<nettime> update on KPFA-Pacifica crisis

[bernardo parrella <berny@sirius.com>]

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X-Sender: saladdaze@mail.earthlink.net (Unverified)
Date: Wed, 04 Aug 1999 19:21:26 -0700
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From: savepacifica <savepacifica@peacenet.org>
Subject: UPDATE
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Status: U


KPFA STAFFERS PLAN TO BE BACK ON THE AIR AFTER PACIFICA FINALLY ALLOWS
NEEDED REPAIRS

State Lawmakers to Hold Hearing on Pacifica's Conduct Palo Alto Forum
Thursday Night on KPFA/Pacifica Crisis

BERKELEY, CA - The KPFA staff will return to the airwaves at 7 a.m. 
tomorrow.  A press conference will be held in front of the station at 9
a.m.  The delay in the return to local programming resulted from the
Pacifica Foundation's refusal to conduct or allow needed repairs, both to
the station's transmitter and to equipment at the station's main facility
in Berkeley.  The KPFA staff, in consultation with its listening
community, will offer a modified program schedule to inform its listeners
about the ongoing dispute with Pacifica as well as other local, national
and international developments. 

"Going back on the air to serve our community is an important step, but
the struggle against Pacifica is far from over," said KPFA producer and
Steering Committee member C.S. Soong.  "Although we retook the station
unconditionally, Pacifica could still pull the plug on us at any time, and
of course the possible sale of the station still hangs over our heads. 
Sale of the station to the highest bidder would endanger the staff,
abandon the community, and constitute a severe blow to progressive
alternative media in this country." 

When Pacifica ended its 17-day lockout of the KPFA staff last Friday, the
staff discovered serious damage to equipment, windows, and other items at
the station -- damage that occurred during Pacifica's watch of the
premises.  Requests by KPFA staff earlier this week to access and fix the
station's transmitter in the Berkeley Hills were rebuffed by Pacifica
Executive Director Lynn Chadwick in a move that contradicts Pacifica's
repeated suggestions that the KPFA staff has delayed the return to local
programming. 

Also today Assemblymember Scott Wildman, chair of the California
Assembly's Joint Legislative Audit Committee, announced that the Committee
will hold hearings to examine the Pacifica Foundation's conduct during its
ongoing conflict with KPFA staff and community.  The hearings, to be held
on Friday, August 20, are being convened at the request of Berkeley
Assemblywoman Dion Aroner and 24 other state lawmakers.  The hearings will
begin at 10:30 am at the Elihu Harris State Building in Oakland.  Among
the issues to be addressed are those relating to the governance and
accountability of the Pacifica Foundation, issues important to many who
are calling for the democratization of what is perceived as a secretive,
self-perpetuating Pacifica leadership.  For additional information about
the hearings, contact Greg Campell at (916) 319-2043 or Hans Hemann at
(916)  319-2014. 

And in Chicago today free speech demonstrators from California joined
Chicago community activists to protest the presence of Dr. Mary Frances
Berry as a panelist on a town hall meeting about human rights and social
justice in the United States. Dr. Berry, in addition to being chair of the
U.S. Civil Rights Commission, is chair of the Pacifica Foundation, which
oversees a network of independent radio stations, including KPFA in
Berkeley, and stations in New York, Los Angeles, Washington, DC, and
Houston. Under Berry's watch Pacifica has used armed guards to drag
programmers off the air, locked-out KPFA's entire staff, and had scores of
peaceful free-speech demonstrators arrested. 

For background information, see www.radio4all.org/freepacifica or
www.savepacifica.net. 



PALO ALTO FORUM ON PACIFICA CRISIS

Listeners in the South Bay area are invited to a free forum Thursday,
August 5, at the Unitarian Church, 505 Charleston Road (at Nelson) at
7:30. 

Among those expected to speak are KPFA's Mary Berg, Dennis Bernstein,
Wendell Harper, and Larry Bensky. 

AND REMEMBER...ONLY ONE MORE DAY TO SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS WITH DR. MARY
FRANCES BERRY VIA TOLL-FREE NUMBER DONATED BY WORKING ASSETS LONG DISTANCE

1-888-387-8263

<< end of forwarded material >>


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