Opinion --
The Agony of KPFK
By John Martinez
In this second part - Martinez challenges Pacifica to go beyond its tradition of Euro-American Centricity, he details program purges, critiques management's rationale for the new style of programming with no formal policies for it, he gives examples of KPFK mainstreaming today while management tells programmers to avoid activist-oriented radio exemplified by the slashing of the Community Calendar.
Part Two
Pacifica's Inherent Cultural/Racial Bias: The 1997 rerun of KPFK cutting Spanish Language & Interlingual Chican@ Radio exemplifies what active veteran Chican@s/Mexican@s have known about KPFK/Pacifica for years: Pacifica is based on the cultural assumption of White/Anglo-Centricity, meaning all "others" are marginalized. Even Pacifica's long-time political focus on race relations in the U.S. is grounded on the unspoken assumption of an Euro-American context. White predominance of ideas on Pacifica's airwaves is what Chicano Scholar Rodolfo Acun~a calls 'the arrogance of the White Intellectual'. Whether it's organizational structure at Pacifica National, work culture at the 5 Pacifica Stations or programming on Pacifica's Airwaves, an English/White/Anglo foundation is omnipresent, never deconstructed and rarely discussed. The majority of Pacifica's programming 'diversity' usually consists of white programmers presenting 'people of color & their issues' to a predominantly white audience. Linguistic diversity at Pacifica is usually accompanied by an English top layer of translation, regardless of signal area demographics at the 5 sister stations. In Jeff Land's book "Active Radio: Pacifica's Brash Experiment," Land describes one of the historic tensions within Pacifica: the competing programming visions of Lou Hill's elitist "Educated Minority" and later the development of a more inclusive yet sloppily conceptualized/applied "Community Radio". The question I raise re: White/Anglo Cultural bias goes deeper than which audience/programming strategy to use, as Hill and subsequent Pacifica proponents have assumed an almost exclusively mono-cultural/mono-linguistic means of communication. The exceptions in Pacifica's history are just that, exceptions.
Ethnic Cleansing at the KPFK "Playground":..To varying degrees KPFK has practiced its own local versions of Pacifica's privatizing trends that have created the current Pacifica Crisis. K's Management has incrementally/ methodically purged grassroots programmers (with no improved replacements), ridding KPFK of "hate speech" radical African programmers in '94 (see part 1), later the cutting of 'American Indian Airwaves' 'East Wind' (Asian Pacific Islander) the slashing of Spanish/Interlingual Public Affairs, and the purging of local programs, dealing for example with environment: 'Green Perspectives' with former host Santa Monica Councilman Michael Feintstein of the Green Party. At the October '99 PNB Meeting in Houston GM Mark Schubb himself estimated 150 programmers have been axed since 1996. He rationalized purging dozens of grassroots programmers because they 'only reflected their narrow constituencies, while the majority of current & potential listeners' thoughts/ideas were not represented'. If the majority of current & potential listeners are not fully aware of/agree with the principles of Pacifica, then what? Then you have an aspect of the Pacifica Crisis that's manifested at KPFK. Schubb's argument for 'preaching beyond the converted' has rationalized K's further whitening & mainstreaming of both programmers & programming towards larger audience & more fund drive money. But Schubb's observation was partially right in his critique of former programmers: rather than helping to create community inside the station or in the real world, K's former programming diversity in the mid to late-90's only exemplified Southern California's atomized/stratified nature. But Schubb mistakenly describes focused/specific programming as 'limiting'. Proponents of K's programming today say the newer generalized public affairs shows are able to deal with a wider range of topics, hence more diversity of issues inclusively addressed. I say reality is complex. Culture class race gender/political issues are multi-faceted multi-dimensional, and K's generalized public affairs/arts oriented programs by their very nature are shallow simple superficial. KPFK today fails to present in-depth Pacifica Mission oriented programming that adds to that lasting understand between different peoples. Besides, all this consideration of K's programming goals are based on the politically naive premise that station management & dominant/influential programmers today are serious about community-access radio. At that same PNB Meeting in Houston, Schubb compared management's struggle with grassroots programmers over programming goals as "...fighting in the sand box while not seeing the entire playground." Those incremental methodical purges by management on local programming created only minor isolated stirs among core station listeners/supporters. Programmer's & other volunteer's territoriality, isolation or at best superficial interaction was the rule. This 'rule' then, and now helps the Mark Schubb-Marc Cooper managerial regime to control KPFK as their own media playground.
'Do As We Say': Rather than based on the Pacifica Mission, any progressive principles or even on an established/open process, decisions at KPFK today are based on a few individuals' opinions egos & self-interests. In 1999 the embattled KPFK Local Advisory Board (LAB), attempting to complete their required yearly station review, repeatedly asked for station programming policies re: goals, the relation between fund raising & remaining on the air, program content/etc. As LAB members tell it, GM Schubb's response was 'we don't have any'. K's LAB is currently dealing with the reactionary demand by the station's management & staff to dismiss LAB Chair Dave Adelson, one of several LAB members nationally on the lawsuit against the centralizing bylaw changes by the PNB last year. KPFK's recipe today: mix isolated programmers/volunteers with a management insisting on unilateral policy making, and you have a gutted shell today of what could be independent/alternative community-accessed radio. In the mid-90's an attempt at the multi-racial 'Volunteers Union' to address in-house issues failed to develop. Failed also was our attempted grievance process in '95 re: the purged African Programmer's, presented to GM Mark Schubb via then KPFK LAB Chair Ruben Lizardo. We detailed written testimonies from the programmers, but Schubb never even met with them. As the Volunteer Rep. on KPFK's LAB I saw many examples of the station's polarized state. During a KPFK LAB closed session the question was whether or not to vote African Programmer/former PNB member Ron Wilkins onto the board. KPFK GM Mark Schubb was adamant against Wilkins. Among Schubb's reasons: because he's an African Nationalist. Since 1992 I've seen Pacifica at the local & national levels have an unwritten anti-nationalist attitude. This attitude implies condoning White Euro-American Nationalism.
Aside from the politics of alternative culture & identities, today's 'too hip' attitude condones as well the backing off from coverage of militant [dare I say radical?] political efforts. The coverage of HUAC, Black Panthers, Free Speech Movement, American Indian Movement, Chicano Movement, Gay/Lesbian Rights, the Environmental Movement, the Symbionese Liberation Army...Remember when Pacifica/KPFK would give voice to radical/leftist examples of motion as an alternative to the mainstream? Not today. At least not at K, unless it's fund drive, and time to pimp off Michael Parenti Noam Chomsky Howard Zinn Angela Davis Randall Robinson Dolores Huerta & others.
'The Writing On the Walls': Rather than offering a fuller spectrum of alternative politics & arts, KPFK listeners today instead are mentally herded towards what K's internal elite deems 'progressive'. The biggest example of K's safer radio shepherding is veteran programmer Marc Cooper, with his daily afternoon drive time hour and his weekly (twice-aired) Radio Nation. And, if other programming sources fail to materialize, you'll hear Radio Nation/Marc Cooper more than the current 7 hours a week. Cooper's radio journalist jacket includes helping to establish Pacifica Network News, reporting near-by as Chilean President Salvador Allende fell via the CIA, and nearly 20 years ago Cooper was ousted while on the losing end of another Pacifica Radio Coup. Marc Cooper's fund drive rap includes "broadening the debate". Examples of Cooper's/K's programming 'beyond the choir' includes an interview with Pat Buchanan-with Cooper never directly jamming Buchanan's racist nativism. Marc Cooper however is bold enough to bash death row political prisoner Mumia Abu Jamal, slamming him as "some flaky cult-member" while attacking the African Radical MOVE Organization's founder John Africa, as "politically grotesque". Cooper's January article "For A Mumia Free 2000" appeared in the reactionary New York Press. Today Cooper's now cozy with former Gingrich devotee & perennial political chameleon Ariana Huffington. Huffington is now hyping her "Shadow Conventions" around both Republican & Democratic National Conventions later this summer. During K's Spring Fund Drive Marc Cooper promised coverage of Huffington's Shadow Convention. Pronouncements for this new KPFK programming 'vision' were dictatorial hallway memos warning against 'agitprop/advocacy journalism'. K formalized its new '$afe middle' programming direction in a May '98 meeting as GM Schubb told programmers that radio audience centrists are who 'we' must target. They, following his reasoning, represent the biggest potential for 'growth' i.e. economic pragmatism, with politically watered down programming like that smooth easy-to-swallow shallow NPR style. Programmers were told via memos billboarded in K's main broadcast studios Master Control/Studio B not to announce details of protests against the U.S./NATO criminal bombings in Yugoslavia last year. K's Community Calendar supposedly would handle that.
'Virtually Gone': As a 7 year community radio vehicle for non-profit/low budget/no budget groups who were media novices, I knew KPFK's Community Calendar was one of the only possible major media outlet for locals' events/causes/struggles. But, since the calendar almost never raised fund drive money, the genius of K's Management speaks again. Here's some socially relevant math in the context of Pacifica's Mission: the Community Calendar used to air twice daily (5 mins. each), once on Saturdays (10 mins.), a weekly total of 60 mins. Today 'officially' the Community Calendar airs only 4 weekdays, now only once a day, but still on Saturday. Reduced also in length to 2 minutes 50 seconds max., the new total time the calendar 'officially' airs is 15 minutes a week compared to its previous 60 mins. -- a 45 minute 75% slashing of this community service. The KPFK Calendar was the only major media outlet for grassroots events & causes by way of our 112,000-watt signal. One of the largest non-commercial FM radio signals in the Western U.S., it covers nearly half the state. A typically twisted KPFK post script to all this: I called the 75%/45 min. lopping off of the Community Calendar 'official', but it's worse. The Tuesday Calendar produced by long-time volunteer and now Pacifica Dissident Vince Ivory hasn't aired since November '99. Vince continued to research & produce it for air, PD Kathy Lo swore it was supposed to air, but on-air studio engineers say they've never seen the Tuesday Calendar pre-logged or scheduled. Subtract the virtual Tuesday Calendar from what's already been cut and it adds up to an 80% loss of the Community Calendar.In the next (3rd) piece Martinez will detail: KPFK's lack of grievance procedure/process, the harassment of staff/volunteers, labor strife, Mark Schubb's M.O. and management’s self interests/double standards...
(1762 words)
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Pull Quotes:
Pgph.2: "...Hill and subsequent Pacifica proponents have assumed an almost exclusively mono-cultural/mono-linguistic means of communication."
Pgph.3: "Schubb's argument for 'preaching beyond the converted' has rationalized K's further whitening & mainstreaming of both programmers & programming towards larger audience & more fund drive money."
Pgph.3: "Culture class race gender/political issues are multi-faceted multi-dimensional, and K's generalized public affairs/arts oriented programs by their very nature are shallow simple superficial."
Pgph.4: "KPFK's recipe today: mix isolated programmers/volunteers with a management insisting on unilateral policy making, and you have a gutted shell today of what could be independent/alternative community-accessed radio."
Pgph.6: "Programmers were told via memos bill-boarded in K's main broadcast studios Master Control/Studio B not to announce details of protests against the U.S./NATO criminal bombings in Yugoslavia last year."