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| Ex-KPFK'ers respond to "Letter to Amy Goodman" |
Dear All, Just prior to the recently concluded KPFK fund drive, a list of current KPFK staff sent a letter to Amy Goodman regarding her references to the banned and fired at WBAI. (see the bottom of the page) Some ex-KPFK'ers have recently sent letter to Amy in response to the one from the present staff. Below is a letter signed by a group of people, as well some individual responses. PS This letter was presented to Amy Goodman by Blase Bonpane, last night (June 10th, 2001) in Los Angeles at a National Lawyers Guild dinner when Amy received an award and standing ovation from the Guild. An open letter to Amy Goodman from KPFK's FIRED, BANNED, or DRIVEN OUT: Dear Amy, We have seen the recent letter sent to you by the programmers of KPFK, i.e., those who have benefited from the removal, firing and banning of, by Mark Schubb's own estimate, over 150 programmers and staff from KPFK since 1995. There are a few things you should be aware of when considering their appeal to you. First, KPFK is what you describe WBAI as, the studios of the fired and the banned. However, it is not the studios of its listeners. Over the past several years KPFK has seen it's fundraising revenues nearly double. But total subscribership still remains in the range of 14,000 subscribers, well below its peak of approximately 16,000 in the eighties, when KPFK made a genuine effort to be a voice of diverse communities. But money is what matters now. It is the main measure of success. This increase in funding has coincided with: * Elimination of the station folio In addition, the station no longer has a program director, a news director, a development director, or an on-site engineer. Where is all the money going? Current programmers have been silent about purges that have taken place at KPFK since the mid-nineties -- purges of Native- Americans, African-Americans, Latinos, Asian-Americans and white programmers who didn't appeal to their desired target market. They do not like your raising the specter of those purges to their target market. They comfort themselves with the illusion that they are somehow more professional in their conduct than those who were displaced to make room for them, and they want the money to keep flowing in, even though with every additional dollar that comes in the community seems to get less and less service, and the audience becomes more and more a commodity. Now the public affairs programmers during "peak drive times" -- are all white with one exception: Earl Ofari Hutchinson, who stepped happily into the 7 PM Tuesday spot vacated when Ron Wilkins was banned for attempting to notify the listeners of the purging of African-American and Latino programmers at Pacifica in 1996. Nearly all the 'diversity' of KPFK's broadcasters comes through music programming. But more importantly, the range of political perspective represented by the public affairs programmers signing this letter is so narrow that only they themselves are likely to imagine it represents a broad swath of political thought. And of course, there are no signatures from news broadcasters at KPFK because there is essentially no functioning local news department at KPFK. So yes, they are disturbed that your message to the listeners about what is being done with their money may be heard. They don't want the listeners to ask questions about what is being done to community radio. They want the listeners to buy the product. The money tells these programmers they are right, and you telling the truth threatens that money. We - those programmers and staffers fired, banned, removed, or driven out of KPFK - thank you for your courage, and urge you to stand by your principles and speak the truth without fear. In solidarity, Blase Bonpane, Ph.D., Ken 'Dedon" Carr Wanda Coleman and Austin Straus Poetry Connexxion 1982 on the air 15-16 years Bill Davila Approx 15 years from 1981 - 1996 at KPFK, "Journey Through the Realms of Music" Fired by the General Manager for being a white-male producer - who was brought back on-air by the support of listeners and staff who circulated a petition and wrote letters. Bill Gallegos Lyn Gerry Lee Siu Hin Vince Ivory Miya Iwataki Roz & Howard Larman Arturo Lemus John Martinez Loraine Mirza Oly Mogollan Shel Plotkin Raymundo Reynoso Robin Urevich Fernando Velasquez Ron Wilkins In memory of Michael Taylor From his friends Individual Letter from Al Huebnerm former host of "The Health Department" An Open Letter to Amy Goodman. Dear Amy, You are to be congratulated for the excellent job you do on Democracy Now!, a program that is must-listening for me. I'm aware that you are working under difficult conditions, to say the least. I hope my words will assure you that your efforts are deeply appreciated. I saw a copy of the letter that some current KPFK broadcasters sent you before the recent fundraising. It was nauseatingly sanctimonious, self-serving, and worst of all, lacking in concern for a comrade under attack. Let me describe my background at KPFK. In 1995, after more than 21 years of doing a program on the politics of science and health, my program was terminated. I had closed my one-hour broadcast with a four-minute commentary on the sudden disappearance of the Station Manager and the Program Director. The LA Times reported in a brief, easily missed piece that they had been fired, the acting Station Manager wrote in the program guide's "report to the listener" that they had resigned. Workers at the most anti-labor corporation are treated no worse. In my commentary I went on to deplore the fact that it was chiefly, but not exclusively, the listener- sponsors who were deceived by the new management. Remarkably, management didn't seem to see any contradiction between this deplorable behavior and the concepts of free speech and progressive politics that the station purports to serve. As for the other Pacifica stations, I would have no idea of what's going on at KPFA and WBAI except for reports and commentary in The Nation, Extra!, Toward Freedom, Censored Alert (Project Censored), and The Humanist, two of which I write for. Even your remarks about the banned and the fired, and comments by Michael Moore and a few other guests, would remain obscure to me had I not read material from non-Pacifica sources -- that apparently means sources that can't be censored by Pacifica. I admire your courage and I hope you win both your near-term and long-term struggles. Best, Al Huebner Below is the letter that the responses above are in answer to: 5/15/01 Dear Amy,
We're writing to ask for your full, unequivocal support during
our up- coming fund drive. We are concerned that the past four
months you have signed off your show, "Democracy Now," by declaring
that your broadcast had come "from the embattled studios of WBAI --
the studios of the banned and the fired."
We are convinced that for you to continue signing off in this
manner during our up-coming fund drive, would not only be
antithetical to our money raising efforts, but put you squarely in
the camp of those seeking to sabotage those efforts. We ask
therefore, that you stop discussing Pacifica' problems on-air, and
do nothing detrimental to our fund drive.
As a Pacifica veteran, you know that this rule has existed for
decades -- and for good reason. Our listeners support us because we
are a bastion of truth and alternative politics and culture, one of
the few left in a broadcast medium in which almost else operates
under the thumb of a homogenized, monopolistic corporate media. In
this age of George W. Bush, we are, as you yourself regularly put
it, the one "exception to the rulers."
As you are also aware, only the dollars of our listener-sponsors,
the hard work of our tiny, low-paid staff and the goodwill of our
hundreds of unpaid volunteers, enables KPFK -- and we, its
programmers -- to remain on the air. Unlike yourself, many of us are
also unpaid; and devote uncountable hours to KPFK because we
passionately believe in Lou Hill's anti-war vision of social-
justice, and of a radio station answerable to no one other than its
own listener-sponsors.
As we're sure you're also aware, your one-hour show, "Democracy
Now," airs twice daily in and around prime drive-time on our
station, and a substantial amount of the money we raise at KPFK goes
to support your show and pay your salary.
That is one big reason why we're convinced it would be
exceedingly harmful for you to do anything less next week than give
our fund- drive your whole-hearted support on-air, and to mention
supporting KPFK by name as our fund-drive unfolds. A full commitment
is needed from all of us, of course, because of our proud refusal to
accept any corporate underwriting; and -- with the exception of a
small grant from the federally funded CPB -- to exist solely on the
funds we receive directly from our listeners.
But there's another reason we expect your full cooperation. For
the past several years now, a small group of dissident picketers
have appeared outside our studio on the first day of our fund drive;
determined to undo our hard work, and our struggle to make KPFK a
relevant force in Southern California. This time, however, this
group is also calling for our listeners to engage in an economic
boycott of our station.
In a letter dated just four days ago, for example, your former
colleague, Juan Gonzalez, sent a letter to many of us literally
urging that we sabotage KPFK's summer fund drive. "Do not work
overtime to find attractive premiums," wrote Gonzalez, "shave off
minutes from your actual time pitching funds[and] privately
encourage listeners who are friends of yours to withhold their
contributions."
Such calls are new, but not the rumors, lies and distortions that
have already been denounced in a letter signed by 90% of KPFK's
staff about 18 months ago. The biggest of those lies is that we --
the station's programmers -- are being censored by the management of
KPFK.
Although you occupy 10 hours a week on our airways, you're 3,000
miles away in New York, and therefore have no direct knowledge of
what takes place at KPFK. So we'd like to take this opportunity to
set the record straight and ease any doubts you might have on this
issue. Other than the very few occasions of out-right, on-air,
racism and anti-Semitism, and violations of the dirty laundry rule,
management has never once interfered with the content of our shows.
Nor would we tolerate such interference.
Those of us at KPFK fortunate enough to speak for millions of
voiceless people living here in Southern California take our
responsibility very seriously. We feel that to let internecine
politics and power plays interfere with our mission at a time when
all that Pacifica stands for is under great threat, is myopic and
irresponsible.
That is why we are taking our up-coming fund drive so seriously,
and are urging you to do the same.
Sincerely,
Joe Domanick -- "Beneath the Surface"
Beto Arcos -- "Global Village"
Jon Wiener -- "Beneath the Surface"
Robert Mora -- "The Root"
Yatrika Shah-Rais
Marc Cooper -- "The Marc Cooper Show"
Sergio Mielniczenko -- "Global Village"
Susan Weissman, Beneath the Surface
John Retsk, "Car Show"
Jay Kagelman -- "Sound Exchange
Art Gould -- "Car Show"
Barbara Osborn -- "Deadline LA"
John Beaupre -- "Up for Air"
Barry Smolin -- "The Music Never Stops"
Hector Resendez -- "Canto Tropical"
Earl Ofari Hutchinson -- "Tuesday Live"
Simeon Pillich -- "Global Village" |