian was on personally asking for my support.
I think the way Brian and Aimee were removed from the morning show was very distressing, unprofessional, disruptive and unfair to all of us. This is our station!
I believe the legal authorities are agreeing with David Bacon and so many others who urge you to sit down with the union and develop a fair and just way to deal with the economic issues. Arlene seems very sincere during this fund drive, but the methods she used to communicate and implement the changes and the economic crisis of the station gave me the impression that there is a whole lot of hidden agenda and some politicking. I will not give my full support which has included monthly doantions and in-person support, until the former morning show is back on the air, or I understand the reasoning for it to be gone.
CLICK HERE FOR OLDER LISTENER MAIL — we’ve received so much, we’ve had to split it up into more pages. Thank you for the support!
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