fund drives

KPFA’s local board chair urges YES vote

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Original KPFA radio dial, circa 1949
Original KPFA radio dial, circa 1949

“Let me paint a picture of where KPFA is now — because it should concern all of us — no matter which side we’re on,” writes Margy Wilkinson, chair of KPFA’s local board in an open letter to listeners. Wilkinson cites evidence of the dramatic loss of listenership following Pacifica management’s purging of the station’s most listened-to program, the Morning Show, produced by a crew of young, diverse journalists. What follows is a tale of stunningly undemocratic dirty-tricks, financial mismanagement and anti-union maneuvers that have caused KPFA listeners to demand an immediate change in Pacifica’s management — starting with the recall of Pacifica treasurer Tracy Rosenberg. | READ WILKINSON’S  ENTIRE LETTER

Listeners love KPFA’s new UpFront program at 7AM

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The new UpFront program from 7-8 AM hosted by KPFA’s Brian Edwards-Tiekert and KPFK’s Sonali Kolhatkar brought in the highest number of pledges per hour during KPFA’s spring fund drive, raising nearly $40,000 in just 7 days — an astonishingly good response to a new show rushed onto the air with virtually no advance publicity.

That helped KPFA’s drive finish up with nearly $690,000,  about 7% short of its $740,000 goal. You can see a breakdown of pledges by program here. UpFront‘s presence in the AM drive time also clearly pushed other slots to higher fund totals.

UpFront is an initiative of the KPFA News Department, which was given the green light by interim general manager Andrew Phillips, who admitted the decision was a “180- degree turn” for him and that “politics” had prevented him from acting sooner. Phillips told KPFA’s board on June 2 he’d received overwhelmingly positive comments about UpFront. He said the Morning Show was disbanded by Pacifica’s executive director Arlene Engelhardt in “a very abrupt, unconsultative manner,” as a result of which he heard “tremendous pain, anger, frustration, anguish from this community.” | LISTEN to Phillips (1-min audio) [longer discussion below, in the LSB meeting, part 1]

KPFA launches a morning news hour at 7AM, moves broadcast of Democracy Now to 6AM

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Starting Thursday, May 17, at 7AM, tune your dial to KPFA 94.1FM for Up Front, a news collaboration that many hope will begin to rebuild the station’s morning audience. KPFA issued this press release today about the new show, which will be a collaboration between KPFA and sister station KPFK in Los Angeles. Produced by KPFA’s award-winning News Department, Up Front will include “challenging interviews with political and community leaders, civil but heated debates, and frequent breaking news updates.”

KPFA’s Brian Edwards-Tiekert and KPFK’s Sonali Kolhatkar will co-host. Up Front will include “voices both familiar and new.” The first broadcast of Democracy Now! will return to its traditional time of 6AM to make room for the new program.

HERE’S HOW YOU CAN HELP: circulate this message to your network, then TUNE IN AND MAKE A PLEDGE on Thursday during the 7AM hour.  The number to call is 800-439-5732 (800-HEY-KPFA), or pledge online at www.kpfa.org.  You are also invited to KPFA’s studios at 1929 Martin Luther King Jr Way in Berkeley on Thursday for the program’s launch. Answer phones or bring some food to share. Let’s a take a moment to celebrate and support KPFA!