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Pacifica management censors own journalists, spends $30K on anti-union lawyers

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Another gag rule has been handed down by KPFA’s parent network Pacifica, as KPFA host Mitch Jeserich tried to bring listeners a discussion of what is happening at Free Speech Radio. The last time the network prohibited journalists from covering news about Pacifica itself was in 1999, right before it shut down KPFA.

This comes on top of news that Pacifica has spent $30,000 of KPFA’s funds on anti-union consultants. In November, after illegally laying off Morning Show staff, Pacifica hired the “management-side” legal firm of Folger Levin at $400 an hour. KPFA’s local board treasurer has confirmed that the station’s account has been charged over $30,000 for those expenses for November 2010-January 2011, with thousands of dollars in additional charges expected shortly. | KPFA News report

Last week, Jeserich invited Pacifica executive director Arlene Engelhardt and KPFA interim program director Carrie Core to appear on Letters and Politics to discuss an email they had sent to thousands of KPFA listeners, but they declined. When Jeserich mentioned that he had also invited a KPFA union steward to appear, he was told by Engelhardt and Core that “we have decided not to permit further discussion of KPFA internal disputes (including personnel or financial matters) on your program at this time.” Read the email exchange

“The disputes at KPFA are NOT just ‘internal,'” wrote outraged KPFA subscriber Blair Moser. “They are widely understood to be a coup by outside ‘management’ against local control… This ham-fisted putsch may result in the utter destruction of the Bay Area’s essential source of independent news.”

The week before, Core disciplined News co-director Mark Mericle for airing a story reporting that KPFA was laying off News anchor John Hamilton, saying that Mericle should not have used the word “layoff.” Core also disciplined Hamilton and Jeserich for mention of the layoff, even as listeners called in record donations in support of the News. | KPFA News report

“Arlene Englehart is an embarrassment to the progressive community and is pursuing a course that is destructive to a station I care deeply about,” wrote one listener. “It isn’t Free Speech Radio if there is a gag rule at KPFA — your actions are anti-union, violate principles of free speech and accountability and are solely to protect you from having your actions see the light of day.”

IMPORTANT: PLEASE ADD YOUR VOICE NOW AGAINST CENSORSHIP by writing the Pacifica National Board. Tell them you 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. You can write via SaveKPFA’s page (we will keep your email address private).

Meanwhile, KPFA board members Margy Wilkinson and Pamela Drake finally got a long-awaited meeting with Engelhardt yesterday. Engelhardt said it was “appropriate” to prevent staff from airing any news about KPFA’s problems. She admitted spending $30,000 on lawyers to fight the KPFA staff, and said the Morning Show could not come back since she has reduced the slot to one hour (8-9AM), and feels that listeners would be “upset” if anything were to be changed now. | Read the report

Remembering Pacifica’s history of censorship

Upon hearing about the new gag rule, listener Barbara Fitzpatrick wrote to Engelhardt, “You have to be kidding, have you no sense of history? Or for that matter any notion of decency, or appreciation of all those who struggled ten years ago? This is Pacifica, not Clear Channel. The hypocrisy of management at this time is disgusting.  Just leave, you are not going to win.”

Pacifica last tried to silence reporting of developments in the network back in 1999, when it fired radio hosts Larry Bensky and Robbie Osman, among others, for speaking out on-air about Pacifica matters. The network also fired its national news director Dan Coughlin and tried to censor Amy Goodman‘s Democracy Now! for their reports on Pacifica. That provoked a nationwide movement to return the network to its mission, including an historic strike of Pacifica’s freelancers that resulted in the creation of Free Speech Radio News.

Pacifica’s national board voted unanimously to “end censorship of any programming throughout the network” when it settled the strike of its freelance contributors in 2002.  Pacifica even has a page about this proud history on its website.

Management’s current undermining of editorial independence runs counter to KPFA’s own long-standing news policy, which states the News will report “on matters regarding KPFA, Pacifica, its personnel or Board of Directors with the same vigor and candor as it would report on other institutions or individuals.”

Attacks on KPFA journalists also have come from a group of board members affiliated with Tracy Rosenberg. KPFA’s own local station board passed a resolution in March 2010 defending KPFA journalists’ rights to cover internal issues with “the same editorial autonomy they enjoy when reporting on external issues.” The vote was 14-7, and the 7 voting against were aligned with Rosenberg’s board faction — the group at Pacifica national that hired and now protects Arlene Engelhardt.

Remembering Pacifica’s history of censorship

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Upon hearing about the new gag rule, listener Barbara Fitzpatrick wrote to Engelhardt, “You have to be kidding, have you no sense of history? Or for that matter any notion of decency, or appreciation of all those who struggled ten years ago? This is Pacifica, not Clear Channel. The hypocrisy of management at this time is disgusting.  Just leave, you are not going to win.”

Pacifica last tried to silence reporting of developments in the network back in 1999, when it fired radio hosts Larry Bensky and Robbie Osman, among others, for speaking out on-air about Pacifica matters. The network also fired its national news director Dan Coughlin and tried to censor Amy Goodman‘s Democracy Now! for their reports on Pacifica. That provoked a nationwide movement to return the network to its mission, including an historic strike of Pacifica’s freelancers that resulted in the creation of Free Speech Radio News.

Pacifica’s national board voted unanimously to “end censorship of any programming throughout the network” when it settled the strike of its freelance contributors in 2002.  Pacifica even has a page about this proud history on its website.

Management’s current undermining of editorial independence runs counter to KPFA’s own long-standing news policy, which states the News will report “on matters regarding KPFA, Pacifica, its personnel or Board of Directors with the same vigor and candor as it would report on other institutions or individuals.”

Attacks on KPFA journalists also have come from a group of board members affiliated with Tracy Rosenberg. KPFA’s own local station board passed a resolution in March 2010 defending KPFA journalists’ rights to cover internal issues with “the same editorial autonomy they enjoy when reporting on external issues.” The vote was 14-7, and the 7 voting against were aligned with Rosenberg’s board faction — the group at Pacifica national that hired and now protects Arlene Engelhardt.

News tops fundraising; an open letter from KPFA union members

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After reporting that co-anchor John Hamilton had been given a 30-day layoff notice, the Evening News rocketed to the top of KPFA’s fundraising charts. The outpouring of support from listeners brought in over $48,000 in the final four days of the Winter Pledge Drive, bringing the Evening News total to $87,000 — the highest of any time slot during the fund drive. MORE HERE

Management’s response? During the final hour of the fund drive, KPFA interim program director Carrie Core sent news co-anchors Mark Mericle and John Hamilton (as well as Letters and Politics host Mitch Jeserich) written disciplinary letters for reporting Hamilton’s layoff on the air.

Pacifica accuses KPFA staff of “undermining” the station, uses bizarre math
Three days after the end of KPFA’s Winter Marathon, KFPA’s staff and listeners opened their inboxes to a letter from Core and Pacifica’s executive director, Arlene Engelhardt.

Was it a thank-you for their hard work and and contributions? Nah. It was a broadside accusing KPFA’s union of agreeing to John Hamilton’s layoff (which it hasn’t), accusing KPFA’s staff of “efforts to undermine” the station (huh?), and declaring that “The Morning Show Will Not Return.”

To support that last position, management did some pretty contorted math, cherrypicking five days of fundraising from December’s emergency fund drive, dropping all records of online pledges, and completely ignoring fundraising data from the Winter Pledge Drive that had just concluded.

What do the numbers actually say? KPFA’s new morning lineup raised $140,000 less from 6-10AM during the 2011 Winter Drive than the old morning lineup did during the 2010 Winter Drive. At that rate, staff warned management in an open letter, lost pledges from the the Pacifica-imposed program changes could approach $500,000 per year.

Management’s letter admits that “KPFA’s first quarter financial report for this fiscal year is encouraging. . . We were almost $335k over budgeted income,” but goes on to say that “salaries and related expenses must be reduced to balance the budget.”

“That statement is not only incompetent, it is downright Orwellian,” said board member Pamela Drake. “It takes the very real outpouring of listener support for KPFA’s key programs and attempts to turn it on its head.”

Mismanagement angers listeners
KPFA and Pacifica got a barrage of mail from listeners during the fund drive expressing their outrage at Hamilton’s layoff. Here are some excerpts from the letters we have permission to publish:

“I simply don’t think you understand how sacred these voices of truth are,” wrote Kristen Burlington to Engelhardt. “You can’t possibly comprehend how integral the Morning Show and the Evening News are to the sanity of both our local and global community.”

Susan Wallace told management: “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.”

“Engelhardt’s mismanagement of this station leads me to ask whether she is the one who should be given a layoff notice,” wrote Arpi Kupelian, who was part of a group of listeners who tried to visit Pacifica’s executive director recently to speak with her about $63,000 in SaveKPFA listener pledges to restore the Morning Show, only to be turned away.

“Why does it seem that you, the management, seem intent on destroying the best that KPFA has to offer?” wrote Rose Elizondo. “It almost seems you want to destroy the station! If $63,000 has been raised to re-instate the Morning Show, how can you possibly ‘justify’ not accepting this money?”

That question is best answered by looking at who hired Engelhardt: the Pacifica National Board. That board is currently holding onto power illegally by refusing to seat KPFA’s democratically-elected delegates. An Alameda County Superior Court judge recently issued a restraining order prohibiting the national board from discussing KPFA issues. A full hearing on the matter is set for March 18.

NEWS CLIPS: KPFA News: Another new interim station manager | Matthew Lasar: How to donate to KPFA without giving to Pacifica

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