I was very sad to read this. We learned about the anti war movement and what
was happening during the civil rights movement by listening the the NYC
affiliate. At the start of the women's movement, I listened each week, to a
women's consciousness raising group. And I often listen to Flashpoints
today.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Miriam Vieni
Sent: Thursday, February 11, 2021 5:24 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Saving Pacifica Radio Is Critical to Building a
Progressive Movement
Published on
Thursday, February 11, 2021
byCommon Dreams
Saving Pacifica Radio Is Critical to Building a Progressive Movement "We are
in a battle for the heart and soul of Pacifica."
byLarry Bensky, Conn Hallinan
Radio engages, persuades, and informs-and, when done right, builds trust.
(Photo: Getty/Stock Photo/athima tongloom) Radio engages, persuades, and
informs-and, when done right, builds trust.
(Photo: Getty/Stock Photo/athima tongloom)
Radio is the oldest and most-used mass communications medium. In its infancy
radio helped FDR forge consensus behind the New Deal. The non-profit
Pacifica Foundation was formed in 1946 to foster peace through informed
dialogue. For over 70 years Pacifica has served as a commercial free venue
for progressive ideas and voices potentially reaching over 60 million people
today.
Pacifica's reporting on the social movements of the '50s, '60, and '70s
helped reshape the American political landscape. The network's unflinching,
unapologetic coverage of: the HUAC/ McCarthy to the Iran-Contra hearings,
the Women's, LGBTQ, environmental, civil rights, and anti-Vietnam war
movements are a testament to the network's legacy of informing the public
and speaking not just truth to power, but about power.
For over 70 years Pacifica has served as an incomparable media hub of ideas,
culture, debate, and talent - providing a model for future public
broadcasting endeavors. Sadly, in the last decade Pacifica has lost its way.
Despite having stations in five of the largest media markets in the country,
listenership hovers under one quarter of one percent. Its donor base has
cratered from over 120,000 donors in 2007 to about 40,000 today. Pacifica
now stands at the brink of insolvency. Despite the consistent audience
growth for publicly funded stations, progressive podcasts, and online news
outlets, Pacifica is fracturing, its listenership is cratering, and its
credibility is shot.
The Orchestrated Decline of Pacifica Radio
The current crisis can be traced to events in the late 1990s and early 2000s
when contentious fights over programming and governance came to a head. The
victors of this struggle, unfortunately, were largely unqualified and
ill-equipped to run a radio network, let alone keep pace with the emerging
communications technologies of the digital age.
Rather than adapting to this new world Pacifica chose to drastically change
programming, compromise Pacifica's mission statement, and squander its
integrity by implementing new bylaws that defied common sense, and elected
unqualified Board Members that have brought the network close to collapse.
Imagine turning your Pacifica station on only to hear Holocaust deniers,
conspiracy shills calling the children of Sandy Hook crisis actors, nuclear
war proponents, and snake oil salesmen promoting quack cures for cancer and
AIDS. It sounds like something you might hear on Alex Jones or in a QAnon
chat room. But such bizarre, unhinged, and highly offensive programming is
now a mainstay of Pacifica's weekly programming lineup at several of its
stations.
We all should have seen this coming. For decades gross mismanagement and
infighting by fringe sectarian groups - including Green Party disrupters,
holocaust deniers, conspiracy shills, and the Workers World Party - has
diminished a once powerful tool for social change and turned it into a
punchline. Dark money millionaire-backed 501c4's has sponsored Pacifica
Board Directors that reflect their interests, resulting in increasing
alternative health and beauty product pledge programming instead of the
vital news and analysis that draws audience and support.
Therefore, Pacifica has lost hundreds of thousands of weekly listeners, and
almost a hundred thousand donors. In an era dominated by media controlled
giant corporations and right-wing power brokers, it befalls on us to return
Pacifica to its former self as one of the nation's most respected,
objective, and most of all, independent sources of news.
Saving Pacifica and Maximizing the Power of Radio
National Program Host of "Rising Up with Sonali" Sonali Kolhatkar recently
said "We are in a battle for the heart and soul of Pacifica.At stake is
whether Pacifica represents the highest standards of journalistic integrity,
or a mix of snake oil quackery and fake radicalism."
This fight is winnable. A treasure trove of damning records, internal
communications, audio recordings, devastating independent audits, and
warnings from the California Attorney General expose in painstaking detail
the gross incompetence and alleged financial conflicts of the National
Board of Directors. This growing body of evidence has prompted Pacifica
supporters, listeners, and a Board Director to take legal action against
members of the National Board for misfeasance and malfeasance, negligence,
unlawful conduct, and the gross dereliction of their fiduciary duties.
Returning Pacifica To Its Rightful Mission
Pacifica has been an essential resource for the survival of our democracy,
and it must return to its original mission to report on and analyze the
political, social, and cultural forces in the US and globally. It was never
intended to be a vehicle for individuals shilling their questionable health
and beauty products or advancing their personal or political party's
politics (which as a non-profit foundation it is not allowed to do).
Pacifica has been an essential resource for the survival of our democracy,
and it must return to its original mission to report on and analyze the
political, social, and cultural forces in the US and globally.
Radio engages, persuades, and informs-and, when done right, builds trust.
Pacifica must build that trust back by telling the truth and covering the
social movements and political dynamics that the corporate media ignore.
When armed with the truth, informed humans will become more active, caring
citizens about the issues that really matter-to all of us. If we fail in
this endeavor, odds are this once great network will be acquired by right
wing extremist groups or evangelical Christian stations. If we want to
effectively counter the relentless spread of hard-right ideology we cannot
lose Pacifica.
Larry Bensky was the National Affairs Correspondent (retired) for KPFA.
Pacifica, and winner of the Polk Award in 1988.
Conn Hallinan
Conn Hallinan has been a journalist for over 50 years and is currently a
columnist for Foreign Policy In Focus, a part of the Institute for Policy
Study. He formerly ran the journalism program at the University of
California at Santa Cruz and served as a provost of one of UCSC's colleges.
He also served on the KPFA Listener's Board and chaired the Board for two
years.
