Dominos Topple:
Third On-Air Resignation
at KPFK In Three Days
Berkeley - On Wednesday, Yatrika Shah-Rais became the third veteran programmer to resign on-air at Los Angeles radio station KPFK. Shah-Rais, the former music director of the Cultural Center in Los Angeles, announced her departure one day after Betto Arcos announced the airing of his final show, and two days after Derek Rath resigned on-air, all three of them long term producers of the station's Global Village series. Former Doors drummer John Densmore called into KPFK during Arcos' final show. You can hear Shah-Rais' goodbye here. GM Radford is said to have tried to prevent the live on-air Global Village broadcast Wednesday morning.
An online petition containing a Letter of No Confidence in the new manager went online yesterday and collected 123 signatures on its first day. The letter cited legal, fundraising, programming and behavioral problems including work reductions not negotiated with the union, mishandling a worksharing application, releasing employee SS# numbers, losing a Free Speech TV contract, emptying fund drive rooms during pledge drives, obscenity and homophobia on air, withholding of seniority pay to employees and union dues to SAG-AFTRA, and profanity-laced outbursts towards staff. Most of these items have been described in previous editions of this publication.
Here are some of the comments from petition-signers:
Leah Knecht - Pasadena, CA
I hate what she is doing to the station, and employees.
Jeri Lopez - Toluca Lake, CA
I respect the rights and opinions of the staff and voters of this liberal rights for all station. I stand with them and their first-hand observations of the ineffective actions of the General Manager of KPFK.
Joe Tonan
I first gave to KPFK when in 1979. I am a long time supporter. However, the new management has taken the station to the edge of the cliff. Time to walk it back.
Dana Lubow - Monrovia, CA
I am signing because I am a long-time volunteer for Canto sin Fronteras and I am dismayed by the incessant fund drives. This has caused a marked loss of our listeners. Additionally, her lack of union solidarity and treatment of union contracts and union members makes me question her progressive values. I also question if she is the best choice for running this historic, long-lived station.
Ben White - Monrovia, CA
Life time listener and financial donator, since the '60s. I don't like what is happening to our station.
Maria LaBarrie - Temecula, CA
One of the main reasons I support KPFK is the music. Now that Betto & Derek are leaving, who else will leave. Something is wrong here that needs to be fixed.
Steve Hayes - Los Angeles, CA
It's heartbreaking to see this once-great, one-of-a-kind radio station being destroyed by incompetence and greed, and its best broadcasters being forced off the air. Every decision and statement made by Leslie Radford so far has been inept or dishonest or both. If KPFK is to be saved, Ms. Radford must go.
Chris Bennett - Los Angeles, CA
Pledging money to KPFK with Ms. Radford in the GM position is funding incompetence.
John Zuehlke - Sherman Oaks, CA
KPFK-FM, as the only radio station in the Los Angeles area that allows viewpoints that challenge the corporate hegemony to be broadcast, is too valuable a resource to lose. By placing unqualified and inept management into top management positions, the un-elected Pacifica National Board is jeopardizing KPFK’s future more effectively than even the most reactionary wings both the Democratic and Republicans Parties, and their multi-national backers, could ever have dreamed.
Marie Nubia-Feliciano - Irvine, CA
I'm signing because KPFK is a public good that should be protected from incompetence. My children deserve to have this radio station.
Gerri McNenny - Fullerton, CA
I'm concerned about the direction that KPFK and Pacifica are taking AND the poor management that has led to the loss of millions for KPFK.
Rick Banales - Diamond Bar, CA
I have been a volunteer at KPFK of and on for over 30 years, from when Mario Cassetta was a host. I have not volunteered for a while because the mismanagement of the station over the last few months is so evident that even with the best efforts of programmers, the air of a hostile work environment is palpable over the air.
William Reilly - Los Angeles, CA
Station Manager selection should be transparent and listeners should have the major input and be able to vote on the candidates. I will no longer financially support KPFK until Radford is replaced with a competent GM.
Radford was appointed by Berkeley-based Margy Wilkinson on her last day as executive director. Radford served on the local and national boards and was a crony of the Siegel/Brazon faction, replacing incoming executive director Lydia Brazon on the national board during the brief period Brazon was required to step down between consecutive board terms. Prior to taking the KPFK managerial job, she was an adjunct instructor in speech at some LA community colleges for the pasr decade and a half.
In Northern California, longstanding supporters of the Berkeley wing of the Siegel/Brazon faction appeared nonplussed at the Wilkinson-caused meltdown at KPFK. Long-time host Richard Wolinsky posted on Facebook that "he'd seen nothing to indicate --- nothing --- that {Radford} had been anything other than a complete and total disaster for KPFK" and former KPFA news reporter John Hamilton posted on the petition site: "KPFK is too precious to be left in the hands of a manager so divisive and inexperienced. Let's clean the slate and walk KPFK bank from the brink". It wasn't clear if Hamilton was revoking his former endorsement of Wilkinson and the other Save KPFA-affiliated board members by suggesting the cleaning of the slate.
KPFK has been overcome by angry donors calling to demand refunds for premiums never received. (With a brief respite when the phone system and email systems went down). As an example, this woman began inquiring about a late premium on May 22, saying she had pledged in February and had yet to receive her gift. By September, she was beside herself, sending this communication:
From: Maria XXX
Sent: Wednesday, September 23, 2015 12:36 PM
Subject: RE: KPFK Refund Request
It’s been 7-months since my invoice has been outstanding. My patience has reached its limit. You didn’t even have the decency to respond to my email requesting my refund. What kind of scam are you guys running? I am a mother of 4 and work very hard on a daily basis to provide for my family. I made a significant sacrifice to make a $365 dollar pledge. I thought that we both would benefit from it. Your pitch sold me on making this pledge; you would provide me with items that would benefit my children and me and my money would benefit your station. I am requesting immediate reimbursement of my funds.
KPFK's financial meltdown is having serious implications throughout the network, where the LA station's formerly robust fundraising numbers helped with meeting expenses throughout the network. Statements were made at national governance meetings in the last two weeks about the significant difficulty of meeting station payrolls and paying for health benefits at the end of this month, but there has been no public statement to date as the end of the month passed.
The breaking events at KPFK have resulted in more frequent publication of Pacifica-in-Exile for the past few weeks. This publication will attempt if circumstances allow to do a more thorough financial review, as well as cover current news from all of the network's stations, as soon as possible.
Thank you for your patience and concern about the welfare of KPFK. Should you be moved to do so, you can sign the KPFK No Confidence letter here.
The Progressive Commentary Hour once again discussed the state of Pacifica Radio on Tuesday. The program can be heard here.
Pacifica in Exile readers may write to the board at pnb@pacifica.org.
For readers who may wish to do more, any donor to a California-based not for profit organization like Pacifica may file a complaint to the open file at the Registry of Charitable Trusts at the Office of the CA Attorney General. Pacifica's case number is CT011303. The form and instructions for filing may be downloaded here.
To subscribe to this newsletter, please visit our spanking new website at www.pacificainexile.org
KPFK, as Pacifica, is collapsing. The actual competence or lack of competence of a manager is in a sense irrelevant. To the extent that folks continue to be concerned with these details it semply reflects their false hopes of salvation – ‘If only there were better management, or [fill in the blanks], we could climb out of this hole.’
ReplyDeleteWell, you can’t.
Pacifica is collapsing, and cannot be saved absent angelic miraculous intervention – which, of course, were it to be offered, Pacifica would reject as ‘outiside interference’.
This process has been unfolding for a very long time, and has been unalterable for a very long time.
It’s called death.
The details may be entertaining, but they’re insignificant details, not the sort that can make any difference as to the outcome.
You’re dying, and whether or not you ‘accept’ it won’t matter… you’re still dying.
Pacifica hasn’t had much contact with reality in, what, four or five decades?
What would one expect?
This, actually, this is what one would expect.
~ ‘indigopirate’
Out of touch with reality is exactly what ails them and, as you point out, that goes back several decades. Even when the house Hill built collapses totally—as it will before long—these mindless people will fail to face the truth. In a way, their lack of flexibility is their undoing. Emboldened by the putrid atmosphere at WBAI, I think harebrained people like Haskins and Kathy come out, as it were. They see a last chance to be noticed. Knight had that problem, too—he was brighter than those two, but he saw his aspirations turn to delusion, so he began to reinvent himself. Sadly, that something he once thought would bring him attention and admiration wasn't quite there. Studying Roget impressed only those whose reading never rose above Jet and the tabloids, and doctoring the facts of a couple of close encounters with achievement only worked momentarily. He became a bitter caricature stuck in a fantasy of his own making.
DeleteWhat did he leave behind? Nothing tangible, nothing of use to future generations.
That's pretty sad, isn't it?
education at the crossroads ... deifying assata shakur . didn't see kill a cop on the jersey turnpike ?
ReplyDeletefirst of all , what does this have to do with education ? ofcourse the answer to that is Nothing.
.
Education at the crossroads ... deifying Assata Shakur . didn't she kill a cop on the Jersey turnpike?
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, what does this have to do with education ? Of course the answer to that is Nothing.
This has happened to several WBAI programs... they have stagnated and taken a different turn from the one originally intended. These days, of course, black racism is in at 99.5... it almost guarantees longevity. In actual fact, however, it is shortening the life of the station. That, unfortunately, can at this point be regarded as a good thing.
DeleteLike anyone has given a shit about John Densmore since 1973. There were no Doors, only a Door, Jim Morrison. When he died, the other three were forgotten. Can you tell me the other guys from Alice Cooper? Remember, Alice Cooper was the band name until 1975, when Vic Furnier dumped the other four guys and adopted Alice Cooper as his own name. Oh, and the other four guys did one album as Billion Dollar Babies, which flopped big time. Point being that this is their "star" they dig up for support. Too funny.
ReplyDeleteSo, the KPFK bullies don't like that a new bully is bullying them now. Too damn bad. What goes around, comes around. It's the modern history of Pacifica. Each time it comes around, it drives away more listeners. Their own medicine doesn't taste good? Too damn bad. At least take a lesson from all this and be nicer to people you meet from now on. As Ralph Kramden said, "Be nice to the people you meet on the way up, as they will be the people you meet on the way down."
I just looked. The petition is up to a whopping 146 signatures. Yeah, there's an outraged listenership. Maybe by Christmas they can get 200 signatures.
Know what these idiots really remind me of? Ever hear of a Rene Cardona Jr. film called Cyclone? Well, long story short, a group of people are stranded at sea in a boat with a glass bottom and surrounded by hungry sharks. The ending is that their constant stupid arguments cause something to fall and break the glass bottom of the boat, causing the it to sink and... Let's say the sharks ate very well that afternoon.
But I must let the show go on...
SDL
I actually tuned in today. Actually, I had a reason: James Irsay---one of the few who remain.
ReplyDeleteRichard Wolff's program precedes Irsay's. Although Wolff isn't wrecking BAI or Pacifica with his meretriciousness, as too many others are, I thought I heard an echo--however inadvertent--of what ails BAI.
He said, in essence, that if we had a "true democracy", the poor and other disenfranchised would be voting for democratic socialists or their equivalent.
Well, if that's the case, why did Donald Trump rise so high in the polls? Or why are folks like Mike Huckabee even on the ticket at all?
They haven't gotten to where they are on the votes of CEOs. On their dollars, perhaps. But even if all of the rich voted for folks like them, it wouldn't be enough to get them onto the slate. Some of the "downtrodden" must be voting for them, too.
Talk about being out of touch with reality!
--Justine
Like anyone has given a shit about John Densmore since 1973. There were no Doors, only a Door, Jim Morrison. When he died, the other three were forgotten. This is their "star" they dig up for support. Too funny.
ReplyDeleteSo, the KPFK bullies don't like that a new bully is bullying them now. Too damn bad. What goes around, comes around. It's the modern history of Pacifica. Each time it comes around, it drives away more listeners. Their own medicine doesn't taste good? Too damn bad. At least take a lesson from all this and be nicer to people you meet from now on. As Ralph Kramden said, "Be nice to the people you meet on the way up, as they will be the people you meet on the way down."
I just looked. The petition is up to a whopping 152 signatures. Yeah, there's an outraged listenership. Maybe by Christmas they can get 200 signatures.
Know what these idiots really remind me of? Ever hear of a Rene Cardona Jr. film called Cyclone? Well, long story short, a group of people are stranded at sea in a boat with a glass bottom and surrounded by hungry sharks. The ending is that their constant stupid arguments cause something to fall and break the glass bottom of the boat, causing the it to sink and... Let's say the sharks ate very well that afternoon.
But I must let the show go on...
SDL
I tuned in today because I wanted to hear James Irsay. He's one of the few remaining reasons to tune into WBAI.
ReplyDeleteBut, as I tuned in early, I heard a few minutes of Richard Wolff. He might be very learned in his field, but he is out of touch with what's really going on. In essence, he said that in his utopia (a "true democracy"), poor and other disenfranchised people will vote for social democrats or their equivalents. Well, why did Donald Trump shoot to the top of the Republican polls? Why is Mike Huckabee still a factor in that race? It's not just CEOs who are voting for them.
...and the band played "nearer my G-d to Thee'.
ReplyDeleteThe number of petition signatures has grown by leaps and bounds up to a whopping 186! Seriously? I see the lack of signatures as a vote for apathy and/or a vote for Radford. If that is the kind of motivation and loyalty that KPFK has instilled in their listeners, then the station is better off going sports talk or something. At this point, KPFK may be even more pathetic than WBAI.
ReplyDeleteWell, I hadn't tuned into WBAI since last Wednesday and TPCS. I tune in today to see they are money begging again. Say bye bye to even more fed up listeners.
Anyway. Anyone actually know the status of Mario Murillo? Is he still PD? Has he actually been replaced? Seems to be a very quiet issue. Well, Murillo's name hasn't come up in a while. If I were him, I wouldn't want my name to be heard after being the worst PD in the history of WBAI, either.
Finally, I notice The $2,000 Woman gives out a 516 area code number for donations. Any idea where that number is answered and by whom?
SDL
The number of petition signatures has grown by leaps and bounds up to a whopping 186! Seriously? I see the lack of signatures as a vote for apathy and/or a vote for Radford. If that is the kind of motivation and loyalty that KPFK has instilled in their listeners, then the station is better off going sports talk or something. At this point, KPFK may be even more pathetic than WBAI.
ReplyDeleteWell, I hadn't tuned into WBAI since last Wednesday and TPCS. I tune in today to see they are money begging again. Say bye bye to even more fed up listeners.
Anyway. Anyone actually know the status of Mario Murillo? Is he still PD? Has he actually been replaced? Seems to be a very quiet issue. Well, Murillo's name hasn't come up in a while. If I were him, I wouldn't want my name to be heard after being the worst PD in the history of WBAI, either.
Finally, I notice The $2,000 Woman gives out a 516 area code number for donations. Any idea where that number is answered and by whom?
SDL
The number of petition signatures has grown by leaps and bounds up to a whopping 190! Seriously? I see the lack of signatures as a vote for apathy and/or a vote for Radford. If that is the kind of motivation and loyalty that KPFK has instilled in their listeners, then the station is better off going sports talk or something. At this point, KPFK may be even more pathetic than WBAI.
ReplyDeleteWell, I hadn't tuned into WBAI since last Wednesday and TPCS. I tune in today to see they are money begging again. Say bye bye to even more fed up listeners.
Anyway. Does anyone actually know the status of Mario Murillo? Is he still PD? Has he actually been replaced? Seems to be a very quiet issue. Well, Murillo's name hasn't come up in a while. If I were him, I wouldn't want my name to be heard after being the worst PD in the history of WBAI, either.
Finally, I notice The $2,000 Woman gives out a 516 area code number for donations. Any idea where that number is answered and by whom?
SDL
I don't think the low number of signatures reflects a vote for Radford—it may actually indicate a general disgust with KPFK.
DeleteI don't know if WBAI has lost its high rank on the patheticometer—Haskins was pleading for at least 20 calls yesterday morning, but they only had a couple as this week's Mikie&Pammie routine crashed into DN! This drive will, I strongly suspect, move the station as close to the abyss as it has ever been.
Blosdale, Funari, Nattie and Scottie limp through their tired hour-long infomercials again, and again, Haskins uses every opportunity to push his "partner" Ginger's book, Null mixes his protests into batches of "stuff," and everything else goes into replay.
Haskins and Pammie are trying to sell for $125.00 a 1998 documentary that can be watched free online, and I have to wonder what rights hosts like Tony Williams, Mike Sargent and Dwight Brewster acquired to copy and sell commercially issued music recordings—they do it quite openly. Ignorance is no longer a valid excuse, because there has been much talk about this kind of activity and the jeopardy it places the station's license in.
Jeannie Hopper's "premiums" are also a bit suspect—she is, BTW, officially the current PD, but Murillo is still around and single-minded as ever.
Bernard White's revival of "Wake Up Call" on Don DeBar's CPR was a dud barely heard. As you know, DeBar, who used to work at WBAI, started CPR to counteract the vandalism at BAI, but that wall of hypocrisy is mighty thin, so he regularly reads the twisted news on Haskins' morning crap.
Several members of the BAI wrecking crew have crawled over to CPR, which, I understand, is operated from DeBar's apartment, but generally has better audio than the Atlantic Ave. closet.
Giving out a third-party phone number is commonplace as the "non-commercial" designation increasingly becomes nothing more than a dishonest sales pitch.
Finally, who is the "$2,000 woman?
I really don't listen anymore. No reason to. Hopper is official PD, yet there is a(nother) committee to find a PD. OK...
Delete$2,000 woman is Amy Goodman. You know, her $2,000 premium to hang with her.
SDL
They love committees. Being on one makes them feel important.
DeleteApropos dangling announcements, how many times have they had a GM "evaluation" on their meeting agendas? Have you ever read or heard any LSB evaluation of Reimers? He is apparently one of the untouchables. BTW, did anyone hear an announcement cancelling the announced "Report to the Listener"? There was no mention of it at the scheduled time—all one heard was Haskins stumbling over the text he was trying to read.
Of course! Amy's gourmet-priced snacks, wide-holed bagels and individually caressed coffee beans—I should have picked up on that. :)
What WBAI needs is a committee to organize a committee to appoint a committee to evaluate the ESB crisis. Yeah, that's it!
DeleteNo. All I know was a couple of weeks ago Hank Kee said he received an email from Reimers that Report would be on. I figured "Just like Reimers" when I heard the early morning time, when 3 people would be listening. I wasn't awake, so I checked the archive later and found no Report, just the morning morons. Was the upcoming Report mentioned on any other show? Or did Reimers just have some fun and try to make an ass of TPCS?
Know what has made me laugh the past few weeks? How Emanuel Goldstein is eating crow over the promised phone lines from the wonderful Reimers. Too funny. Hey, Goldie! next time don't try to BS your listeners in the name of Reimers.
I was just thinking of something. Do you think Reimers is still alive? He has been totally missing for some time now. Even when he is supposed to show up, there is no sign of him. I'm getting very suspicious. Is it time to file a missing persons report?
Anyway. $2,000 for someone's company is so damn arrogant that it always makes me laugh. Oh, coffee and bagels, too? Yum. Amy thinks highly of herself. Well, maybe she has some right to, since she did get the profitable DN away from Pacifica and has the brains to allow the debt Pacifica owes her to grow and grow, ready for her cut of the assets when the bankruptcy comes.
Seriously. I am making a professional radio studio for less then $2,000! Hey, a committee to organize a committee to appoint a committee to create a real radio studio for less than $2,000...
But I must let the show go on...
SDL
What WBAI needs is a committee to organize a committee to appoint a committee to evaluate the ESB crisis. Yeah, that's it!
DeleteNo. All I know was a couple of weeks ago Hank Kee said he received an email from Reimers that Report would be on. I figured "Just like Reimers" when I heard the early morning time, when 3 people would be listening. I wasn't awake, so I checked the archive later and found no Report, just the morning morons. Was the upcoming Report mentioned on any other show? Or did Reimers just have some fun and try to make an ass of TPCS?
Know what has made me laugh the past few weeks? How Emanuel Goldstein is eating crow over the promised phone lines from the wonderful Reimers. Too funny. Hey, Goldie! next time don't try to BS your listeners in the name of Reimers.
I was just thinking of something. Do you think Reimers is still alive? He has been totally missing for some time now. Even when he is supposed to show up, there is no sign of him. I'm getting very suspicious. Is it time to file a missing persons report?
Anyway. $2,000 for someone's company is so damn arrogant that it always makes me laugh. Oh, coffee and bagels, too? Yum. Amy thinks highly of herself. Well, maybe she has some right to, since she did get the profitable DN away from Pacifica and has the brains to allow the debt Pacifica owes her to grow and grow, ready for her cut of the assets when the bankruptcy comes.
Seriously. I am making a professional radio studio for less then $2,000! Hey, a committee to organize a committee to appoint a committee to create a real radio studio for less than $2,000...
But I must let the show go on...
SDL
I really don't listen anymore. No reason to. Hopper is official PD, yet there is a(nother) committee to find a PD. OK...
ReplyDelete$2,000 woman is Amy Goodman. You know, her $2,000 premium to hang with her.
SDL
What WBAI needs is a committee to organize a committee to appoint a committee to evaluate the ESB crisis. Yeah, that's it!
ReplyDeleteNo. All I know was a couple of weeks ago Hank Kee said he received an email from Reimers that Report would be on. I figured "Just like Reimers" when I heard the early morning time, when 3 people would be listening. I wasn't awake, so I checked the archive later and found no Report, just the morning morons. Was the upcoming Report mentioned on any other show? Or did Reimers just have some fun and try to make an ass of TPCS?
Know what has made me laugh the past few weeks? How Emanuel Goldstein is eating crow over the promised phone lines from the wonderful Reimers. Too funny. Hey, Goldie! next time don't try to BS your listeners in the name of Reimers.
I was just thinking of something. Do you think Reimers is still alive? He has been totally missing for some time now. Even when he is supposed to show up, there is no sign of him. I'm getting very suspicious. Time to file a missing persons report?
Anyway. $2,000 for someone's company is so damn arrogant that it always makes me laugh. Oh, coffee and bagels, too? Yum. Amy thinks highly of herself. Well, maybe she has some right to, since she did get the profitable DN away from Pacifica and has the brains to allow the debt Pacifica owes her to grow and grow, ready for her cut of the assets when the bankruptcy comes.
Seriously. I am making a professional radio studio for less then $2,000! Hey, a committee to organize a committee to appoint a committee to create a real radio studio for less than $2,000...
But I must let the show go on...
SDL